The History
of Childhood
Paradigm Shifts in Western Childhood
Adapted from: http://faculty.csusb.edu/alafaye
Children in the Middle Ages: 500-1450 (Europe)
• Infancy is the only period of
“childhood.”
• Once a child is able to eat,
sleep, dress, and act
independently, they are
expected to enter adult society.
•Lower class children worked
on the family property. Upper
class children were
apprentices/courtiers.
Children in the Middle Ages: 500-1450 (Europe)
• Young people take on the work of an
adult as they are able.
• Children are acculturated, not educated.
• Children dressed and acted as adults.
Children in the Renaissance: 1400-1550 (Europe)
• Infancy is “childhood.”
• More and more noble children
are tutored before they become
courtiers.
• Children’s “games” are
preparation for adulthood with
serious consequences.
• Children are “workers” in all
classes.
Children in the Renaissance: 1400-1550 (Europe)
• Lower classes work at home.
Upper class children are sent
off.
• Children dressed and acted
as adults with few
exceptions.
• Apprenticeship Leagues
begin.
Children in the Reformation
1500-1650 (Europe)
• Infancy is “childhood.”
• Age of Reason is established.
• Religious education is essential.
• Children are still seen as
workers. Their role depends on
their class.
Children in the Reformation
1500-1650 (Europe)
• The work ethic is established.
• Children are still seen as little
adults.
• Grammar schools begin.
Catherine of Aragon
Martin Luther
Children in the Enlightenment: 1650- 1790 (Europe)
• Children are seen as a blank slate (Locke 1690s).
• Children learn through experience.
• Proper experience equals education.
• Children still seen as
workers in the lower
class. Upper class
children can still be
apprenticed/courtiers.
Children in the Enlightenment: 1650- 1790 (Europe)
• Noble children are pretty toys.
• Children dressed and acted as
adults.
• Beginning of children’s literature
for entertainment (1740s
Newbery).
Children in the Industrial Revolution: 1790-1850 ( US)
• Children are seen as a blank slate.
• Upper class children stay with their
families.
• Children learn through experience.
• Massive urbanization and
colonization.
Children in the Industrial Revolution: 1790-1850 ( US)
• Children as laborers is
essential to lower class
families in farming and
industry.
• National school systems
begin.
• Growth of children’s
literature occurs.
Children in the Industrial Revolution: 1790-1850 ( US)
• Immigration increases.
• Children are “innocent”
(Pastoral).
• Children’s toys and clothing
boom.
Children in the Gilded Age: 1850 -1918 (United States)
• Education is mandatory.
• First children’s room appears
in a library (1890).
• New laws protect children.
• This is the Golden Era of
children’s literature (1860s1930s).
Children in the Gilded Age: 1850 -1918 (United States)
• The middle class grows.
• Child services grow.
• Children are seen as
“innocent.”
• Massive
immigration/assimilation
occurs.
• Adolescence is a separate
stage.