History of the Family Centres Lesson Hunter-Gatherers • • • • • • • Labour Relationships Sexual Survival Families Aboriginal Men Hunter-Gatherers • • • • • • • • • Food Fruits Children Plants Hunted Tools Time Animals Follow Agricultural 1. 2. 3. 11000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent area of Southwest Asia China, Mesoamerica and South America, eastern region of North America FALSE Agricultural • Ancestors domesticated animals and grew plants for food • Daily quest for food was eliminated • Able to live in more permanent settlements, communities formed • Provided more food but required more labour = larger families • Families could acquire more land and become wealthy • Food surplus enabled development of towns and cities and new social roles • Private property = land defense and control of food surplus • Men who chose not to be farmers became artisans, builders, merchants, soldiers, and politicians • Women’s economic activity shifted away from community to private household • Women cared for children and handled domestic work Agricultural 4. Monogamy – having one marital partner Patriarchy – men were rulers and decision makers of the family 5. Women became chattels, the property of their husbands, with few legal rights 6. Polygamy – the practice of having several spouses Arranged marriage – marriages that take place through negotiations between sets of parents, or their agents 7. Since a family used land for agriculture, young adults continued to live in their parents’ households Pre-Industrial Down 1. DISCIPLINE 2. FAMILIES 3. VILLAGES 5. EUROPEAN SETTLERS 6. MONOGAMOUS 8. ROLE 10. TECHNOLOGY Pre-Industrial Across 4. CHILDREN 7. COTTAGE INDUSTRY 9. FATHER 11. WORK 12. ECONOMIC Urban Industrial Status and role of women • The notion of motherhood as the “sacred” and primary role of women became the ideal • Women were nurturers who worked at home and were supported financially by their husbands • Only worked outside the home if widowed or deserted • Women who worked were seen as threats to the role of men • Working women were demeaned by society and earned onethird less than men in the same job • Thought to be more gentle, patient, and loving than men • Felt they only reached their potential if they had children Urban Industrial Role and responsibilities of men • Money earners • Worked to provide for wives and children • Link to family and society • Perceived to be aggressive and tough • Decision makers • Sometimes discipline the children Urban Industrial Childhood • No longer a need for children to work in factories • Compulsory education started in 1871 in Ontario • Child labour laws passed in mid 1880s • Idealized notion of childhood as an “age of innocence” • Expected to play under supervision of mother, attend school, and remain protected from the hard work of the adult world • Adolescence became a distinct age group because of the extension of schooling into the teen years Urban Industrial Work • Economy shifted from one based on agriculture and commerce to one based on factory production • Work became something done outside of the home • Development of industrial class as every family member, including children, began to work in wage-based labour force Urban Industrial Role of the family • Retained its economic role • Lost its role as a producer • Industrial nuclear family • No longer for economic activity, but love and emotional support • Young people married early and moved away because they could support themselves • Consumer family Urban Industrial Education • Compulsory education started in 1871 in Ontario • Working class children often left school as soon as they could to find work to contribute money to their families Family Size • Smaller sized families because birth rate declined • Delayed marriage until they could afford a separate household • Fewer children wanted because they needed to be supported until they could work Urban Industrial Technology • TV programs such as Leave it to Beaver depicted the ideal family and were immensely popular • TV programs reflected what have happening in Canadian society during the “baby boom” years from 1946-1967 Economy • New products marketed to women, the homemakers • After WWII the economy expanded rapidly • Canadians knew they could afford to have bigger families • Statistics show Canadian women averaged 4 children each in this time period Contemporary Canadian Family • Share your ideas!