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C H A P T E R T W O

P R E I N D U S T R I A L F A M I L I E S A N D T H E E M E R G E N C E O F A M O D E R N F A M I L Y F O R M

Diversity In Families

Family and the New Social History

 Prior to the 1970’s many historical studies of the family focused on the elite (who left behind letters, diaries, and memoirs)

 A new social history of the family focuses on: o Ordinary people, immigrants, members of

minority groups, women, children, and the elderly

Researching Families

 Documents in Archives, Libraries, and Private Collections  Letters  Oral Accounts (interviews)  Population Census  Vital Statistics  Birth Records/Death Records  Military Records  Wills  Employment Ledgers  School Directories  City Registers

Researching Families

Mission and Church Records  Baptismal records  Marriage records  Death and Burial records

Mass Media Files  Newspapers  Radio and Television broadcasts and transcripts

Census Data  Reveals names/addresses, household information,

occupation, race/ethnicity, country of birth.

Research Methods for Studying Families of the Past

 Family Reconstitution: A research tool used to reconstruct the lives of individuals and their family members during a certain historical period using birth, death, and marriage records across the generations. (Micro level analysis)

 Aggregate Data Analysis: A research tool that analyzes data and records from the larger population to understand trends over time. (Macro level analysis)

Searching for your own Ancestry

Online Records & DNA Tests Today a good amount of archival data is online, so people can do searches for documents pertaining to their ancestors via websites like ancestry.com

Several companies offer sophisticated DNA tests for people to examine the countries and regions of the world that their ancestors came from.

The LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City, UT. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints (the Mormon Church).

Founded in 1894 to allow members to trace their genealogical history, it holds 2.4 million rolls of microfilm.

Family History Themes

 Diversity - Broad differences in the U.S. population have made generalizations about "the family" impossible. There were several different kinds of families from the beginning.

 Uneven Change - Families in different social classes, different races, and immigrant groups all experienced different rates of change.

 Human Agency - Families are active agents rather than passive victims of change.

The Colonial Period

 Colonial Period approx 1600-1776 (13 American Colonies)

 1750 census: 1.17 million people  Population approx 80% European (primarily English, Scotch-Irish, German, Dutch)  Farmers, artisans, common laborers, indentured

servants (mostly women in their 20’s)

13 American Colonies

The Colonial Period

 African people were first brought to the colonies by the British as slaves in 1619 to Port Comfort, Virginia.

 Most slaves in the 13 colonies were brought from the Caribbean (not from Africa directly) as a result of the Atlantic slave trade.

 During the Colonial Era, 20% of the population was of African origin (primarily from West Africa) (Census 1750).

 Approximately 8% of Africans living in the 13 American colonies were free, 92% slaves.

The Colonial Period

The 1619 Project

 The New York Times Magazine is commemorating the 400 year anniversary of when the first people of African decent (20 people) were brought as slaves onto what today is U.S. soil (Virginia). They were brought on August 20, 1619 after two English privateer ships intercepted a Portuguese slave ship in route to the Spanish colony of Veracruz (in Mexico).

 The project re-examines the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade in the U.S. through a series of articles written by academics, historians, journalists, and writers.

 The first edition was published on Aug 14, 2019 included 10 essays, a photo essay, and a collection of poems and fiction.

 As a CSUN student you can access the issue through the CSUN library.

The Colonial Period

 Native American Indians were not counted in the census until 1860. During the Colonia Era, it is estimated that the Native American Indian population was 500,000 – 1 million.

 American Indian families were devastated by European diseases which killed approx 75% of the population on the Eastern seaboard.

 British settlers, especially those in the southern colonies, purchased or captured Native Americans to use as forced labor in cultivating tobacco, rice, and indigo. Some were sent to the Caribbean to work in sugar cane fields.

 In some instances Native Americans sold other Native Americans captured in disputes to Europeans.

The Colonial Period

The Colonial Period

A new study shows that Latinos in the Southwest have more Native American ancestry than Latinos in the South and Northeast, where proportions of European and African ancestry are higher. Bryc et al. (2015) The American Journal of Human Genetics.

The Colonial Period

 A genealogist and researcher specializing in the Freedmen of Indian Territory, author Angela Walton-Raji traced her ancestors to the slaves owned by American Indians.

 Her ancestors are Freedmen, African-Americans who were slaves of the Five Civilized Tribes – the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole Nations – in Indian Territory, which became Oklahoma in 1907. The Cherokee freed their slaves in 1863, and after the Civil War, the other tribes did the same. All but the Chickasaw eventually granted Freedmen full citizenship in their tribe.

