Martha Laurens Ramsay: A Model of Female Excellence

Martha definitely was a model of female excellence, through reading and traveling in Europe she became an enlightened Christian. Rather than consider how Martha became a Christian, in this paper I am going to contextualize Martha’s enlightened Christianity in the late 18th and early 19th century and examine the limit of her enlightenment. Firstly I would like to discuss Philadelphia’s enlightened Christianity and explore how David Ramsay became an enlightened Christian under his mentor Dr. Benjamin Rush’s influence; then focus on Martha’s Memoirs, I will consider how enlightened Christianity worked on her and her reading worlds; finally, taking Martha as a good example, I will discuss the predicament of Martha’s enlightenment in South Carolina.