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History of the family

Looking at the American family across time. History of the family. The history of family history . A vital point to remember is the fact that most research (until recently) has focused on white families. Even within this context it often had an even narrower focus – the white middle class.

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History of the family

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  1. Looking at the American family across time History of the family

  2. The history of family history • A vital point to remember is the fact that most research (until recently) has focused on white families. • Even within this context it often had an even narrower focus – the white middle class.

  3. The First Americans – Native Americans • Pre-1800s • Populations decimated • Little evidence exists • No one type of family

  4. Activities of early Western families • Family-based economy • Production • Reproduction • Consumption

  5. Colonial Families • Public family • Performs a public good • Limited privacy • Three R’s of childhood • Repression • Respect • Religion

  6. Earliest English Colonial Families • New England colonies – fathers dominated • Chesapeake Bay colonies – shortage of women

  7. Colonial Families • Family served as • School • Vocational institute • Church • House of correction • Orphanage • Welfare institution • Poorhouse

  8. Colonial African American (Slave) families • William Tucker • Men outnumbered women • Forbidden to marry • Worked to maintain traditional African family • Children often taken from them

  9. Emerging “Modern” Family • Women gain more power through courtship (?) • “The Cult of True Womanhood”

  10. Emerging “Modern” Family • Marriage based on affection • Household division of labor • “separate spheres” • “women’s sphere” • Division of labor not an option for working class, immigrant, and poor families

  11. The Private Family • Private family • intimate relationship • Pool resources & household labor • Emergence of private family brought public concerns • Increased premarital sex • Drop in birthrate • Rebelling youth culture • Rising divorce rates

  12. Private Family: The Companionate Marriage • Men & Women share household decision making and tasks. • Marriages provide romance, sexual fulfillment, and emotional growth. • Wives no longer guardians of virtue and sexual restraint. • Children given greater freedom to explore and experience the world

  13. Private Family:War & Great Depression Years • Married middle class women called into the workforce. • Women take on jobs generally held by men. • Men return. What does Rosie do? • New media campaigns

  14. Private Family: Ladies, You Can Go Home Now.

  15. Private Family: Ladies, You Can Go Home Now.

  16. Private Family: Ladies, You Can Go Home Now.

  17. Private Family: Ladies, You Can Go Home Now.

  18. Private Family: 1960s and Beyond • Birthrates tumble • Divorce rates rise • Cohabitation increases • The Second Wave of Feminism

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