The ideal American family was transformed in the 19th century in large part due to the great changes taking place in the American society. Many family groups fit this changing mold while some did not. In this essay I will show how this concept of the ideal American family changed. I will also try to explain which groups of Americans followed this concept and why. The end of the 18th century was a turbulent time in American history. The country had just won its independence from Great Britain and was attempting to find an identity for itself. Up to this point families in America were similar to British families. The father was the head of the household, but lived in harmony with his wife. The children were seen as part of the family’s labor force, helping to produce food and supplies for the family. The church ruled the family as much as colonial law in the late 18th. A change in the general economy paved the way for the emergence of a new type of family. The market economy arose in the 1800’s in America. Goods were no longer being produced solely for family consumption. The families of this period were producing goods in excess to sell at markets. Goods able to be purchased at a market as well as the slave trade in the south helped to lessen the amount of household production for the average American family. With a market economy now in place in America, the door was open for the factory system and industrialization. This factory system created two main types of families in America: Middle Class and Working Class. Middle class families were better off economically than their working class counterparts. In these families men worked in jobs considered to be middle class white-collar occupations. Women were therefore staying home and surviving on the man’s salary. With these middle class women staying home along with the smaller amounts of household production, a new type of labor arises. Women in this early 19th century time period become more and more involved in child rearing. The household work for these middle class women is task-oriented and unwaged. This makes them more and more dependent on their husband’s salary and more responsible for the children who were also out of the labor force. Working class families were different in some ways from middle class families. Often in a marriage, the man’s wages were not enough... ... middle of paper ... ...y are allowed to do. Although the Irish were oppressed in this country I feel that they were proud to be Irish. Possibly more so in relation to the surrounding social order. The two cultures, Irish and Protestant, held such different ideals that I believe that the Irish were as proud to be who they were as the Protestants were sure of the virtue of their own ways. The idea of an ideal American family seems ridiculous today. Two hundred years ago many Americans may not have thought twice about the idea that there was a correct form that a family should follow. In the 19th century our country was young and was one of a few to have to come up with its own national identity in such a short period of time. In hindsight and with a bit of anachronism one could say that America dealt with its immigrant population with a great deal of hypocrisy. Instead of being a haven for immigrants America was almost a factory, attempting to take in different people and create a melting pot in which everything becomes alike. Every ingredient eventually loses its uniqueness. Bibliography: christine stansell "women children and the uses of the streets" Femenists studies 8 (sep.82)
In chronicling how the family structure has changed in America, it is important to understanding how family was actually defined. When referencing Leave it to Beaver (further referred to as LITB) times, family took on a substantive definition, or the idea that family was equivalent to relative, or related by blood or law. While this definition of family served the time period, it failed to evolve with society. For that reason, sociologists set out to determine a “more inclusive functionalist definition,” that focuses on what families do. “A functionalist definition of families focuses on how families provide for the physical, social, and emotional needs of individuals and of society as a whole” (Witt). With that, the functionalist perspective identifies six primary functions, which include reproduction, socialization, protection, regulation of sexual behavior, affection and companionship, and...
In conclusion this paper has shown my perceptions on the described topics. I have identified why the family is considered the most important agent in socialization. I explained the dramatic changes to the American family and what caused them. I explained the differences in marriage and family. I expressed my feelings on the trend of diverse families, and how a change in trends to traditional views would change women’s rights.
From the first Colonial settlements to the Civil War, a great many changes took place within American society. Increasing industrialization in the North and an increase in large-scale farming coupled with reliance on slave labor in the South led to very different values and socially accepted lifestyles than were commonplace in the early colonies. In both of these societies, there was a shift from a community subsistence existence to one of markets and wages. These changes are reflected nowhere more distinctly and thoroughly than in the individual “microcosms of society:” the American family.
...a family. (Belton, 2012)The elderly are valued for their wisdom and knowledge that they pass down to the younger generations. The Family unit is an important aspect in the Amish community. By having a family, no one will ever go through the struggles of life alone. (Facts, 2007)
The women and mothers of the Republic during the Industrial Age were most significantly impacted by the Industrial Revolution. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, women would work alongside their partner in the agricultural fields which made it is easy for them to juggle childcare and work in the fields (Bailey 584). This allowed a certain sense of equality for women and men when it came to working. Once the Revolution struck, women would have to leave their children with a caretaker if they wished to work. Though society deemed they stay home and take on more traditional pursuits such as raising children, management of households, and the preservation of family values (Benteley 666). In order to encourage this value, women would be paid less money than men doing...
