ction in an age that did not offer contraceptive options. Women were thus empowered by their ability to decide when they wanted to have children during the Victorian era (Cott 225-34).
Moreover, the invention of the concept of "republican motherhood" in the late 18th century afforded mothers token participation in the political life of the community, from which they were largely exempt. According to this concept of motherhood, mothers played a critical role in protecting the political status of the republics by cultivating the growth of virtuous citizens (Kerber 58-9). Based on this novel conception of motherhood, the idea that childrearing was connected to the public domain was born. Essentially, motherhood was inextricably interwoven with the future of
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