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The Changing Face of theAmerican Family: Early History

demonstratetheirreadinessforadulthood.

Thisresultedinaseparationbetween

childhoodandadulthoodwhichhadnot

beenpreviouslyexperienced.Theconceptof

adolescenceemergedfromthisseparation

duringthelatterpartofthe1800s.

The Challenges of a New Market Economy

The newdemocratic familyof the

middle to late 1800s had two primary

functions: emotional and civil.The family

was now charged with the responsibility

for the emotional support and happiness

of its members.In addition,the family

played a civil role in teaching the children

the values of good citizenship,such as

adherence to values,order,responsibility,

and self-discipline.

This ideal-lookingfamily formwas

plagued with struggles.Young women

enjoyed increasing freedoms

related to jobs and education prior

to marriage. However, they were

still subject to the expectations of

their families, to put aside their

own goals and to take on the goals

of their husbands. Increasingly, the

values of individuality and equality

became the hallmarks of the new

social order, but women were still

expected to subordinate

themselves to their husbands and

children. During this period, men

enjoyed the creation of male-only

forms of recreation, such as

saloons and red-light districts, while

women still had few legal rights.

The Erosion of Parental Control.

Because of ideological and economic

changes in the family, parental control

over children’s behavior began to erode.

Sons began enjoying greater freedom in

their occupational choices, and daughters

were marrying out of birth order —

something unheard of in previous times.

Parental control over sexual behavior

weakened. Pregnancy, prior to marriage,

and illegitimacy rose sharply. By mid-

century, rapid population growth meant

farms were too small to divide among the

sons and still enable them to provide for

a family. This inability to bestow an

inheritance on children further reduced

parental control over them. In addition,

economic shifts produced new

nonagricultural opportunities, and

As Americans began to favor city life, many men began

to leave home to work in offices and factories

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