Legend has it that Romulus is the founder of Ancient Rome. Romulus and Remus are twin brothers whom were abandoned at birth. They were placed into a woven basket and sent down the Tiber River. When they landed upon shore the two babies were discovered by a female wolf, who took them in and nursed them. A shepherd then found them, he then took them in and rose the two brothers. When the two brothers became adults they decided to establish a city where the wolf had found them when they were infants. In the process of deciding where it would be, the two brothers got into a fight, Remus was killed. Romulus then founded the town and named it Rome, after himself. Of course, we all know this is just a legend and not real, but the children of Rome were taught it in Roman schools as if it were real. Rome was founded in 753 B.C., along the Tiber River and exists around seven hills. The settlement were near the river for a constant water supply. The early people of Rome were from a tribe called 'Latins', whom were from the Plains of Latium (Trueman, History of Ancient Rome, April 21).
In the late 1700’s and early 1800’s big business began to boom. For the first time companies were developing large factories to manufacture their goods. Due to the new mechanics and cheap labor, factory owners could now produce their goods at a cheaper rate. As big businesses brought wealth and capitalism, it also widened the gap between the wealthy elite and the poor. One class in particular was horribly affected by the growth of big factories. This class was the poor working class. According to the article “Child Labor in the United States” written by Robert Whaples, a big proportion of the labour work force was made up of children: “In 1820 children aged 15 and under made up 23 percent of the manufacturing labor force of the industrializing
It’s not easy to build an ideal family. In the article “The American Family” by Stephanie Coontz, she argued that during this century families succeed more when they discuss problems openly, and when social institutions are flexible in meeting families’ needs. When women have more choices to make their own decisions. She also argued that to have an ideal family women can expect a lot from men especially when it comes to his involvement in the house. Raymond Carver, the author of “Where He Was: Memories of My Father”, argued how his upbringing and lack of social institutions prevented him from building an ideal family. He showed the readers that his mother hide all the problems instead of solving them. She also didn’t have any choice but to stay with his drunk father, who was barely involved in the house. Carvers’ memoir is relevant to Coontz argument about what is needed to have an ideal family.
Is the American family in really in crisis or is it just evolving at a more advanced rate than society? According to the sociologist, Michael Kimmel, “[t]hough the family feels like one of the most fragile of social institutions, it is also perhaps among the most resilient” (Kimmel 143). It seems fragile because of the decline of marriages rates, the increase in divorce rates, and the increase in cohabitating couples. However, the family is one of the most resilient social institutions, “able to adapt to changing economic, social, and cultural circumstances and remain the foundation of society” (Kimmel 142). Besides, statistics alone do not prove the failing condition of the American family.
The American family model traditionally included the mother and father with two kids, a boy and girl. In this 1950’s family model the husband is seen as the breadwinner while the mother is the homemaker. This model is exemplified in the Battleship advertisement where the father is resting from a hard day’s by work playing a board game with his son. At the same time the mother is doing the days dishes with some help drying from her daughter. Today however, these rigid stereotypical roles are no longer applicable to the members of the modern family. With increases in divorce rates and teen pregnancy combined with the shift in economic roles of the majority of families, the traditional nuclear family is a minority (Wetzel, 1990). The JCPenny
Before the 1890s, females had no other options but to live with their parents before marriage and with their husband after marriage. They couldn’t work and if they did their wage was way lower than men. Today many women chose their own lifestyle and have more freedom. They can chose if they want to get married and have kids or not. Coontz said “what 's new is not that women make half their families living but that for the first time they have substantial control over their own income, along with the social freedom to remain single or to leave an unsatisfactory marriage” (98). When women couldn’t work, they had no options but to stay with their husband for financial support. Working is a new way of freedom because they can choose to stay or leave their husband and make their own decisions. It’s not like women couldn’t work before, they could but they didn’t have too much social freedom like to get divorce or not have children. Their voice wasn’t as important as men. Most of the time men had to decide everything in the family and had control over the family. Coontz believe that today women have more control over their own life and they can choose however they want to live their life. Kuttner also agree that “most Americans, after all, believe women should not be consigned to the nursery and the kitchen” (122). Women used to be the mother who
National Center for Women & Policing. (2013). Changing the Face of Policing. Retrieved May 27, 2014, from http://womenandpolicing.com/
Traditionally the most dominant family form in the United States has been the married couple family. The image of two parents with children living under one roof is the norm for a married couple family. In a married couple family one or both parents work and income levels are gener...
These changes stand undoubtedly due to the fact that for decades dominated, as at any other time, a type of family: the vast majority of Americans living or aspiring to live in nuclear families, a form of family now ironically is considered the traditional American family. Also, the routine of rural family a hundred years ago was hit by migration to the big cities, the doubling of life expectancy, the control of natural fertility and the development of assisted fertility in its many variants (including now a potential human cloning), the end of religious and romantic love "as love for life," the legitim...
“. The average policeman and police chief thought of policewomen as a fad and considered their entry into the police field an unjustified excursion into social work. They thought of punitive functions and not preventative ones as the duty of police. No real concerted opposition to policewomen arose in the United States (unlike Great Britain), but rather the attitude prevailed that women had to prove themselves good police officers which they most likely could not do.” (Horne, 1975)