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Republican Motherhood and the Cult of Domesticity. Post-Revolutionary Era. The American Revolution equality , rationality, & citizenship Mothers are the ones who instill these values in their children Concept of civic virtue: unselfishness of citizens to the common good.
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Post-Revolutionary Era • The American Revolution equality, rationality, & citizenship • Mothers are the ones who instill these values in their children • Concept of civic virtue: unselfishness of citizens to the common good
Republican Motherhood • Selfless devotion of mothers to the family • Role=teaching morals & civic virtue to future generations • Early example shown in Abigail Adams
Effects • More educational opportunities for women • Republican mothers= responsible for national survival • Increased respect
19th Century Changes • Men worked for wages outside of the home • Women still confined to “female” jobs • Women’s (house)work didn’t earn wages
Cult of Domesticity • Women are naturally loving, nurturing, calm, and faithful • Needed to instill these virtues in the home • Women provide husbands with a sanctuary from his job and politics • Women who tried to go beyond the private sphere were shunned
Four Cardinal Rules of the COD • Piety • Purity • Submission • Domesticity
Family Effects • People married for love • Women had fewer children and were more devoted to the individual child • Families were closer and more affectionate
Society Effects • Decreasing amount of working women in America • Step up in overall conditions • Family size grew smaller & birth rates dropped https://youtu.be/Sa2zog8XwM0