A HISTORY OF THE FAMILY AS A
SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTION
TEXT-BOOK SERIES EDITED BY PAUL MONROE, PH.D.
STATE AND COUNTY EDUCATIONAL REORGANIZATION. By ELLWOOD P. CUBBERLEY, PH.D., Professor of Education, Leland Stanford Junior University.
STATE AND COUNTY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION.
VOL. I. TEXT BOOK OF PRINCIPLES. In Preparation. VOL. II. SOURCE BOOK.
By ELLWOOD P. CUBBERLEIT, PH.D., Professor of Education, Leland Stanford Junior University, and EDWARD C. ELLIOTT, PH.D., Professor of Education, University of Wisconsin.
TEXT-BOOK IN THE PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION.
By ERNEST N. HENDERSON, PH.D., Professor of Education and Philosophy, Adelphi College.
PRINCIPLES OF SECONDARY EDUCATION.
By PAUL MONROE, PH.D., Professor of History of Education, Teachers College, Columbia University.
TEXT-BOOK IN THE HISTORY OF EDUCATION. By PAUL MONROE, PH.D.
SOURCE BOOK IN THE HISTORY OF EDUCATION. FOR
THE GREEK AND ROMAN PERIOD. By PAUL MONROE, PH.D.
A HISTORY OF THE FAMILY AS A SOCIAL AND
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.
By WILLTSTINE GOODSELL, PH.D., Assistant Professor of Education, Teachers College, Columbia University.
)/ A HISTORY OF THE FAMILY AS SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION
BY
WILLYSTINE/GOODSELL/ PH.D.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION, TEACHERS COLLEGE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
Wefo gotfe
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1920
An rights reserved
HQ
O&2.
COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Set up and clectrotyped. Published December, 1915.
NorteooD
J. 8. Cuahing Co. — Berwick A Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I
PACK
THE HISTORICAL STUDY OF THE FAMILY I
Recency of this Study 1
Interest in Problems of Family Life 2
IMPORTANCE OF A GENETIC STUDY OF THE FAMILY .... 3
CHAPTER II
THE PRIMITIVE FAMILY
DEFINITION OF TERMS 5
AVAILABLE MATERIAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE PRIMITIVE FAMILY . 6
SIGNIFICANCE AND ORIGIN OF MARRIAGE 6
Meaning of the Term Marriage 6
Probable Origin of Marriage ........ 7
CONFLICTING THEORIES OF THE ORIGINAL FORM OF THE FAMILY . 8
The Theory of Promiscuity . .8
Theory of the Patriarchal Family 10
Theory of Original Pair Marriage . 11
RELATION BETWEEN FAMILY ORGANIZATION AND THE FOOD SUPPLY 12
KINSHIP SYSTEMS •» 16
The Metronymic System ..-•-..' 16
Causes of its Development 16
Relative Status of Father and Mother 17
1*» The Patronymic System 19
Causes of its Development . 19
Position of Women under the Patronymic System ... 20
EXOGAMY AND ENDOGAMY 21
Explanation of Terms 21
vi Table of Contents
PAGB
Causes for the Rise of Exogamy 22
Effects on the Family 23
AFFECTION AND FREEDOM OF CHOICE IN PRIMITIVE MARRIAGE . 23
FORMS OF MARRIAGE 25
Monogamy 25
Polygamy 26
Polyandry 27
DIVORCE AMONG PRIMITIVE PEOPLES 28
Freedom of Divorce 28
Disposal of Wife and Children after Divorce 30
Tendency toward Group Regulation 31
SERVICES RENDERED BY THE PRIMITIVE FAMILY TO CIVILIZATION . 31
Social Services 31
The Primitive Family as an Industrial Unit 32
The Family as the Earliest Educational Institution .... 36
The Nurture of Infants ........ 39
Home Training and Education 42
CHAPTER III
THE PATRIARCHAL FAMILY: THE HEBREW TYPE
SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE OF THE PATRIARCHAL HEBREW FAMILY . 48
STAGES OF HEBREW CIVILIZATION 49
ORGANIZATION OF THE HEBREW FAMILY 50
The Family as Patriarchal in Type 50
The Hebrew Family as a Religious Organization .... 53
Inheritance of Property 54
The Hebrew Family as Polygynous in Form 56
MARRIAGE LAWS AND CUSTOMS 58
Respect in which Marriage was Held 58
Conditions Necessary to a Valid Marriage 59
Prohibited Marriages 59
The Element of Consent 60
Legal Age for Marriage 60
Legal Formalities in Contracting Marriage 61
Betrothal . 62
Nuptials 63
The Kethuboth or Marriage Deed . ." . . .64
