Maria Mitchell for Students

• Frankenstein published. This novel, now considered a work of classic literature, was written by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley when she was just nineteen years old, and published two years later. At a time when women were not considered capable of writing books that were interesting and exciting for everyone, Mary Shelley proved that this was not the case.
• April 4 – The U.S. Congress adopts the flag of the United States as having 13 red and white stripes and one star for each state (20 stars) with additional stars to be added whenever a new state is added to the Union.

Quaker Meeting House on Nantucket now owned by the Nantucket Historical Association. (Photo courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association)

Quakers are Christians, but they believe that they do not need a priest or minister to help them communicate with God. Instead, Quakers attend meetings in a simple, undecorated meeting house, where they sit in silence and wait for God to speak to them. Quakers believe that all people, no matter their race or whether they are rich or poor, have an “Inner Light,” or a part of God, inside themselves. Because of this, Quakers in Maria’s time believed that slaves were equal to their masters and that men were equal to women, even though people outside of their faith did not. Quakers worked to make sure each child received a full education and struggled to put an end to the slave trade. Quakers believed in helping to make the world more peaceful and in living the most simple life possible.