Family Life in 19th-Century America

Nineteenth century families had to deal with enormous changes in almost all of life's categories. The first generation of nineteenth century Americans was generally anxious to remove the Anglo from their Anglo-Americanism. The generation that grew up in Jacksonian America matured during a period of nationalism, egalitarianism, and widespread reformism. Finally, the generation of the pre-war decades was innately diverse in terms of their ethnic backgrounds, employment, social class, education, language, customs, and religion. Americans were acutely aware of the need to create a stable and cohesive society firmly founded on the family and traditional family values. Yet the people of America were among the most mobile and diverse on earth. Geographically, socially, and economically, Americans (and those immigrants who wished to be Americans) were dedicated to change, movement, and progress. This dichotomy between tradition and change may have been the most durable and common of American traits, and it was a difficult quality to circumvent when trying to form a unified national persona.Volumes in the Family Life in America series focus on the day-to-day lives and roles of families throughout history. The roles of all family members are defined and information on daily family life, the role of the family in society, and the ever-changing definition of family are discussed. Discussion of the nuclear family, single parent homes, foster and adoptive families, stepfamilies, and gay and lesbian families are included where appropriate. Topics such as meal planning, homes, entertainment and celebrations, are discussed along with larger social issues that originate in the home like domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, and divorce. Ideal for students and general readers alike, books in this series bring the history of everyday people to life.

"The Volos, both public school teachers, place the family within the contexts of nineteenth-century America and show how it worked within the educational, social and economic expectations of that very variable century. They describe the roles and systems, primarily intended to rear children in stability, that include the father as a family man, success and worker, as a man of good counsel and honor and as a protector, of women as mothers, wives, and homemakers, and of children as family members, learners and workers. Particularly interesting chapters show how servants and slaves figured in the framework of the family, how all were expected to behave during the disruptions of the civil war, and how the family was manipulated into supporting American manifest destiny." - Reference & Research Book News, "[R]eaders will find the authors' meticulous synthesis beneficial to understanding the larger picture of family history and will enjoy the entertaining and insightful anecdotal evidence." - The Historian

James M. Volo, PhD has been teaching physics, physical science, and astronomy for the past 39 years. He received his bachelor's from City College in New York, his masters from American Military University, and his doctorate from Berne University. He has taught on the Graduate level for more than 15 years and authored several reference works regarding U.S. military, social, and cultural history. In addition, he has consulted on TV and movie productions. Among his published works are Blue Water Patriots: The American Revolution Afloat (Greenwood, 2006), Daily Life in Civil War America (Greenwood, 1998), Family Life in the 19th Century (Greenwood, 2007), the Popular Culture of the Antebellum Period (Greenwood, 2004), and the Encyclopedia of the Antebellum South (Greenwood, 2000). Several of which were co-authored with his wife Dorothy Denneen Volo. Presently, Dr. Volo teaches at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut.Dorothy Denneen Volo is a math teacher at Norwalk Public Schools in Norwalk, Conn. She is co-author of Family Life in 17th and 18th Century America (Greenwood, 2006), Daily Life during the American Revolution (Greenwood, 2003), and many other Greenwood titles.