Table of Contents vii
PACK
DUTIES AND RIGHTS OF HUSBAND AND WIFE 64
Husband's Duties and Rights 65
Wife's Duties and Rights 66
DIVORCE AMONG THE HEBREWS 67
Rights of the Husband 67
Privileges of the Wife 68
Status of the Divorced Woman 69
Control of Divorce by the Courts 70
Custody and Support of Children 70
JEWISH HOME LIFE AND TRAINING 71
The Jewish Home as a Training School 73
CHAPTER IV
THE PATRIARCHAL FAMILY: THE GREEK TYPE
RELATION OF THE ATHENIAN FAMILY TO THE GENS AND TRIBE . 78
THE GREEK FAMILY AS PATRIARCHAL IN FORM 78
KINSHIP SYSTEM OF THE GREEKS 79
THE GREEK FAMILY AS A RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION .... 80
POWERS OF THE GREEK FATHER 82
STATUS OF THE WIFE 82
PROPERTY RIGHTS AND INHERITANCE ....... 84
MARRIAGE AMONG THE ANCIENT GREEKS 86
The Greek View of Marriage 86
Preliminaries of Marriage 87
Betrothal 87
Nuptials 88
RELATIONS OF HUSBAND AND WIFE 90
CONCUBINAGE AND PROSTITUTION AMONG THE GREEKS ... 94
The Hetairae 95
DIVORCE IN ANCIENT GREECE 96
Rights of the Husband 96
Rights of the Wife 98
THE GREEK HOUSEHOLD AS AN ECONOMIC INSTITUTION ... 99
Slavery .99
The Household as an Industrial Center 100
HOME NURTURE AND EDUCATION 104
Birth and Early Training 104
THEORIES OF GREEK PHILOSOPHERS CONCERNING THE FAMILY . 108
viii Table of Contents
CHAPTER V
THE PATRIARCHAL FAMILY: THE ROMAN TYPE
PAGE
PERIODS IN THE HISTORY OF THE ROMAN FAMILY .... 112
THE ROMAN FAMILY IN THE EARLY PERIOD 112
Its Patriarchal Character 112
The Patria Potestas 114
Manus : The Status of the Roman Matron .... 115
Property Rights in the Ancient Family ...... 117
Marriage in Ancient Rome . . 118
Matrimonium Justum and non Justum 118
Ceremonies of Espousals and Marriage 119
Concubinage 121
Divorce 121
The Early Roman Household as an Economic Unit .... 123
The Roman Home as a School 125
THE ROMAN FAMILY FROM THE CLOSE OF THE PUNIC WARS TO THE
LAST CENTURIES OF THE EMPIRE 129
Changes in the Status of Women 129
Changes in Marriage and Family Customs 132
Marriage and Property Rights 132
Decline of the Patria Potestas 135
Growth of Celibacy . . 136
Childlessness 138
Divorce under the Empire 139
Household Economy in the Imperial Period 143
Division of Labor 143
The Roman Home in its Educational Aspect 146
Early Home Training 146
Education Shifted to the School 147
Home Training of Girls 148
Comparison of the Roman Woman of the Empire with the Modern
American Woman 150
CHAPTER VI
THE INFLUENCE OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY UPON MARRIAGE AND FAMILY CUSTOM IN THE RO- MAN EMPIRE
VIEWS OF THE CHURCH FATHERS CONCERNING MARRIAGE . . .154
Respective Merits of Virginity and Marriage 154
Table of Contents ix
PAGE
The Influence of Asceticism 158
Second Marriages : Continence in Marriage 159
THE INFLUENCE OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY UPON THE STATUS OF
WOMEN 160
THE REGULATION OF MARRIAGE BY THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH 164
Betrothal and Nuptials 164
Prohibited Degrees 166
ATTITUDE OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH TOWARD THE EVILS
OF PAGAN FAMILY LIFE 167
Adultery 167
Abortion, Infanticide, and Child Exposure 168
Legislation of Christian Emperors 170
THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY ON , ROMAN CUSTOM AND LAW
WITH RESPECT TO DIVORCE 171
Legal Enactments of Christian Emperors 171
Views of the Church concerning Divorce 174
Remarriage after Divorce 175
THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY IN MODIFYING FAMILY LEGISLA- TION IN ROME 175
Decline of the Patria Potestas . 177
CHAPTER VII
THE FAMILY IN THE MIDDLE AGES
THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS . . . . 180
SOURCES OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF FAMILY CUSTOMS AMONG THE
BARBARIANS 181
THE KINSHIP GROUP AND THE HOUSEHOLD AMONG THE GERMANIC
RACES 182
The Law of the Magth or Sippe 183
Membership in the Family or Kin 183
The Law of the Household 185
Power of the Father 185
