Matthew Brodsky
Period 1
American History
Research essay
Dorothea Dix
Dorothea Dix was born on April 4, 1802 in Maine. Her father was an itinerant Methodist preacher. Her family life is not what we can call a normal life. It was rather abusive because of her father and mother. Her mother had mental issues her father was a heavy drinker. Her family later in dorothea’s life had two more children, Joseph and Charles. When dorothea was still am little girl began to care for her siblings. Her parents would fight a lot. When the fighting occurred she would go to boston to stay with her grandmother. When she was still a little girl her father taught her how to read and write. She would later move to Massachusetts with her family. They would have more family problems. Her father began to drink more heavily and her mother would have constant headaches. Because of this her and her brothers moved in with her grandmother in boston. They would move in with Madame Dix. Madame Dix was very wealthy and lived in a mansion in Boston. Her life with her grandmother was different than what she was used to. Madame Dix wanted Dorothea to be almost exactly like a wealthy girl. Dorothea did not want to be like that. Her grandmother would punish her when she would give food to the poor. When she was fourteen she moved in with her great aunt. She lived with her great aunt for four years and was turned into a lady. She would later Edward Banks, her second cousin. Dorothea wanted to be a schoolteacher and she told him. He helped her by getting her a store where she would be able to teach. She taught kids between the ages of six and eight. Her cousin would later fall in love with her. She stopped teaching because of it. Edward later purposed to her and she accepted. She did not want to marry because of how she saw what had happened with her parents. She opened up a school in the mansion to teach children. Dorothea later took care of her grandmother. She later started to suffer...