American family during
the Depression
History of the American Family
Rockport
History Book Club
Wednesday, July 29,
2015
Steven Mintz and Susan Kellogg, Domestic
Revolutions: A Social History of American Family Life, 1988. New York: The
Free Press, Simon & Schuster. 316 pages.
I feel whiplashed by this book, and
by the history of American families.
The idea of the family in the time
of the first European settlers was so strong, and you don’t have to be a social
scientist or historian to know that today, more families are run by a single
mother, more marriages will end in divorce, more teenage girls will have
children outside of wedlock, and more children will grow up in a continuous
cycle of poverty, drugs, abuse, lack of parental guidance, poor schooling, and
the prospect of repeating it all over again for another generation.
This book was published in 1988, so
it would be interesting to read the 2015 version of this history. But nothing I have learned or read suggests
that we have found the path toward improvement.
The authors do propose remedies, though, and we’ll look at those later.
Steven Mintz, a historian, joined
forces with Susan Kellogg, an anthropologist, to conduct this fascinating story
of the American family.
They use letters, diaries and
documents generated at the time to look at what is an American family, and all
the “Domestic Revolutions” that have taken place since white men and women
arrived on this continent and set up housekeeping.
The authors examine Native Americans
as well, and give us an interesting look at life in the families of African
slaves.
When the Pilgrims arrived at
Plymouth, Massachusetts the family was the most important institution to
helping them adapt to life on this wild continent.
The family was a lot more than we
think of today. It was the work place
for its members, the school, and the place of worship. It was the hospital, the
bank, and more.
Love was not necessarily involved in
marriage. Husbands and wives were often
matched by the older generation, and there was always a financial
consideration, which became more elaborate as more Americans obtained land and
generated wealth.
Pilgrim Women Cooking
In Puritan days, the idea of death
was everywhere. Many women died in
childbirth, and it was the rare child who reached the age of 20. Add to that
the Puritan concept of original sin, whereby even newborn children were
considered sinful. Children were taught
to be ready for death. Early schooling combined with religious teaching, to
develop another God-fearing generation.
Puritans never thought of the family
as a private unit. It was an integral part of the larger political and social
world. It was a world of one man, one woman and many children. Orphan children, children of the poor,
convicts and single men and women were compelled by selectmen to live within
“well-governed families” so that “disorders may be prevented.”
In spite of Puritan ethics and
morality, life went on in the colonies, and not all of it was pretty. The
authors write of men tried for abusing their wives, a man in Maine beat his
wife with a club when she refused to feed a pig. An Ipswich man poured poison
in his wife’s broth in an attempt to kill her.
Mintz frequently quoted the diaries
of Samuel Sewell, a businessman in the late 17th century in
Massachusetts. Writing about the time
when his daughter gave birth in 1701, 16 women were in attendance in the
lying-in room to offer encouragement and give advice.
If a Puritan father were to be
transported into a modern American family, he would be apoplectic at the
independence and ignorance of children today.
Children, both boy and girls, wore a
sort of dress until age seven, when boys put on trousers and girls
dresses. Boys went to work, as
apprentices in the father’s trade, or nearby in another home. Girls began to learn of the role of women in
spinning, cooking, finding wood, growing a garden, sewing, and cleaning.
Gradually, things loosened up in the
family. Fathers began to lose or give up
some absolute authority. The idea of “original
sin” of newborns changed so that the concept of death was matched with a more
pleasant afterlife, when earthly burdens would be shed.
And children were no longer required
to remain standing while their parents ate their meals.
Fewer couples addressed each other
as “Madam” and “Sir”, as emotion began to creep in to the family.
In the 17th century there
were from 850,000 to two million Native Americans in what we now call the
United States, and they were in 240 different tribal and ethnic groups. Families were small, infant mortality was
high, mothers nursed their children for two years. As time went on, many
Indians died of diseases of white men, and many Indian women married white men
and African slaves, as families began to get more diverse.
Mintz’ 1988 book provides an
interesting discussion of life in African-American slave homes. With all the terrible treatment of slaves,
and with families torn apart by slave owners, children sold off, wives sold to another
owner, sexual abuse by white owners—the most horrible of treatment and
miserable living conditions--- despite all this, the man, the father, was a
stronger part of the family unit. Where
they could, men and women stayed married (or committed to each other where
marriage was not permitted) in far more cases than today.
Chesapeake planters learned early on
that they needed to grow the next generation of slaves, so more African women
were brought over, and stable family life was encouraged. Most unions of men and women lasted over 20
years, except when one mate was sold to another plantation, and according to
the authors, slaves valued marital stability. Slaves in most cases discouraged
casual sex in their communities.
By the start of the 18th
century, more white families began to pull into a higher income category.