Partial Emancipation of Children at Majority .... 187
MARRIAGE CUSTOMS AND LAWS IN THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES . . 188
Wife Capture and Wife Purchase 188
Forms of Contracting Marriage : Beweddung and Gtfta . . . 190
The Morning Gift 191
Intervention of the Church in Marriage 192
x Table of Contents
PAGE
SOCIAL POSITION AND PROPERTY RIGHTS OF MARRIED WOMEN . 195
Woman's Status in the Family 195
Influence of the Church on the Status of Women . . . 198
Married Women's Property Rights 199
DIVORCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 202
Folk Laws and Customs 202
Influence of the Mediaeval Church on Divorce ... 203
«w
HOME LIFE IN THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES 206
Homes of Early Days 206
The Home as a Centre of Industry 207
Women and the Gilds 210
Home Nurture and Training in the Middle Ages .... 211
THE LATER MIDDLE AGES : CHANGES IN FAMILY LAW AND CUSTOM 215
Growing Power of the Church over Marriage and Divorce . . 215
Clandestine Marriages 216
Effects of Feudalism upon Marriage and the Family . . . 217
Status and Property Rights of Women 218
Home Life in the Feudal Castle 223
Education of Pages and Daimoiselles 225
Influence of Chivalry upon Family Life 227
Home Life of the Common People under Feudalism . . 231
CHAPTER VIII
THE FAMILY DURING THE RENAISSANCE
GENERAL NATURE OF THE RENAISSANCE 236
EFFECT OF THE MOVEMENT ON THE POSITION OF WOMEN . . . 237
Platonism and Platonic Love 240
EFFECTS OF THE RENAISSANCE ON THE LEGAL STATUS OF WOMEN :
DOWRY, DOWER, AND PROPERTY RIGHTS .... 243
THE CHURCH IN ITS RELATION TO MARRIAGE 246
The Roman Church and the Family 246
Attitude of the Anglican Church toward Clandestine Marriages . 249
Views of Luther and the Protestant Reformers concerning Marriage 252
BETROTHAL AND MARRIAGE 254
Prevailing Customs 254
The Marriage Ceremony 260
HUSBAND AND WIFE 263
Authority of the Husband 263
Affection between Husband and Wife 265
Unfaithfulness in Marriage 268
Table of Contents
TAGS
THE HOMES OF THE RENAISSANCE 271
Improvements in Architecture and Furnishings .... 271
Home Industry 276
Home Nurture 278
Home Training 282
Intellectual Education 286
Contrast between Home Education in the Renaissance and at the
Present Time . 290
CHAPTER IX
THE ENGLISH FAMILY IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES
SOCIAL CLASSES AND CONDITIONS IN ENGLAND IN THE SEVENTEENTH
CENTURY 292
HOUSEHOLD MEMBERSHIP: FAMILY AND SERVANTS .... 294 POSITION OF WOMEN IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CEN- TURIES 296
Statutes affecting Women 296
Legal Position of Women 299
THE IDEAL OF WOMANHOOD IN ENGLAND 305
The Seventeenth Century Ideal 305
The Ideal Woman of the Eighteenth Century 308
The French Revolution and Mary Wollstonecraft . . . 312
MARRIAGE IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES . 316
Persistence of the Idea of Marriage as an Economic Contract . 316
Disinclination of Men for Marriage 319
Marriage Customs 320
Clandestine Marriages 320
Private Marriages 322
THE HOMES OF THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES . 323
Architecture and Furnishings . 323
The Economy of the English Household 327
Home Nurture and Education 332
CHAPTER X
THE FAMILY IN THE AMERICAN COLONIES
THE EARLY SETTLEMENTS .... 341
xii Table of Contents
FAGB
THE STATUS OK WOMEN IN COLONIAL DAYS 345
Establishment of English Common Law 345
Right of Women to Hold Lands 349
Attitude toward Women in the Colonies 351
MARRIAGE LAWS AND CUSTOMS IN THE COLONIES .... 352
Prevailing Ideas of Marriage and the Family 352
Courtship Customs 357
Bundling 365
Precontract 366
Colonial Marriage Laws 367
Banns, Publication, and License 367
The Celebration of Marriage 369
Summary 376
DIVORCE IN THE COLONIES 377
New England Laws and Practices 377
The Southern and Middle Colonies 380
HOMES AND HOME LIFE IN COLONIAL DAYS 382
Houses and House Furnishings 382
Domestic Industry in Colonial Times . . . . . 388
