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The Changing Face of theAmerican Family: Early History

of the CivilWar,industrialization,and a
huge immigrant influx of Irish,and later,
Germans.As fathers left to fight wars and
work in factories,the major cities gave rise
to the more sentimental and gentle ideal
of theVictorian family.This ideological
change encouraged men to assume the
sole responsibility of“breadwinner,”a
term coined in the early nineteenth
century and unheard of in Colonial
America.Women’s roles changed to those
ofdomesticity,a view that a woman was
to devote herself to her husband,domestic
duties,and childcare.Married women
were not supposed to work for a wage.
They were considered too pure and
innocent to be out in the working world.
Ideology does not always translate into
practicality.Despite the idea of a sole
breadwinner,strict role divisions between
the sexes,and the desire to give children a
sheltered childhood,the practice of a
cooperative economy continued to be the
prevailing reality of the time.The wife
continued to contribute economically to
the family by sewing for others,selling
baked goods,or performing other small
tasks for income.
Innate Differences.Anotherprevalent
ideawhichdevelopedduringthistimewas
thebelief therewereinnatedifferencesin
characterbetweenmenandwomen.Men
werethoughttobemoreactive,dominant,
assertive,andmaterialistic.Womenwere
thoughttobemorereligious,modest,
passive,submissive,anddomestic

(Donnally,1986).Asaresult,anidealof

Americanwomanhooddeveloped,denoted

byhistorianBarbaraWelter(1976)asa“cult

of truewomanhood.”Thiscult,whichwas

evidentinmuchof theliteratureof theday,

supportedfourbasicattributesof female

character:piety,purity,submissiveness,and

domesticity.Pietyorreligionwasthecoreof

awoman’svirtueandwasgiventoherby

Godandnature.Theessenceof theseideas

wasthatreligionwasakindof tranquilizer.

Youngwomenweretoprayratherthan

think,astheywereresponsiblefor

preventingtheillsof theworldperpetrated

bymen.Thus,religionwasonceagainused

todefinegenderroles.Itiseasytoseehow

thedoublestandardformenandwomen

evolvedfromtheseideas.

In many religioushouseholds,each

morningbegan with prayer andBible

reading.Each day endedwith thefamily

The wedding ceremony in the 1800s bears resemblance to

wedding ceremonies today.

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