Gender Roles In Colonial Family

Traditional colonial family life differed by the different functions performed by every member of the household. In all colonial family home, the father was the head of the household. This included being the disciplinarian, hunting, fishing and providing for families. The role of the head of the house differed between the wealthy and the poor and rural families. In poor and rural households, men and their family were more team oriented in making sure the daily operation of the house was intact. Men would set the standard of religious belief in leading them in daily prayer and guiding them in setting proper religious morals. Men of wealth were in charge of running the family business. Men in general hardly had any part in raising their children until they grew older. Men had the responsibility of training their boys into taking over the family business and daughter were dependent upon finding someone to court and ultimately marry. Just as men, the women’s role in colonial life depended upon the family’s wealth. For poor and rural families, mothers were the primary caretakers. They were mostly
This changed the way of the American family. Younger men in families started gravitating towards the work of the older men which broke down parental authority. Boys began leaving the home earlier to seek their own fortunes, opening up the ownership of the land for women. The views of gender roles altered slightly in society because of this. Soon the idea of a tightly-knit family started to diminish and American transformed into an industrial/urban society. Industrialization was seen as breaking up the extended family era. Essentially this meant that life on the farm was almost nonexistent and you often found men working in offices and factories. This meant that the competition for land ownership disintegrated and having a job indoors was seen as being the