Familial Tensions
One of the many ways Revolutionary America influenced children’s lives is through familial roles. There was a wide variety of “unloving ties between parents and children [that] persisted long beyond 1776.”1 However, the Revolutionary War caused many familial tensions that caused persistent issues throughout the 18th century. The amount of intergenerational animosity during this period caused a great deal of solidarity within families. The main reasons for familial tensions resulted from orphanhood, distance within the family, and political tensions, which impacted children immensely throughout this period.
To start, in the 18th century disease was extremely common causing orphanhood at a young age which had a great effect on the familial standings and therefore impacted the children in Revolutionary America immensely. Death at a young age was very common, in fact, only ⅓ of all children in this period lived to see the age of 21, and ¾ of all children who live to 21, have lost a parent.2 With that statistic in mind, “Colonial children could not count on their birth parents to guide them to maturity. If they were lucky, they had merely to deal with step-parents who preferred their own offspring. If they were not, they were consigned to court-appointed guardians who tried to steal their inheritances.”3 Clearly, the blending of families caused by orphanhood in this period created a great deal of tension for children.
Furthermore, even if children were not orphaned, they oftentimes were either kicked out of the household at a young age or chose to leave. Children who were not orphaned often saw their peers who were, gain early independence from the household which created a societal expectation for all children to leave the household early. Additionally, “There was simply not much love, or emotional elaboration, in those jumbled, death-haunted eighteenth-century families.”4 To elaborate, landowners, who were usually wealthy, oftentimes sent their sons away to either England or France school for up to decades, and if the children remained in the household during the schooling years, the landowners often pushed them off to the tutors showing little care to them. For example, in William Byrd’s diary, he elaborates upon the unconnectedness with his children when explaining how inconvenient their sickness is and does not seem to have much concern or care for them.5 Similarly, in Anna Green Winslow’s diary, she claims that her aunt cared for her most of the time and that her immediate family was extremely distant.6 All of these things lead to distance in a family and therefore create tensions and result in effects on the child that oftentime lead them to early maturity and unconnectedness with their family.
Lastly, political tensions caused a great amount of familial struggles throughout Revolutionary America. It was very common to have differing political perspectives in a time when independence was such a new consideration, which therefore resulted in constant disagreements within families. To elaborate, in Anna Green Winslow’s diary, she elaborates upon how her father resented her political beliefs. Anna Green Winslow was a proud Patriot and was very politically engaged which influenced a lot regarding her daily routines (such as the clothes and goods she partakes), however, her father was a Loyalist and believed that Anna was better off learning household tasks and resented her political drive.7 Additionally, during the Boston Massacre and the events leading up to it, a lot of people were intertwined with the opposing political affiliation due to living in such close quarters. Colonist women in some cases even married British soldiers, therefore creating a parental figure for the children in the family. With that being said, after the massacre, there was a lot of developed tension and if you are loyal to one side, you are rejected from the other. Therefore, a lot of internal tensions developed within families who had political differences to avoid rejection from their political affiliates.8
In conclusion, children are extremely affected by the familial roles throughout Revolutionary America. High levels of orphans, distant families, and political tensions all created a lack of connectedness and care within the families creating a turbulent childhood and an eagerness to leave the household.
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1 Zuckerman, Michael. 2006. “Coming of Age in the Age of the American Revolution.” European Journal of Developmental Psychology 3 (4): 402–14. doi:10.1080/17405620600609119., 402.
2 Ibid., 406.
3 Ibid., 407.
4 Ibid., 408.
5 Byrd, William. “The Diary of William Byrd II of Virginia, 1709-1712, ...” National Humanities Center. Accessed November 18, 2024. https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/becomingamer/economies/text5/williambyrddiar y.pdf., 7.
6 Winslow, Anna Green. “Diary of Anna Green Winslow.” Google Books, 1895. https://tinyurl.com/73y2ecmc., 75.
7 Ibid., 93.
8 Zabin, Serena R. The Boston Massacre: A Family History. New York, NY: Mariner Books, 2023.