Family Life In The United States During The 19th Century

Brenda Gamboa
SOC 303 The Family
9/29/16
Assignment #1
Family life in the United States during the 19th century was quite similar yet very different to how it is today. For instance, the modern family consisted of the breadwinner father and the homemaker mother however, the industrialization period that took place created a number of diverse family forms. It greatly affected men, women, and children in all different social classes due to the fact that the United States economy was transformed from an agricultural system to one based on capitalist industrialization. If I were to imagine that I lived in such a point in time, my family life would greatly differ from what I experience today. The social structures around me- such as class, gender,
immigration, and race/ethnicity- would affect my way of living with family and ultimately, my way of thinking as well. Industrialization brought along many changes including distinct levels of power and prestige among the people.
Due to this, the separation of home and work took place in which more and more people worked in factories while the home was dependent on outside wages. Men were highly encouraged to earn wages for the family while women stayed home to maintain the household and care for the children. Social production, the creation of goods, and social reproduction, the maintenance of family in the home, were divided in the economy. Before the industrial revolution, these two forms of work occurred in the home consisting of family members working together to create goods such as shoes and clothing for the household. However, these goods then became taken over by the capitalistic industry. This created the doctrine of two spheres in which men were to follow production out of the home while the women were responsible for reproduction at home. As a woman, living in the middle class, I would have to spend my days watching after children and maintaining the household, however my servant would do most of the work while I had leisure time to myself. I would ultimately be seen
as an “angel of the house” while being subordinated by my husband and having no say in anything. This sphere of women that I would be a part of was called the cult of true womanhood. I would ultimately be judged by society based on my purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. It would greatly anger me that my life would simply consist of being at home or at church- nothing else. I would have no voice whatsoever and would most likely have to bite my tongue to avoid falling into trouble and becoming the talk of the town. This cult of true womanhood however became an ideal in which the term “ladies” became a status symbol in middle class families that could afford to stay at home and have their husbands earn the wages. If I were to be a part of a working class family, however, I would have to leave my home and work at the factories alongside my husband and children. The 19th century experienced an enormous wave of immigration due to economic expansion in the United States.
Immigrants from southern and eastern Europe were seen as uprooting themselves and bringing along “cultural baggage.” On the contrary, immigrant families consisted of tight networks in which love and mutual support was given. If I were to leave my homeland and escape to America, the land of opportunity, I would want to have connections with friends and relatives that had previously arrived and would help me settle down to find a job and a place to live. This was known as chain migration and it was essential for immigrant survival during their transition to industrial life. Living in this moment and time, kinship ties with family and friends were extremely crucial. As an immigrant woman, I would have to join the labor force to help make ends meet. Many immigrant women would stay in the domestic sphere however others would work outside the home to help their family financially. Although I would definitely be overworked and tired at the end of each day from doing household chores and working in the factory, I would be relieved that I wasn’t in the situation alone. Having a close connection with a family member or friend, or any human being for that matter, would make life a lot easier. Tackling new situations in a different environment could be very scary and intimidating so having someone to help guide me on the right path would make me feel so grateful for
them. African American families were believed to be completely destroyed with the system of slavery. They were seen