The Industrial Revolution brought a
lot of changes to the American family.
As factories opened, many people, left the farms and came to work in
factories. Women, especially, left home
to work in the mills. Soon, there was a
need for more workers than could be provided by natives, and immigration began
to increase. Poor Europeans, seeking the
promise of wealth in the New World, flocked here, and of course that brought
changes to the American family.
Fifties Family
The Fifties, 1950-59, usually comes
in for recognition as the time of the ideal family. There was far more stability than today, more
discipline. Parents, who grew up in the
Depression, had lower income expectations. They had lived through World War II
and experienced sacrifice. And few
people were involved with drugs.
Then came the Sixties, and all hell
broke loose. Intellectual leaders
pointed out the plight of American women, mostly dedicated to a life as mother
and homemaker, supporting partner in the family, and began the drive for
feminism and women’s liberation.
Abortion, once considered taboo,
became increasingly mainstream. At about
the same time, birth control pills for women became widely used.
Women’s Liberation
March, 1960s
Young people were stirring,
restless, ready to shake loose the conformity of the Fifties, and an age of
revolution began. War began slowly in a far-off country called Viet Nam, but in
this decade it grew, and gathered up young American men to go off to
fight. Unlike World War II, this brought
on a fierce public opposition, and many young people openly resisted the draft.
At the same time Black leaders were
gaining increasing traction in striving for racial equality, and this brought
on demonstrations and riots and murders, racial unrest that continues even
today. But changes took place.
Against this backdrop the American
family changed profoundly in this decade.
More women left home to work, leaving children in the care of child-care
facilities, relatives or babysitters. There
were more divorces. More and more people
got introduced to drugs.
Discussing
families gets very quickly into which politics people use. The African-American family today seems to
many observers to be a structure in crisis.
Too few children are born and grow up in homes with no father, and
perhaps a mother who has experienced very negative relations with males and
tends to take her feelings out on her sons.
Black
Poverty, 1994
Education
in poor, black neighborhoods is not as good as in middle class neighborhoods,
and even if it were spectacular, the child’s education should take place 24
hours a day, at school and in the home.
Children
who receive a poor education, or are poorly motivated, and eventually drop out,
become more of the huge swirling pool of unemployed, uneducated, unmotivated
people who are easily captured by gangs, crime, and drugs. And what does
society do? It locks them up, where they
can continue to polish destructive behaviors in prison.
Conservatives
conclude that the black family is really kept down by massive welfare programs
that encourage poor work habits, and discourage cohabitation and parental
support.
Liberals
contend that there is too much incarceration, and many imprisoned blacks should
be released to work programs. They cry
for improving schools in black neighborhoods, but good schools without parental
support is like one hand clapping.
What’s the solution?
The authors offer some.
Enact legislation that encourages husbands to stay
in the family. Provide support for families, instead of withdrawing welfare
when the husband comes home.
Work out flexible hours and maternity/paternity
leave policy to allow workers to be more effective parents.
Improve custody laws and other aspects of divorce
law to provide best possible contacts between parents and children.
Steps are now being taken to decriminalize
non-violent drug users, with addicts placed into recovery where before they
were jailed. Will this work?
Wed. Aug. 26, 2015: The History of Food in America.
[Proposed by Janos Posfai] Let’s explore
what Americans have considered a square meal, starting with Native Americans
(Indians), and including Pilgrims, then people arriving from other parts and
classes of England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Italy, Russia, African slaves,
China; look at regional foods from the South, New England, the West, Midwest.
Hitler ©Life Magazine
Wed. Sep. 30, 2015: Charismatic leaders in
History. [Proposed by Janos Posfai] What
were the keys to Hitler’s, Churchill's, Mussolini's, FDR's successes? Keen
perception of public moods? Oratory abilities? Character, firm ideology?
Connecting to the people? How did they deploy their charisma? How could
Napoleon manipulate the masses without TV ads? Why were people so perceptive to
a madman in Germany? Intriguing and recurring questions.
Wed. Oct. 28, 2015: Show Trials in
History. [Proposed by Janos Posfai] Read
how nations and leaders have used a well-publicized court trial to serve
another need, like demonstrating power, making peace, deflecting
responsibility, etc.
Examples: Trial of Socrates; Martin Luther at the Diet of
Worms; Sacco Vanzetti; Nuremburg War Crimes Trials; Julius and Ethel Rosenburg;
Trial of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu; Saddam Hussein in Iraq;
Stalin’s NKVD show trials; Trials in Stalinist Hungary like Cardinal József
Mindszenty, oil executives, L. Rajk.
Wed. Dec. 2, 2015: No meeting
For questions contact Sam Coulbourn at scoulbourn1@verizon.net
