Pete Wilcenski

Patriarchy in Early America

Until the research of recent years, it was widely assumed that colonial patriarchy was the way that a middle class father governed social and domestic affairs in antebellum culture. How successful he was in this hierarchy, where he was the absolute authority, measured his manliness. However, there are records that imply this was not so. Colonial patriarchy was in its prime during early colonial America, from the 1650’s to around 1800. Between the years of 1790 and 1830, research supports that there was a gradual paradigm in the ways that a middle class father found masculinity in his culture, both domestically and socially. In early America, the roles of mother and father were distinct and separate spheres in family affairs, where the father practiced paternalism and defined the mother’s role. As the years graduated closer to 1830, the separated spheres of motherhood and fatherhood began to intertwine as the mother became less subservient in domestic and social affairs and the father was working away from the home. So how did the father fit into the family in middle class Antebellum America? What evidence diffuses the assumptions of old? And how does the middle class father maintain his masculine identity? If I were to write a research paper focusing on the preceding questions, I would use the resources found in the following annotated bibliography. Depending upon how extensively one would want to research the topic, one could spend a good deal of time visiting various parts of the country gathering first-hand information and narrowing the topic of study in addition to utilizing the libraries and universities locally. I feel that my topic is doable in an undergraduate study, but the research that was found is just the tip of an enormous iceberg. One could devote a very long time on this broad topic and write a volume of books on it. One could also devote more time and find less research if they wanted to narrow their topic.

Secondary Sources

1. Blassingame, John W. Book Review: Roll, Jordan, Roll. Journal of Social History; Vol.9,

issue 3, Spring 76: 403-410

The reviewer noted that a “…more systematic examination of the class structure among slaves would have resolved some of the things Genovese saw as contradictions, he correctly characterizes black-white relations when he observes….” I would couple this comment with my assertion that Genovese contradicts himself with perceptions of slave and slave owner in his book. EBSCO host

2. Frank, Stephen M. Life With Father: Parenthood and Masculinity in the Nineteenth Century

American North. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998.

This book took into account two hundred and eighty plus original documents, diaries, memoirs, and letters plus numerous sources on the topic of middle class antebellum fatherhood and masculinity. It lays the groundwork for future study on the topic. Frank touches on several topics very broadly, revealing that Antebellum fatherhood and masculinity was not that of the traditional belief of family structure set up as Colonial Patriarch, the father’s masculinity embedded in paternalism. He shows that it is quite different; that the father seeks work away from home and is frequently gone. But when the father is not working, he stays home as much as possible, assuming the role of a friend with his younger children, distances himself from older boys, is close to his daughters, engages in domestic activity, and supports his wife’s decisions in the house as she leads in the house. This role that the father plays is where he finds his masculinity. Most reviews about this book that were found concurred that it was a sanguine piece that gave a new and insightful look into men’s and women’s lives. There was one contradictory part of the book that spoke of the father acquiescing his domestic authority to the mother. Some suggest that this is characteristic of Paternalism. I would use this book in my research to establish key points of argument and build from there. This book is available at UGA main campus library. I got my copy through GIL Express from West Georgia College.

3. Genovese, Eugene D. Roll, Jordan, Roll. New York: Vintage Books, 1976.

Genovese goes into the minds of both slave and slave master and attempts to make sense of how they perceived themselves and each other. Book Reviews hint that the perceptions of everyday life were quite contradictory, and these contradictions vividly illustrate the mindset of the slaves and their owners. The book is about slave life in the Antebellum South and the slave outcry to set the limits on labor, and treatment of the slaves in an ethical manor. I would use this book to show the slave and master perspectives of the Patriarchal Society that the South hangs on to until the civil war. I would also show the separate spheres of the plantation owner and his wife. There is discussion in the book of the wife and the subservient role she plays in the kitchen. This illustrates her submissive role in paternal society, and would establish what paternalism and patriarchal society is in my research paper. I could contrast this with the middle class father and husband and how he finds masculinity. This book is available at the GPC library.

4. Hemphill, C. Dallett. A History of Manners in America, 1620-1860. New York and Oxford:

Oxford Press, 1999.

The book explores the evolution of antebellum social rituals. It goes into how simple manners evolved, for example, “ladies first”, and talks more broadly of how to act in the presence of others. I would use this source to give a foundation on how men were expected to act around ladies and how it helped define their masculinity, and even sets the stage for the way genders act around each other today. Available at UGA main campus library.

5. Jabour, Anya. “Male Friendship and Masculinity in the Early National South: William Wirt

and his Friends.” Journal of the Early Republic, Vol. 20, No. 1. Spring 2000: 83-111

Jabour is an associate professor at the University of Montana and has written several articles on early National culture, including masculinity. This article unveils the intricate social life of William Wirt, a southern gentleman living in the Antebellum South. Wirt had a close knit of friends, and though it may have been politically and economically driven, was vital to his masculinity. I would use this source to show that having close ties and intimacy was a part of masculinity for men in Antebellum America No longer was it unique to a “…female world of love and ritual (83)”. JSTOR

6. Marten, James. “Fatherhood in the Confederacy: Southern Soldiers and Their Children.” The

Journal of Southern History, Vol. 63, No. 2. May, 1997: 269-292

The author attempts to disprove traditional thought of Patriarchal Society in the middle class south. He writes of how the fathers of the confederacy were more emotional with their offspring than previously thought. Their family structure was more in sync with the middle class North as they were child-centered. This source would support the assertion in my paper that the movement from colonial patriarch to the intertwined, interdependent, family oriented father was not just a northern thing. JSTOR

7. Miller, Jacquelyn C. Book Review: “Bowing to Necessities: A History of Manners in

America, 1620-1860.” by C. Dallett Hemphill. Journal of Social History; Volume 35,

Number 1, Fall 2001, pp207-208.

