Elizabeth Blackwell

After much prayer, her father Samuel Blackwell moved his family from England to America (Kent 20). The family found that Americans followed certain "unwritten laws" and a very few were brave enough to resist them. According to John Garraty, a specialist in American biographies, Samuel Blackwell was a "zealous champion of social reform, women's rights, temperance, and the abolition of slavery" (Garraty 107). For example, he taught his children to despise the selling of other humans during the slavery period in America (Kent 22). He also allowed his children to eat with adults, and believed serious conversation would be good for them (Crovitz 101). His daughters were permitted to read and improve their knowledge (Lutzker 17). Blackwell's father's example influenced her, according to Nancy Kline, a biographer of Elizabeth Blackwell. Kline explains how Blackwell's father was the main source of her beliefs: "The very same authority figure who ruled her childhood like a "benevolent providence" also taught her to question authority, to rebel, and it was from Papa, too, that she learned the high cost of rebellion." (Kline 9). The entire Blackwell family was involved in battles for human rights because they had a specific vision of how the ideal life should be, according to their Christian beliefs (Crovitz 100). Her religious background also inspired her to abolish injustice of all people, especially women (Crovitz 100). The refusal to conform and treat others unjustly also caused her to believe in equal rights for women, which was a concept that many other Americans did not agree with. .
             Along with her strong Christian beliefs, Elizabeth Blackwell was motivated by her strong belief in rights and equality for women. She had always "yearned for a challenge," says Jacqueline Kent, a researcher of women and medicine (Kent 23). Kent also commented, "She realized that if she studied medicine, perhaps she could open the door for other women who might be dreaming of becoming doctors" (Kent 30).