Families Of Pre Industrialized Europe example essay topic

Chaffee 1 Brandon Chaffee AP European History / Honors EnglishTeagarden / Walker Periods 5-61 March 2005 The Women, Family, and Household of Pre-Industrial Europe Many of people today feel trapped inside their homes, just how the women of Pre-Industrial Europe felt. Working day in and day out inside the homes, just to keep the family together, and make a little money on the side, these women were an integral part of Pre-Industrial families. Not only were the women important to Pre-Industrial European families, but so were the households. Much of the money was made in the households, and this is where families either succeeded or failed. The household and women of Pre-Industrial Europe played an integral role in the economy of the families, and more importantly, the women of these households kept them running smoothly. Without either of these important aspects of life in Pre-Industrial Europe, it is safe to say that the families would have collapsed, due to a lack of organization and structures.

Pre-Industrial Europe, in which the women and the household were "the factories" per se, due to the income they generated, was much different from the Europe we know today. Leading into the Industrialization of Europe beginning in the late 1700's and lasting through the early 1800's, the household played an integral role in the family's income. Without the Chaffee 2 household, the families would literally collapse, due to a lack of organization and stability. Within these important family sub-units, there was one married couple, their children, the family's servants, and in some cases, depending upon the region of Europe, there were grandparents, aunts and uncles. Not only did the father and servants of the house work, but also the women and children. Also, in the case of there being more than one generation of family in a single household, depending upon the region of Europe, the grandparents, aunts, and uncles would also work within the house.

Once the children of these households reached a certain age, usually the early teens, they were sent off to work in a house as a servant. These servants were different then the servants of today, as they worked for room, board, and food, not waiting on the family. Once they started to generate income, the teens would save up the money necessary to begin their own family. However, there were the few exceptions; teens that did not work as servants, and ended up marrying into an existing household.

This however, was a very uncommon circumstance, as the majority of teens worked as a servant throughout their early teen years. The families of Pre-Industrial Europe varied greatly depending upon the region, such as the Northwest. Such variables were the age men and women married, the age in which the teens moved away from the house to work, and also the family structure and size. In Northwestern Europe, the teens moved away from their homes at the ripe and young age of 13 years old.

In order to find a place to live, the teens would have to work Chaffee 3 as a servant in a household until they were able to marry and start a household. The teens were usually not able to start their own family until the age of 24 years old. Another regional trait was the size of the families themselves. The families normally consisted of only 5-6 members, as the families were nuclear structured, not the extended-family type structure. An exception to this was the few wealthy families, which could grow beyond the 5-6 member family average.

Another unique trait of Northwestern families was the integral role the servants played in everyday life. The servants were treated as part of the family, and would often eat with the family, as well as travel anywhere the family went. All of these characteristics of Northwestern European families contributed to their early success. Differing greatly from the Northwestern European families, the Eastern European families had great success as well. One of the major differences between the two regions is that in Eastern European families, young teens did not leave the households to work. Teens often stayed in their existing household working for their families, as well as generating income for the household in which they lived.

Because of this, the age in which the family members married was much younger than in Northwestern Europe. The average age of marriage in Eastern Europe was around 20 years of age. After being married, the married couple would move back into the household in which the man was living before, and would remain there the rest of their lives. Due to the couples moving back into the same house, and the family type being the extended-family type, the Eastern Chaffee 4 European households were very large. In some cases, the number of family members living in one home reached 20 plus people, however the average number of people living in one home was around 9 members. This great amount of people living in one home was caused by early marriage.

However, just because so many people lived in one house, the workload was not lightened at all, and every single family member was involved in some sort of work in able to generate a steady income for the family. Eastern European families were also unique because of the age difference between married couples. Within these married couples, the women were normally older than their husbands. However, this trait mostly pertained to Russian serfs, and the reasoning behind this is not clear. Some theorize that because land owners wanted their rents, they had to ensure that their land was cultivated, therefore forcing the land lords to ban marriage between their own serfs and serfs from other estates, that this somehow widened the age gap between husband and wife.

Overall, the families of Eastern Europe are much different from the families of Northwestern Europe, in that the teens do not move away after being married. In conclusion, without the structure, organization, and the income provided by the household, the families of Pre-Industrialized Europe would have collapsed. These families would have collapsed because the household played an integral role in the family's income, as well as provided a sturdy organizational base for the families. Also, it is clear that the European families at the time were very different depending upon region.

For example, the Eastern European couples marrying at a younger age of 19-20 years old, Chaffee 5 whereas the Northwestern European couples normally wed around the age of 24 years old. This gap between the ages of the average married couples also created differences in everyday life. For example, because of the early marriages in Eastern European families, the new couples went back to their old home and lived there. However, in Northwestern European families, the newly married couples started their own households and families, because they had more time to gain the money necessary to start their own households.

For these reasons, the families of Pre-Industrial Europe were very successful, and were able to produce enough money to keep the family thriving. Chaffee 6 Donald Kagan, Steven Oz ment, Frank M. Turner. The Western Heritage. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001. Patricia Ahmed, Rebecca Jean Em igh. Household Structure During the Market Transition in Eastern Europe.

N / A. N / A. web Mitterauer. Historical Family Forms in eastern Europe in European Comparison. N / A. N / A. web Hooker. Women During the European Enlightenment. N / A. N / A. web.