The Colonial Home as a Training School 395
Family Discipline 397
Religious Training in the Family 398
Industrial Training 400
Intellectual Education 403
The Plantation Family of the South 404
CHAPTER XI
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND ITS EFFECT UPON THE FAMILY
INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS AT THE MIDDLE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CEN- TURY 413
BEGINNINGS OF THE COMMISSION SYSTEM 415
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 417
Period of Mechanical Inventions 417
Development of the Factory System in England and America . 420
Effects of the Industrial Revolution on the Home .... 422
In England 422
In America . 424
Table of Contents xiii
CHAPTER XII
THE FAMILY DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
CHANGES IN THE ECONOMIC, LEGAL, AND SOCIAL STATUS OF WOMEN
In England
Extension of Property Rights
Laws for the Protection of Working Women ....
In America
Removal of Property Disabilities
EXTENSION OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGLISHWOMEN THE HIGHER EDUCATION OF AMERICAN WOMEN ....
STATE INTERVENTION IN THE CONTROL OF PARENTAL RIGHTS AND
PRIVILEGES 441
In England 441
In America 444
DIVORCE LEGISLATION DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY . . 445
In England 445
Divorce Legislation in the United States 452
CHAPTER XIII
THE PRESENT SITUATION
EVIDENCES OF THE MALADJUSTMENT OF THE MODERN FAMILY TO
SOCIAL CONDITIONS : THE INSTABILITY OF THE FAMILY . . 456
The Divorce Problem 457
Family Desertion 459
Disintegration due to Industrial Conditions . . . . . 461
CAUSES OF DISHARMONY WITHIN THE FAMILY 464
Economic Dependence of the Wife 464
Ignorance of the Meaning of Marriage '. 468
The Social Evil as a Disruptive Force 473
THE NORMAL FAMILY 477
THE PROBLEM OF THE MARRIAGE RATE 477
THE PROBLEM OF THE BIRTH-RATE 484
Causes of the Decline in the Birth-rate 487
The Restriction of Families among the Educated Classes . . 491
SUMMARY . . 494
xiv Table of Contents
CHAPTER XIV
CURRENT THEORIES OF REFORM
PAGB
THE VARIETY IN POINTS OF VIEW 497
THE THEORIES OF THE RADICALS 498
Socialistic Views of Family Relations 498
The Views of Radical Feminists 507
Social Philosophy of Mr. George 507
The Theories of Ellen Key 510
Doctrine of Economic Freedom for Married Women . . 513
VIEWS OF THE CONSERVATIVE GROUP 521
The Religious Conservatives 521
The Conservatives of the Bio- Sociological School .... 528
VIEWS OF THE MODERATE PROGRESSIVES 536
Legislation as a Remedy : Reform of Domestic Codes . . . 536
Reforms through New Social Legislation 541
A Campaign of Education 547
A HISTORY OF THE FAMILY AS A
SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTION
A HISTORY OF THE FAMILY AS A
SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTION
CHAPTER I
THE HISTORICAL STUDY OF THE FAMILY
Recency of the Historical Study of the Family. — Since the eighteenth century, when the thoughts of men once more eagerly turned to the investigation of human life and insti- tutions as the " proper study of mankind," interest in the problems of social living has become more intense and dif- fused. Large numbers of intelligent men and women outside the ranks of the historians and sociologists are interested students of our present-day institutions and customs which they rightly seek to understand by tracing the slow course of their development. Historical research has thrown a flood of light upon the church, the state, economic life, law and language. One by one the institutions painfully built up through ages of cooperative social effort have been subjected to searching analysis and investigation and the fruit of these researches has been appreciatively received by an intelligent public. Only the institution of the family has, until rather recently, escaped the attention of the general student of society, although it has justly been reckoned the basis and starting point of social research by the historian and the sociologist.
