Families in Antebellum America

A woodcut printed in The Little Book of Early American Crafts and Trades (first published in 1807) illustrates the family economy at work in the home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Four Seasons of Life--Middle Age: The Season of Strength
Currier & Ives, 1868

  In the pre-industrial household all members of the family were required to be productive to ensure the well being of the family. Although there were specific roles played by men, women and children, all played some role and all needed the others. With industrial, factory production it was increasingly common for one or two members of the family to be the ones to go out to work and bring home the money required to support the others. 
    In the early years of factory production it was not at all clear that it was the men that should be the wage earners. In fact the industrialists were happy to fill their factories with children and particularly women. Many industrialists argued women were better workers than men. A social and economic battle was fought in the early 19th century the outcome of which was the definition of men as the primary wage earners. This battle was accompanied by a redefinition of gender roles to comply with the above public/private separation of life. 
    Men came to be associated with the public sphere and women with the private or domestic. Interestingly as this happened, the definition of what it meant to be a man and what it meant to be a woman began to change. Men needed to function in the public sphere which was seen as cold and uncaring and harsh. Men came to be defined according to this environment and needed to be tempered and softened by the domestic sphere which was warm, accepting and nurturing. Women were viewed as being especially outfitted to provide this kind of environment for their children and men. Thus women were redefined as essentially moral and religious but also soft and vulnerable and needing the protection of their publicly oriented men. This view of men and women was invented by the 19th century middle class and became so influential by the twentieth century that it seemed like this the way it had always been.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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