Margaret Fuller Facts & Worksheets

Margaret Fuller was an American journalist, philosopher, activist for women’s rights, and revolutionary. She was a prominent figure in the American Transcendentalist movement. She was also the first American female war correspondent. She wrote the first major feminist work in the United States, “Woman in the Nineteenth Century.”

See the fact file below for more information on Margaret Fuller, or you can download our 23-page Margaret Fuller worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY

• Sarah Margaret Fuller was born on May 23, 1810, in the city of Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, USA.
• She was the eldest child of Timothy Fuller, a prominent lawyer-politician in Massachusetts, and Margaret Crane Fuller.
• Her father taught her to read and write as early as three and a half years old.
• Her younger sister, Julia, died at 14 months old.
• Her father put a premium on Margaret’s education and made sure that she was educated in the curriculum as rigorously as any boy of that time, which included Latin teachings, philosophy, and natural science.
• For one, he discouraged her from reading etiquette books and novels, which were the conventional readings for women then.
• On the other hand, her mother taught her how to sew and do household chores.
• Her brother William Henry was born in 1817, the same year her father was elected a representative to the U.S. Congress.
• Fuller began her formal education in 1819, then studied at Boston Lyceum for Young Ladies from 1821 to 1822.
• In 1824, she reluctantly went to the School for Young Ladies in Groton, Massachusetts, where she studied for two years, returning home at 16.
• That was when she immersed herself in the classics and world literature as she studied modern languages.
• In 1833, her father relocated their family to a farm in Groton, where she felt isolated and turned to educating her siblings and helping her mother with housework.
• Her father died of cholera on October 2, 1835, which caused financial trouble to their family.

EARLY CAREER

• Fuller entered the academe when she taught for Bronson Alcott in Boston from 1836 to 1837, then at a school in Providence, Rhode Island from 1838 to 1839. 
• In 1839, she published the first English translation of Johann Peter Eckermann’s “Conversations with Goethe.”
• She never completed writing a biography of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe because of her father’s abrupt passing.
• In 1840, she moved to Jamaica Plain, a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, where she held discussion groups called “Conversations,” wherein women could freely discuss. 
• During this time, she widened her social circle and formed friendships with fellow intellectuals Ralph Waldo Emerson, Elizabeth Peabody, Orestes Brownson, and William Ellery Channing.
• Fuller also accepted Emerson’s offer to be the editor of “The Dial,” a magazine launched by the transcendentalists in 1840.
• She wrote essays, reviews, and poems for this quarterly journal, as well as worked with aspiring authors.
• She quit the publication in 1842 for reportedly not being paid her annual salary of $200 and being discouraged by the declining circulation of “The Dial.”

LITERARY CAREER

• She moved to New York City in 1844 and began working as a full-time literary critic for the “New York Tribune,” a newspaper by Horace Greeley.
• Horace Greeley extended the job opportunity to Fuller after reading her first book, “Summer on the Lakes” (1844).
• She wrote more than 250 essays and critical reviews for the Tribune in the span of four years.
• In 1845, she published her feminist classic, “Woman in the Nineteenth Century,” inspired by her dialogues with women in “Conversations.”
• She put forth her stance against domesticity and on women gaining independence in “Woman in the Nineteenth Century.”

LIFE IN EUROPE

• In 1846, Fuller sailed for Europe to work as the first female foreign correspondent for the “Tribune.”
• She documented her travels and experiences in Europe and sent letters to the “Tribune,” later published in “At Home and Abroad” (1856). 
• She met many prominent European writers and intellectuals during her travels.
• She arrived in the Italian Peninsula (present-day Italy) in 1847 and got involved in the cause of Italian revolutionists led by patriot Giuseppe Mazzini.
• There, she met and fell in love with Giovanni Angelo, Marchese Ossoli, an impoverished nobleman ten years her junior, who also joined the Roman revolution.
• They secretly married and had a child named Angelo, born in 1848.
• They fled to Florence in 1849 after the French prevailed in the war, and Fuller documented a history of the revolution.

DEATH

• Fuller and Giovanni set sail with their infant son for the United States in 1850 but perished after the ship slammed into a sandbar near Fire Island, New York.
• Their bodies were never recovered, but a memorial to Fuller was erected on the beach at Fire Island in 1901, with an inscription that read: “By birth a child of New England. By adoption a citizen of Rome. By genius belonging to the world.”

ADVOCACY AND INFLUENCE

• As a woman highly educated from an early age, Fuller became a proponent of women’s right to education and the value it adds to women’s lives.
• She was all for women having the opportunity to seek any job they like, and not just the traditional “feminine” jobs like teaching.
• She also believed that women should use their agency and not solely depend on marriage and their husbands.
• In her classic work “Woman in the Nineteenth Century,” she wrote, “We would have every arbitrary barrier thrown down. We would have every path laid open to women as freely as to men. If you ask me what offices they may fill, I reply—any. I do not care what case you put; let them be sea captains, if you will.”
• She also became associated with the American transcendentalism movement.
• At the time, Fuller’s beliefs were considered progressive.
• American reformist Susan B. Anthony cited Margaret Fuller as an inspiration in her activism and influence on women’s rights.
• Poets Walt Whitman and Elizabeth Barrett Browning also stood by Fuller’s progressive views.
• Margaret Fuller’s legacy was set in stone when she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1995.

Margaret Fuller Worksheets

This fantastic bundle includes everything you need to know about Margaret Fuller across 23 in-depth pages. These ready-to-use worksheets are perfect for teaching kids about Margaret Fuller. She was the first American female war correspondent. She wrote the first major feminist work in the United States, “Woman in the Nineteenth Century.”

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

1. Margaret Fuller Facts
2. Feminist Fuller
3. Key Terms Crossword
4. Fill in the Timeline
5. Fuller or False?
6. Fuller’s Statements
7. Exemplary Excerpt
8. Thought Analysis
9. Women’s Rights Advocates
10. Feminist Acrostic
11. Inequality Then and Now

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Margaret Fuller?

Margaret Fuller was an American writer, journalist, and women’s rights advocate who lived in the 19th century. She was a prominent figure in the Transcendentalist movement and made significant contributions to American literature and the early feminist movement.

What were Margaret Fuller’s major works?

Margaret Fuller is best known for her book “Woman in the Nineteenth Century,” which is considered one of the foundational texts of American feminism. She also wrote extensively for periodicals, including essays, reviews, and literary criticism.

What role did Margaret Fuller play in the Transcendentalist movement?

Margaret Fuller was closely associated with the Transcendentalist movement, which emphasized individualism, self-reliance, and a connection to nature and spirituality. She contributed to the movement through her writings and participation in Transcendentalist circles, where she engaged in intellectual discussions with notable figures like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

How did Margaret Fuller contribute to women’s rights?

Margaret Fuller was a pioneering advocate for women’s rights. In her book “Woman in the Nineteenth Century,” she argued for women’s intellectual and social equality, challenging prevailing notions of women’s inferiority. Her writings and activism played a significant role in advancing the cause of women’s rights in the United States.

What is Margaret Fuller’s legacy?

Margaret Fuller’s legacy is multi-faceted. She is remembered as a literary trailblazer, a feminist pioneer, and a key figure in the Transcendentalist movement. Her writings continue to be studied for their insights into women’s rights and social justice. Fuller’s life and work inspire ongoing discussions about gender equality and the role of women in society.

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