The evolution of the American family
Graduation Date
2006
Document Type
Thesis
Program
Other
Program
Thesis (M.A.)--Humboldt State University, Social Science, Emphasis in Teaching American History, 2006.
Committee Chair Name
Delores Nason McBroome
Committee Chair Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Keywords
Humboldt State University -- Theses -- Social Science, American family, Humboldt State University -- Theses -- Teaching American History, American history
Abstract
The family is an integral part of the human experience. It is where we gather our traditions, learn of our culture, and garner emotional and physical support as we grow. In American history, family has represented a segment of the successful American Dream: a home, a job, and a healthy, prosperous family. The American family is also where not only the American experience begins, but also where American history begins. As time has moved on, our definition of family has changed. From at once being a small group of individuals who were able to survive the journey to the New World and begin a new life, to a large group who were employed to carry on the primarily agrarian business, to frontier families whose equality among genders and children has been heretofore unrivaled in our country's short history. Modern American history saw the Victorian age and the movements toward piety and temperance, gathering the family closely. In the 1950's, this behavior was mirrored although it was a historical anomaly, even in comparison to the Victorian age. Current families seem to model more closely the colonial families, being made up of fewer individuals, and those individuals having more than one role to play in the day to day life. In today's society, we see families made up of non-blood relatives, multiple marriages, alternative lifestyles, etc. However, in the history of the American family there has seldom been a family "type" that has occurred before. While social consciousness may expand, the concrete base to the American family has yet to change, thus providing American history with an ultimate and historically consistent origin.
Recommended Citation
Jordan, Joelle D., "The evolution of the American family" (2006). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 1756.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/1756
https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/concern/theses/1831cn15g