Reading 1

People in the United States in the nineteenth century were haunted by the prospect that unprecedented change in the nation's economy would bring social chaos. In the years following 1820, after several decades of relative stability, the economy entered a period of sustained and extremely rapid growth that continued to the end of the nineteenth century. Accompanying that growth was a structural change that featured increasing economic diversification and a gradual shift in the nation's labor force from agriculture to manufacturing and other nonagricultural pursuits.

Although the birth rate continued to decline from its high level of the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, the population roughly doubled every generation during the rest of the nineteenth centuries. As the population grew, its makeup also changed. Massive waves of immigration brought new ethnic groups into the country. Geographic and social mobility – downward as well as upward – touched almost everyone. Local studies indicate that nearly three-quarters of the population – in the North and South, in the emerging cities of the Northeast, and in the restless rural counties of the West – changed their residence each decade.

As a consequence, historian David Donald has written, "Social atomization affected every segment of society," and it seemed to many people that "all the recognized values of orderly civilization were gradually being eroded." Rapid industrialization and increased geographic mobility in the nineteenth century had special implications for women because these tended to magnify social distinctions. As the roles men and women played in society became more rigidly defined, so did the roles they played in the home. In the context of extreme competitiveness and dizzying social change, the household lost many of its earlier functions and the home came to serve as a haven of tranquillity and order. As the size of families decreased, the roles of husband and wife became more clearly differentiated than ever before. In the middle class especially, men participated in the productive economy while women ruled the home and served as the custodians of civility and culture. The intimacy of marriage that was common in earlier periods was rent, and a gulf that at times seemed unbridgeable was created between husbands and wives.

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Orang-orang di Amerika Serikat pada abad kesembilan belas dihantui oleh prospek bahwa perubahan luar biasa dalam ekonomi negara akan membawa kekacauan sosial. Pada tahun-tahun setelah 1820, setelah beberapa dekade stabilitas relatif, ekonomi memasuki masa pertumbuhan pesat dan berkelanjutan yang terus berlangsung hingga akhir abad kesembilan belas. Pertumbuhan itu disertai dengan perubahan struktural yang ditandai dengan meningkatnya diversifikasi ekonomi dan pergeseran bertahap tenaga kerja nasional dari sektor pertanian ke manufaktur dan kegiatan nonpertanian lainnya.

Meskipun tingkat kelahiran terus menurun dari tingkat tinggi pada abad ke-18 dan awal abad ke-19, populasi kira-kira berlipat ganda setiap generasi selama sisa abad ke-19. Seiring pertumbuhan populasi, komposisinya juga berubah. Gelombang imigrasi besar membawa kelompok etnis baru ke dalam negeri. Mobilitas geografis dan sosial — baik turun maupun naik — menyentuh hampir semua orang. Studi lokal menunjukkan bahwa hampir tiga perempat populasi — di Utara dan Selatan, di kota-kota yang sedang berkembang di Timur Laut, dan di wilayah pedesaan yang gelisah di Barat — berpindah tempat tinggal setiap dekade.

Sebagai konsekuensinya, sejarawan David Donald menulis bahwa "Atomisasi sosial memengaruhi setiap segmen masyarakat," dan tampaknya bagi banyak orang bahwa "semua nilai-nilai yang diakui dalam peradaban yang teratur secara bertahap terkikis." Industrialisasi yang pesat dan peningkatan mobilitas geografis pada abad ke-19 memiliki implikasi khusus bagi perempuan karena hal-hal tersebut cenderung memperbesar perbedaan sosial. Ketika peran pria dan wanita dalam masyarakat menjadi semakin tegas batasnya, demikian pula dengan peran mereka di dalam rumah tangga. Dalam konteks persaingan yang ekstrem dan perubahan sosial yang membingungkan, rumah tangga kehilangan banyak fungsi lamanya dan rumah menjadi tempat berlindung yang tenang dan tertib. Seiring ukuran keluarga menurun, peran suami dan istri menjadi lebih jelas berbeda dari sebelumnya. Khususnya dalam kelas menengah, pria berperan dalam ekonomi produktif sementara wanita mengatur rumah tangga dan bertindak sebagai penjaga sopan santun dan budaya. Keintiman pernikahan yang umum di masa lalu menjadi retak, dan jurang yang terkadang terasa tidak dapat dijembatani pun tercipta antara suami dan istri.