2 Tlie Family as a Social and Educational Institution
The reasons for this reluctance are not far to seek. The family is the social institution closest to men's and women's hearts and associated with the tenderest and deepest ex- periences of their lives. Moreover, in its present monogamic form it represents to many minds in the Western world the only possible solution of the problem of wholesome sex relations, and of the proper care and maintenance of the offspring of such relationships. The family has slowly been shaped into its present form Ey centuries of effort; it represents society's experience and conclusions with ref- erence to delicate problems of profound import. In con- sequence many thoughtful and well-meaning individuals are frankly reluctant to meddle with its adjustments. A third reason for this reluctance lies in the fact that any ade- quate historical study of the family must include topics such as the causes and influence of prostitution, social diseases and divorce, which society has long shrunk from discussing with frankness and in a scientific spirit. Rather has it pre- ferred to bury these unpleasant facts and conditions out of sight in the hope that they would remain permanently out of mind. This unwillingness to discuss such questions has been united with a feeling of hostility toward social critics who proposed measures of reform at all radical in character. Thus Mrs. Parsons's thoughtful book on The Family met a few years ago with a storm of adverse criticism and rebuke because it rather audaciously suggested that in view of the widespread existence of prostitution, and in view of the danger of long-deferred marriages, society might find it wise to attempt the experiment of early trial marriages.1
Recent Interest in Problems of Family Life. — But re- luctance to apply the scientific spirit and method to a study of the family has little by little been breaking down within the last decade. And here, again, the reason is not far to seek. The machinery of family life seems out of joint. Far 1 Op. dt., pp. 348-9.
The Historical Study of the Family 3
from running smoothly it has forced itself upon public atten- tion by its creaking friction until its maladjustments can no longer be ignored. The instability of the family is revealed by the marked increase in divorce among all classes and in desertion among the poor. The difficulties of family life in a congested urban population ; the undoubted commercializa- tion of vice and its effect upon family purity and integrity; the marked decline in the birth-rate, — these are a few of the problems which cry aloud to an intelligent public for solution. Little by little serious men and women have been roused to an appreciation of the fact that something is gravely wrong in the operation of the basic institution of society. This, of course, is a most hopeful sign. Attention, once aroused to the problem, has been directed toward historical studies of marriage and family customs among different races and in different periods with a view to discovering how our present conditions and laws have come about. Such careful works as Westermarck's History of Human Marriage, Letourneau's Evolution of Marriage and the Family, Howard's History of Matrimonial Institutions and the two studies by Mrs. Bosan- quet and Mrs. Parsons on The Family bear witness to a genuine, if recent, awakening of social interest in the knotty questions of which they treat.
Importance of a Genetic Study of the Family. — The value and importance of an unbiassed investigation of the history of the human family lie, first, in the fact already mentioned that such study is the best preparation for an intelligent comprehension of conditions as they are. An enlightened understanding of how certain laws, customs and ideas came to be and why they are still maintained is the first step toward working out a satisfactory theory of how things ought to be. Ideals which are suggested by actual conditions, not formed in the study by speculation, are the most likely to be efficient in bringing about a better state of af- fairs in any problematic situation. Broad and accurate knowl-
4 The Family as a Social and Educational Institution
edge, then, must be the first step in social reform. But there are other values attached to the historical study of the family. First, such investigation should give us a respect for facts rather than for theories about facts; secondly, it should help us to see that, although the origin of the family must be sought in animal instincts, not in ideal love, yet from this rude source has slowly come all that is pure and fine in our family life and sex relations of the present. It is well for the student of history, as for the student of philosophy, to learn not to despise origins, but to evaluate them, as ac- curately as he may, in the light of history.
