Abstract

18th century New England was a place of rapid cultural change and value production. During this time, early colonial Puritan ideals were diluted by Anglican immigrants, British loyalists, the philosophical Enlightenment, and the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions. The colonies had to negotiate what it meant to be British and what it meant to be American - which ultimately led to a new country founded on Enlightenment ideals and the Roman Republic. In the background of the historical recordings of planters, inventors, and the founding fathers, were their wives and daughters - witnesses to this cultural change whose experiences are frequently left behind because of their general lack of documentation. However, that does not mean they never produced artifacts that contribute to our understanding of their time period. Embroidery samplers were a standard part of a girl’s education, and many of these pieces from the Boston area survive in museums and private collections. Artists were influenced by and copied motifs of contemporary fine art -such as pastorals and the Reclining Shepherdess - and incorporated these themes into pragmatic pieces for the practice of mending stitches. This thesis shows how common embroidery motifs and their evolution over the 18th century reflect public opinion, desired values, and the personal lives of young women who observed and influenced the creation of the United States.

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