The reviewer feels that the book gives sufficient insight to one particular region of the United States, New England. She draws from the diaries of several people from that area, and shows adequate research coverage and depth analysis specific to that region. I would use this source to demonstrate that Hemphill’s research was specific to New England antebellum America, and was thorough enough for us to assume that mannerisms between the genders were indeed so in that region. EBSCO host

8. Pessen, Edward. “How Different from Each Other Were the Antebellum North and South?”

The American Historical Review, Vol.85, No.5. Dec., 1980: 1119-1149

There were not many middle class families in the South before the civil war, but those in the South were in the cities conducting their affairs similar to the middle class North. This journal deals with comparing and contrasting of antebellum culture between the North and South. It is somewhat outdated, though it does offer some light in individual communities as well as single themes in antebellum life. Economy, social structure, and political power were the three engines that differentiated the North from The South. I would use this source to help convey this in my paper and attempt to illustrate why this would make a middle class father in Antebellum America different from the Southern slave holding planter, the Patriarch. JSTOR

9. Salomon, Louis B. “The Least Remembered Alcott.” The New England Quarterly, Vol. 34,

No.1. Mar., 1961: 87-93

Salomon reviews the life of William Alcott and his contribution to literature and society. Alcott was the author of The Moral Philosophy of Courtship and Marriage and the Physiology of Marriage, where he refers to these books as “… a surprisingly frank pair of sex handbooks (90)”. I would use this journal article to convey the fatherly role that Alcott took in his life with society. He lived and wrote in antebellum times. Alcott was a doctor, an author, and a speaker. He would visit schools, teaching proper hygiene to children and lecture about health. Men did not necessarily have to be a traditional “dad” to find their masculinity as a father. Found on JSTOR.

10. Taylor, Debora. Book Review: Slavery Time When I Was Chillun, by Ronald Killion and

Charles Waller. Horn Book Magazine; Jul/Aug 98; Vol. 74, Issue 4, p.513; 2p.

The reviewer states that, due to the harsh economic and segregated times of the deep South during the Great Depression, the former slaves interviewed “…may have colored some of the more nostalgic memories….” She also stated that the book was important in contributing to first hand recollection of what life was like in bondage. I would use this resource to back my assertion that the input of the slaves were influenced by the times that they were living in, that they could not necessarily speak the entire truth or voice their opinion. EBSCO Host

Primary Sources

1. Alcott, William A. The Moral Philosophy of Courtship and Marriage. Designed as a

Companion to the “Physiology of Marriage” Boston: J.P. Jewett and Company;

Cleveland, OH.: Jewett, 1857. Microfilm. New Haven, Conn., Research Publications, 1975.

1 reel. 35 mm.

William Alcott was a teacher and a doctor. He traveled across Antebellum America lecturing about moral living and good health. This book “A moral philosophy” is a book designed for young men. It talks about how to be moral and conduct one’s self in a moral manner. It then ties this code of conduct into courting and marrying and how to behave as a husband. I would use this source to prove a point that many young men did not seek this sort of advice from their father; rather they had to find “gentlemen’s guides”, such as this book, to learn proper conduct as a young adult. This helped them find their masculinity and place in the home. Available on film at the UGA main campus.

2. Killion, Ronald and Waller, Charles. Slavery Time When I Was Chillun Down on Marster’s

Plantation. Savannah: The Beehive Press, 1973

This is a collection of selected slave narratives that were documented through the Federal Writer’s project of the 1930’s. Though these interviews were conducted during the harsh times of the Great Depression, and the 1930’s were a time of segregation, the memories of the slaves first hand paint a picture of what life was like as a chattel. One recollection was from a slave that lived on the plantation of Alex Stevens in Taliaferro County, Georgia. Georgia Baker spoke of how kind the master was to his servants when they became ill; “…Old Marster was powerful good to his niggers when they got sick” (10). She spoke of how kind he was to them during holidays as well, and how they always had enough to eat. I would use this to show that, though a patriarch, in his paternal role, the slave master evolved into somewhat of a nurturing father, who tended to his sick children, and made sure that they had sufficient food. This book is available at the GPC Library.

3. Webster, Noah. “The Education of Youth in America.” in The Annuals of America Vol. 3,

Encyclopedia Britanica, Inc. Chicago, Library of Congress, 1976: 424-432

Noah Webster was a scholar and educator in antebellum America. He did many things to establish the modern English language, as we know it today. He opposed the way that early American classrooms were set up. In his essay “The Education of Youth in America”, he describes in detail how middle-class children in New England are educated in formal and informal settings. I would use this source to focus on the informal “family” setting, particularly the role that the father had in educating his children. I would then demonstrate that this was vital to his masculinity. This volume is available at the GPC library.