The early colonial family were generally self sufficient, or at least dependent only upon a close neighbor. Of course, that closeness depended upon the settlement. This closeness was still prevalent in the first years of the republic. However, it happened more in the outlying settlements than in the earlier now settled towns. The role of neighbors in the mid to late 1700’s can be seen in the movie A Midwife’s Tale. This story is about a midwife (Mary Ballard) who moved to the Maine frontier after the War for Independence. Mrs

Like a rock foundation, the women of society supported the revolution and emerged stronger for it. They endured the loss of family and kin, watched human kinds cruel nature improve, but stayed and supported the cause on both sides of the conflict. As the women emerged from the conflict, they had achieved a better way of doing things or being more practical. Some of the old skills were no longer useful so they adapted and modified themselves to survive. This was the notice that was given in literature that was published after the war. The very women who survived looked forward to a more open representation in the government. This was thought of as a real possibility; after all, looking back women had shared the burden of keeping society going through out the republic’s history. The ultimate republic woman was not to be. She would be limited to the idea of serving the state as well as her family. As to her service to the family, the Republic Mother was the woman to be. The level of society that she presided over was the egalitarian. It was deemed necessary that women have a passive role in government at this time. The Republican mother would raise a son and advise a husband on the correct way to be and act in the country. America was not yet ready to give women the political power that they deserved. Women were viewed as either too inept or too concise, with no middle ground. Even the Quaker women were looked upon as more of the odd person out, due to the authority given to them. This elitist democracy continued to be pushed until later in the early 1800s. Society continued on with the common folk having some change. The major changes came in the views of the founding fathers and how the government should be run. They were influenced by the old prejudices and the knowledge that only a few people actually could run the government.

While the colonies are educating its younger people with strict rules and regulations, the Quakers had developed a type of family life that echoes John Locke’s ideas on child rearing. The Quakers believed in a peaceful and purified household environments, voluntary love marriages, financially independent conjugal households, and tender child rearing. Within the Quaker society, children were treated as valuable members of the family. When children were placed in other families, they were cared for as members of that family. What should be noted is that the placement families were Quakers themselves. While the group was isolated in the Delaware River Valley, they had considerable influence in the government of Pennsylvania from 1681 to the 1750s. While they practiced their religious beliefs, they still subscribed to English common law. The women lost all their property at marriage and the Pennsylvania courts interpreted this rule just as the English courts would have done. The Quaker religion was not a fire and brimstone approach but a guiding to the inner light inside oneself. They practiced being neighbors to the utmost degree. Their religion was the center of their lives, and they practiced it in everything that they did. Believing that the women had primary responsibility in child

Some topics in this essay:
Martha Ballard’s, War Independence, Republic Mother, River Valley, Indian War, Nevertheless Quaker, Anna Winslow, John Locke’s, Tale” Martha’s, Independence Ballard, war independence, child rearing, american family, child rearing quaker, individual rights, upper class, 18th century, knowledge people, education included, ordinary folk, religious beliefs,