A Treatise on Domestic Economy

A Treatise on Domestic Economy, first published in 1841, was the book that turned housekeeping into a respected field of knowledge in America. Catharine Beecher wrote it for young women at home and at school, and she treated the running of a household as a serious profession worth studying with care. Chapters cover health and diet, the care of children, cooking, cleaning, gardening, and the building and heating of houses, along with the moral duties Beecher believed women owed to the young nation. Behind the practical advice lies an argument that women’s work in the home was central to the life of the republic. This free PDF and EPUB gives the full text of a landmark in the history of home economics and women’s education.