Chapter Three: The Family in Historical Perspectuive

Summary:
In this chapter we were introduced many different types of families throughout history. We explored how each type was constructed, and how they they may have changed .

The Colonial Family: this type of family was prevalent in the 1600s in England and in the first US settlements. The colonial family was a self-sufficient business (all of the family members had to work), a school (the family was responsible for teaching the children how to read), a vocational institutional ((children were taught how to do certain job through apprenticeships), a church (the family would guide in daily prayer and personal meditation), a house of correction (people were sent to be servants in houses for crimes committed), and a welfare institution (provided special care for members of the family who needed it). The colonial family tried to control premarital sex in a lot of way; once of which was called bundling, where a wooden board was placed between a young man and young woman in a bed. even with these precautions premarital sex was still common (many women were pregnant at the time of marriage), and out-of-wedlock births were common among young immigrant mothers. This type of family was patriarchal; a woman's many job was to obey her husband, and any status she had outside of the home came from her husband's status. Both men and women worked in the colonial family. Men were thought to be the family's economic support system, and women were responsible for meeting the needs of others. If children were to survive they were formed into well behaved, obedient children whose life revolved around by repression, religion, and respect.

Early American Families From Non-European Cultures:
American Indian Families: There were many different types of Indian families; they varied from structure to languages they spoke. Polygyny was common in twenty percent of the Indian families in the Great Plains, however in other tribe polygyny was allowed but hardly practiced because average hunters could not provide for more than one wife. It was not uncommon to find tribes that were matrilineal; women owned the houses, the furniture, the land, the livestock, and all of the property was passed down to female children. These families were small because there were high infant and child death rates, and there were often large gaps in between children. However, the children that did survive were carefree, and were rarely disciplined harshly.

African American Families: African American families were thought to be stable, intact, and resilient. They were often headed by women, but not because they were not married, or incapable husbands, but rather because husbands often died or were sold to other owners. Fathers who were still around taught their children different trades, and often played the role of father for many children. African American women worked long hard days; they worked in the on the plantations a mammy to both their own children as well as the children of the masters. They were the first to experience the double day. After slavery was abolished, the African American family stayed resilient, even after children began to migrate north; they wrote to their families constantly as well as came home to help with planting and harvesting.

Mexican American Families: In the 1800s Mexican men worked in laboring positions, while the women worked in domestic positions. The Mexican family was driven by familism (the notion that family relationships took precedence over individual well-being) and compadrazgo (also known as co-parents or god parents). Even though they worked outside of the home, the primary job of a Mexican woman was to be a homemaker and a mother. Mexican men were expected to be masculine, dominant, and assertive. Young Mexican boys and girls did some of the same chores around the house; however, they were given a lot more freedom than young Mexican girls. Young Mexican boys were allowed to go out to the town and go on trips with their father, while the girls were not allowed to go into town, or even attend chaperoned dances.

Industrialization, Urbanization, and European Immigration: 1820 to 1930

During this time the term cult of domesticity was introduced. The cult of domesticity glorified women’s domesticity roles, and suggested that the world of the “home” was to be managed by women. Women were expected to be “housewives”, make the home comfortable for her husband, and make the home a good place to raise children. In this time period, marriage was not likely to include distribution of land, so children were less dependent on their father for economic support. Children were drawn to cities to escape their strict fathers and look for non-agricultural work. Also during this time, children were not seen as children, and were allotted more time for playing and less time working. However, in the working and lower class there were still many instances of child labor, because it was critical that children go find work to help support their family.

For immigrant families, living in poverty was their way of life. Both men and women worked for low wages. The types of jobs that women were able get, and willing to take was based on ethnicity. For example, Italian women were not comfortable with working outside of the Italian community and in other people homes, so they worked as seasonal laborers in fruit and vegetable processing companies. Work was the lesser of the immigrants’ problems; there was not any decent housing in crowded cities. Houses with 34 rooms were housing 30 different families. Epidemics and diseases were another thing that plagued immigrant families and killed 20 percent and one third of the populations at a time. There were many instances of crime, delinquency, general demoralization, and the breakdown of marital and family relations. And as if this were not enough problems for immigrants to handle, they were faced with prejudice, discrimination, and economic exploitation on a daily basis.

The Modern Family

During the beginning of the 20^th century families were starting to be built on mutual affection, sexual attraction, compatibility, and personal happiness between husbands and wives. With this new type of family children were beginning to get more freedom; children began smoking, wearing defiant clothes, getting wild hairstyles, using slang, and going out on school nights. All of this activities were highly criticized.

Then the Great Depression hit. The social class that felt the effects of the Great depression was the working class, and the poor families. Working class mothers had to go out and find jobs, while the older children looked after their younger siblings. Boys were expected to drop out of school and go to work in order to help support their families. Blue-collar jobs decreased, while white-collar clerical and government job increased, many women went and filled these job positions. The upper-middle-class families did not have to make that many sacrifices in order for their families to survive. They simply just have to cut back on country club memberships, entertainment, and let go of some of their domestic workers. The Great Depression affected all races but it affected blacks more than works. Black unemployment went up to about fifth percent, and in some government jobs there was a limit to the number of blacks that could be working there. The Great Depression changed a lot of gender roles. Many men lose their status within their families if they had lost their jobs. This loss of status caused some men to become abusive, and alcoholics.

During World War II, there was a shortage of workers, and women rose to the occasion. The government was able to convince men and women that a woman's place was not in the home but in the workplace. Women worked in shipyards, steel mills, and ammunition factories; if they were working as a domestic servant they often left their job for better paying jobs in industries. After the war ended divorce rates rose. Divorce was the result of new found financial freedom of women, disintegrated families, alcoholism, and incompatible couple who had hastily got married right before the start of the war. Now that men were back from fighting the war, they needed job; women were conveniently kicked out off the work force. Media began to promote the cult of domesticity again. In the 1950s, suburbs began to spring up, couples beagn to by houses (intised by the 1 dollar down payments), there were many highway project (to connect the suburbs to cities), and automobile ownership went up.

New/Interesting Things:
One thing i found interesting about this chapter was idea of the cult of domesticity coming into society around the 1820s and "working" from a number of years. Then all of a sudden when the government needs worker that can retract this ideals and tell women they need to go to work in order to be good citizens and help their husband that are at war. the disturbing part is that when all the women are back from the war and need jobs again, women are pushed to the side again and now wanted in the workplace. Were this males (or the government, or society) not able to see that these women were basically keeping the war going by themselves by provide ammunition and aid for the men?



Discussion Topic:
Why is it that sociologist and historians claimed that slavery had "emasculated black fathers, forced black mothers to become the matriarchs of their families, and destroyed the African American family" if that was not the case at all?