CHAPTER II
THE PRIMITIVE FAMILY
Definition of Terms. — At the outset of this work it becomes necessary to define the significance attached to the terms " primitive " and " family," since these have developed more than one meaning in the current usage of social writers. The word " primitive " may have reference (i) to an abso- lutely original state of society, or (2) it may be applied to such savage or barbarian groups as exist at the present time. In this study the term will be consistently used in the second sense. Likewise the term " family " may refer to the social unit of Western nations, comprising usually father, mother and offspring ; or it may be applied, as it frequently is by anthropologists, to a much larger group tracing descent to some real or mythical ancestor and organized into clans or living in village communities. Examples of such so-called " families " are furnished by the " gens " of the Greeks and Romans and the clan of the American Indians. Even to-day the village communities among the Slavs are kinship groups and hence " families " in this sense of the term. In these villages several households of relatives live under one roof and work together in organized fashion on the farm, which is common property. Likewise all the group possessions are held in common. In the present study, however, the term " family " will be commonly employed in its more familiar usage to indicate the basic family of two generations — parents and children. Frequent reference, however, will be made to the clan, gens and village kinship group, called by a recent German writer the Grossejamilie (Great family).
5
6 The Family as a Social and Educational Institution
Available Material for the Study of the Primitive Family. - If the term " primitive " is defined strictly to mean the original human family, the difficulties in the way of the student are very real. It is well-nigh impossible to collect reliable evidence concerning the earliest forms of family life, since that evidence is largely lacking. Such descriptive material as we have refers to the marriage customs of peoples who have already proceeded some distance along the path of civiliza- tion. This material includes (i) references to uncivilized peoples in ancient writings, e.g., in Herodotus and Strabo ; (2) travellers' accounts of family organization among present- day savages ; (3) the reports of trained investigators concern- ing marriage and the family among groups of barbarians selected for special study ; (4) analogies drawn from the life of the higher animals, especially the man-like apes. It is hardly necessary to point out that all of these sources of knowl- edge except the accounts of men of scientific training should be used with caution. Ancient writers and modern travel- lers may easily fail either to observe fully and exactly or to interpret accurately such family customs and sex relations as they do observe. Hence it is quite possible for social writers, using much the same material, to form widely variant theories on many questions concerning the family as an institution. This is illustrated by the conflicting views of sociologists with respect to the original form of marriage and family life.
THE SIGNIFICANCE AND ORIGIN OF MARRIAGE
Meaning of the Term " Marriage." -It is probable that most anthropologists and social writers are in agreement concerning the biological meaning of marriage. The word has reference to a union of the male and female which does not cease with the act of procreation but persists after the birth of offspring until the young are capable of supplying their own essential needs. If this view be accepted it becomes
The Primitive Family 7
' /
clear at once that marriage exists among birds and some of the higher animals. Indeed birds furnish an excellent example of parental care and affection. Together the male and fe- male share the work of nest-building; and later, while the mother sits on the eggs, the father furnishes food and protec- tion. After the young are hatched, both share the tasks of food getting and of teaching the fledgelings to care for them- selves. Apparently monogamic marriage, ending only with life, is not uncommon among birds. This is by no means the case with the higher mammals, however. Among these ani- mals the female assumes most of the care and protection of her offspring and is even called upon at times to defend them against the attacks of the father. But the evidence of trav- ellers shows that among the man-like apes — the orang- utan, the gorilla, and the chimpanzee — the male regularly builds a nest in a forked tree for the pregnant female and re- mains on guard to defend her. He also assists in the care of the young and constitutes himself their defender. Such facts make it impossible to restrict marriage, in the sense in which it is denned above, solely to human beings.
The Probable Origin of Marriage. — The previous dis- cussion has perhaps shed some light on the question of the origin of marriage. It seems clear enough that the sexual instinct of itself could not have brought about permanent relationships between male and female. So fluctuating a desire could hardly have constituted a firm basis for family life among animals and among the cave-men, who were our original ancestors. Let it be remembered that aboriginal man in all probability had no glimmering conception of that ideal love which to-day binds men and women together in the strongest of human ties. Nor was the female's need of protection a lasting bond of union; for the female savage, like the female ape, is nearly as strong and capable of self- defence as the male. The source of marriage, then, must probably be looked for in the utter helplessness of the new-
8 The Family as a Social and Educational Institution
born offspring and the need of both mother and young for protection and food during a varying period. Natural selection doubtless operated to kill off those stocks in which the male refused this protection and care, and to " select " those for survival in which it was rendered. Thus it appears that marriage has its source in the family, rather than the family in marriage.1 The full significance of this fact does not dawn upon us until we recall the marked decline of the birth- rate among most modern nations and reflect that the very root of the permanent union of the sexes is found in those parental duties that to-day are often repudiated with more or less deliberation and wisdom.