Colonial Period

Population in 13 American Colonies in 1750

234,152

936,608

750,000 African Decent European Decent American Indian (est.)

The Colonial Family

Family Based Economy:  Society was primarily rural and

agricultural

 Families worked on the farm providing goods and services for themselves.

 Each family provided the market with a commodity

The Colonial Family

Godly Family:  A patriarchal institution ruled by the

father.  Conformed to the teachings of the bible.

Community:  No separation between family and

community (no privacy).  Community members often intervened in

personal family matters.

Old North Church Boston, MA 1604 2004

The Role of the Colonial Family

The colonial family acted as a: 1. Business (growing, harvesting, selling goods) 2. School 3. Vocational Institute 4. Church 5. House of Correction 6. Welfare Institution 7. Hospital

The Colonial Family

 Household Composition:  Primarily Nuclear (Husband, Wife,

Children)

 Sometimes included (servants, slaves, boarders, apprentices, orphans)

 Contrary to popular belief, research shows that there were few extended family and multi-generational households during the Colonial period.

The Colonial Family

 Wives and Husbands:  Romantic love existed, but marriage was primarily based on

economic and social needs, and marriages were often arranged.

 Short life expectancy caused many husbands/wives to re-marry (bring in step-children)

 The gender ratio in some ways enhanced the status of women in the colonies by allowing them to perform crucial economic duties.

The Colonial Family

 Wives and Husbands:  The husband-father (patriarch) was

supreme over all family members and owned all of the property.

 A wife was to be her husband’s helpmate, not his equal.

 New England Puritans urged wives to repeat a catechism that ended – “Mine husband is my superior, my better.”

The Colonial Family

Children:  Childhood was not viewed as a separate

stage in life, children were considered “miniature adults”

 Religious training was intensive and discipline was severe.

 How people raised their children differed by social class and region

 Children as young as 7 were “put out” to work, labor, or apprentice on another farm

The Colonial Family

Foner, Nancy. (1979). 18th Century Family and Social Life Revealed in Massachusetts Divorce Records.

 Court records of the time detail marital travesties such as desertion, adultery, and neglect.

 Families and communities were tightly connected. Court testimony came from neighbors, boarders, and family members who exerted social control by revealing others’ private matters and indiscretions.

 Detailed accounts of community members spying on other people’s acts of infidelity by looking through open windows.

Colonial House

PBS Documentary TV Show – Colonial House

Indentured servitude. No baths or showers. Public punishments. Welcome to daily life in the year 1628!

Think colonial life was all about pious Pilgrims, powdered wigs and freedom for all? Think again! Two dozen modern-day time travelers find out the hard way what early American colonial life was really like when they take up residence in COLONIAL HOUSE, public television's latest hands-on history series.

Our intrepid adventurers -- men, women, and children from across the U.S. and the U.K. -- arrived in their New World on a period tall ship and struggled to create a functioning and profitable colony, like those of America's first settlers, using only the tools and technology of the era. They lived there for 5 months.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHIEL9owQzI

The Emergence of the Modern Family

Historical factors influenced the shift from the Colonial Family to the Modern Family:

 American Revolutionary War (1776-1783)

 Industrial Revolution (1820-1870)

 Massive Immigration (1850-1930)

The Emergence of the Modern Family

Family-Wage Economy:  Goods and services were increasingly

produced outside of the home.

 Husbands earned wages outside the home in the commercial economy.

 Wives remained in the home doing domestic labor.

The Emergence of Modern Family Life

Three basic groups of laborers emerged:

 The Merchant Class consisted of storekeepers and bankers and such.

 The Artisan Class consisted of people skilled in some trade and they often passed this trade along to someone in the family who would then take over doing this trade for the village.

 The Laboring Class made up of “strangers” to the community provided day labor.

The Emergence of Modern Family Life

Household Composition:  Nuclear (Husband, Wife, Children)

non-family members exited household

Community:  Families became private, set apart

from society with distinct boundaries.

The Emergence of Modern Family Life

Community:  Rise of specialized institutions and agencies that took

over tasks formerly provided by family (school, hospital, reformatory, social welfare, etc.)

The Emergence of Modern Family Life

Husbands and Wives:  Romantic love and affection became

the basis of marriage.

 Household remained patriarchal.

 Husbands focused on earning living outside of the home.

 Wives concentrated on keeping house, raising children, creating moral tone for the family

The Emergence of Modern Family Life

Children:  Childhood became a distinct period of development.  There was a decline in corporal punishment.  The family became child centered.

Challenging a Uniform Definition of the Family

 The “Modern Family” form primarily applied to middle class white families.

 In working-class families both men and women worked outside of the home.

 Until child labor laws were passed, children from poor families worked in factories.