Family in the 17th and 18th Centuries

The English Colonies

• Purpose of the new settlements was to recreate English institutions and traditions as soon as possible.
  • Institutions such as patriarchy, marriage, law etc.
  • The family was an agent of settlement and a source of population
  • The economy depended on the family farm

Patriarchy

• Patriarchy : A system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it
  • was not only a domestic system but also a political and religious one

Marriage

• Domestic unity was viewed as a public good
  • Family stability meant community stability
• A woman was considered property.
  • She belonged to her father until she married and at that time ownership was passed to her husband.
  • Married women had no property rights of their own
• Children were also considered property and the father had full ownership.

The Happy Home

• Basic prerequisites for a happy home was wifely obedience
• Head of household was required to:
  • Control its members
  • Supervise finances
  • Made family decisions
  • Served as intermediary between family and community

Women and the Law in the British Colonies

• Feme Sole
  • A single woman
  • Divorced
  • Widowed
• Feme Covert
  • A woman protected by marriage
  • A woman did not have a separate legal existence

Puritan Women

• Most Puritan women accepted their subordinate place in society.
• “Ordered liberty”; Collective; Not individual
• They viewed themselves as part of a community and a family, with duties determined by their sex and age not as individuals with rights equal to those of men.

Puritan Social Structure

• In the family, the husband was superior to wife, but together they ruled the children and servants.
• In the church, the minister and elders dominated the congregation.
• In the community officials led the people.

Puritan Church

• Religion and politics were intertwined
• Women’s role in the church was the same as their role in society
  • Women could not preach or vote on church business

The Quakers

• Ideal: To live according to the doctrine that all are equal in the eyes of God.
• Pennsylvania was “holy experiment” where Quakers could exercise their beliefs without interference.
• Women were more vocal and more active participants than Puritans.

Quaker Women

• Quaker women could be vocal in church
• They believed that God spoke through them (everyone)
• These women challenged the Puritan faith and expectations of female subordination

17th and 18th Century Women

• Women remained subordinate to men.
• Women’s lives centered around the household.
• Women rarely controlled their own destiny.

Women’s Work

• Lifelong production of food, clothing, and household items
• Women’s work was done in or around the home.
  • Daily food preparation
  • Food preservation: smoked and salted meat; pickled vegetables
  • Made soap, candles, medicines
  • Made clothing

Children

• Childbirth was the one occasion where women were in total control and men were excluded
• 1/5 of adult deaths among women occurred during childbirth
• High infant mortality rate
• Higher survival rate fostered greater emotional investment in children

Early Education

• Almost all education took place in the home
  • Children were taught character formation and vocational training
  • Girls were taught obedience, industry, piety, and the habit of silence
  • (all personality traits that were valued in women)

Gender and Character

• Rationality was a male characteristic
• Piety was always associated with womanhood
• Women’s education emerges but with resistance
• Intellectual Activity was linked to unflattering masculinity