Sarah Moore Grimké (November 26, 1792 – December 23, 1873) was an American abolitionist, widely held to be the mother of the women's suffrage movement.

[1]: xxi  Born and reared in South Carolina to a prominent and wealthy planter family, she moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the 1820s and became a Quaker, as did her younger sister Angelina.

Although her family recognized her remarkable intelligence, she was prevented from obtaining a substantive education or pursuing her dream of becoming an attorney, as these goals were considered "unwomanly.

"[3] She was educated by private tutors on subjects considered appropriate for a young Southern woman of her class,[4] including French, embroidery, painting with watercolors, and playing the harpsichord.

[further explanation needed] Feeling confined in her role, Sarah developed a connection to her family's slaves to an extent that unsettled her parents.

From the time she was 12 years old, Sarah spent her Sunday afternoons teaching Bible classes to the young slaves on the plantation, an experience she found frustrating.

[citation needed] Sarah secretly taught Hetty, her personal enslaved girl, to read and write, but when her parents discovered the young tutor at work, the vehemence of her father's response proved alarming.

Years afterward, she reflected on the incident, writing "I took an almost malicious satisfaction in teaching my little waiting maid at night, when she was supposed to be occupied in combing and brushing my locks.

The light was put out, the keyhole screened, and flat on our stomachs before the fire, with the spelling book under our eyes, we defied the laws of South Carolina.

She wondered at the behavior of her family and neighbors, who encouraged slaves to be baptized and to attend worship services, but did not consider them true brothers and sisters in faith.

They come over my memory like gory spectres, and implore me, with resistless power, in the name of a God of mercy, in the name of a crucified Saviour, in the name of humanity, for the sake of the slaveholder as well as the slave, to bear witness to the horrors of the Southern prison-house.

[11][dead link‍] She stayed in Philadelphia a few months after her father died and met Israel Morris, who would introduce her to Quakerism, specifically the writings of John Woolman.

After leaving Charleston, Angelina and Sarah traveled around New England speaking on the abolitionist circuit, at first addressing women only in large parlors and small churches.

Although Sarah had the desire to 'equip women for economic independence and for social usefulness' [22], they continued to be attacked, even by some abolitionists, who considered their position extreme.

Joining her sister in the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1836, Sarah originally felt that she had found the place where she truly belonged, in which her thoughts and ideas were encouraged.

This was too much for the general public of 1837 and caused many harsh attacks on their womanhood; one line of thought suggested that they were both just poor "spinsters" displaying themselves in order to find any man who would be willing to take one.

[3] In 1838, Angelina married Theodore Weld, a leading abolitionist who had been a severe critic of their inclusion of women's rights into the abolition movement.

[citation needed] She worked to rid the United States of slavery, Christian churches which had become "unchristian," and prejudice against African Americans and women.

[3][15] Sarah Grimké is categorized as not only an abolitionist but also a feminist because she challenged the Society of Friends, which touted women's inclusion but denied her.

[22] Sarah Grimké used Scripture in most of her writings that demonstrated her dedication to the Quaker faith and her genuine belief in its compatibility with activism.

In 1837 Sarah responded to a Pastoral Letter that reinforced Biblical interpretations supporting the role of females in the "private sphere" only, using Scripture to provide the benefits and power of this position.

[25] Her faith and closeness to God were a critical factor in her ability to be unafraid during times of opposition and to argue on behalf of women and slaves well.

Later, she declares that men are equally guilty in "the fall" (of Adam and Eve in the Bible) of humankind and therefore disproving the eternal punishment previously laid upon women as a result of their alleged irresponsibility.

In the conclusion of her letters she acknowledges the striking ideas they pose and the newness to these discussions among Christians, but urges them to "investigate them fearlessly and prayerfully, and not shrink from the examination," which was characteristic of her writing and speeches.