The Theory of Promiscuity. — At the outset we should consider a theory of sex relationships that negates the original existence of marriage7 and the family. This view was pre- sented in 1 86 1 by Bachofen, a Swiss writer, in his book called Mutterrecht (Mother-right). In this famous work Bachofen takes the ground that aboriginal men lived in hordes like other gregarious animals and that complete promiscuity in sex relations prevailed. Children were the charges of the group as a whole. Under such a regime of unrestricted sexual inter- course fatherhood could not be determined; consequently descent was reckoned through females, who, in the course of time, became thereby influential and even powerful. This was the period of the matriarchate when women were the ruling forces of primitive society. After long ages there developed a form of family life based on " father love " with something of the characteristics of the present monog- amous marriage. Bachofen's theory of original sex com-
1 Sec Wcstcrmarck, The History of Human Marriage, p. 22 ; and Fiskc, The Meaning of Infancy, Riverside Educational Monographs, pp. 29, 30.
The Primitive Family 0
munism has been widely accepted by enthusiastic followers, and has been held in modified form by social writers of con- siderable prominence. The Scotchman McLennan in his well-known work Primitive Marriage and the American Morgan in his book on Ancient Society, both maintain that in the beginning of human history sexual intercourse was quite unrestricted and sexual unions were transitory. Each writer then develops his own theory of the stages by which more permanent sex relationships and a crude family or- ganization have developed. The evidence to which these writers point to support their theory is as follows : (i) A few ancient authors and some modern travellers have de- scribed savages, low in the scale of civilization, who are said to be quite promiscuous in sex relations; (2) certain savage groups at the present day have curious customs which are alleged to be survivals from a period of complete promiscuity. Such practices as " wife lending," and group marriage as it exists among certain Australian tribes to-day, are illus- trations of these customs. Also the practice in some tribes of giving a bride over to the priest or medicine-man before she entered her husband's home is cited by some writers as evidence of original promiscuity in sex relations. Westermarck, in his valuable work on Human Marriage, has sifted this evidence very carefully and concludes (i) that no case of a people living in unrestricted sexual communism can be found to-day ; (2) that the customs which point to promiscuity admit of different and more satisfactory explanations. For example, " wife lend- ing," as found among many savage peoples, is probably trace- able to their exaggerated ideas of the duty of hospitality ; and the deflowering of brides by the priest might reasonably be regarded as conferring honor upon the marriage. The more the matter is investigated, the more questionable it becomes that primitive groups generally lived in a condition of ab- solute promiscuity, although great laxity in marital relations undoubtedly prevailed among them.
io The Family as a Social and Educational Institution
The Theory of the Patriarchal Family. — In the same year that saw the publication of Bachofen's work (1861) there appeared a book by a well-known English writer, Sir Henry Maine, which set forth a wholly different theory of original sex relationships and family organization. In this work (Ancient Law) the author elaborated his reasons for believing that the earliest form of family life, the germ from which all later forms have developed, was the patriarchal family as exemplified in ancient Rome. The characteristics of this type of family organization are, first, its inclusiveness. All those related by descent through common male ancestors, all persons received into the family by the ceremony of adop- tion, and even all slaves and servants were regarded as mem- bers of the familia. A second characteristic of the patriarchal family is the almost absolute authority exercised by the oldest male parent as the priest of the family in its worship of an-* cestors. By virtue of this priestly position he was sole adminis- trator of the family property, and held the power of life and death over his wife, children and slaves, with few limitations. Nor did this despotic authority cease with the marriage of his sons, but was extended over their wives and children as well as themselves. A third distinguishing mark of this type of family organization is agnation, or the kinship system which traces relationship through males only. In the view of Sir Henry Maine the system of agnation existing among certain peoples at present, combined with the authority exer- cised by male heads of families over women and minor children in many parts of the world to-day, point to a period when the patriarchal family was the universal and original type.
The weakness of this theory of the original family lies in the fact that the author has failed to take note of a mass of evidence concerning savage peoples which contradicts it at several points. Very briefly this evidence goes to show that (i) the maternal kinship system which traces relationship through mothers only is even more widely prevalent among
The Primitive Family n
primitive peoples than the paternal system and traces of it may be found even among the ancient Hebrews who had developed the patriarchal family in Old Testament times ; (2) the organization of the patriarchal family and its clearly denned kinship system are based upon ideas far in advance of the capacities of the primitive mind; (3) although the father among savage groups frequently exercises despotic control by reason of superior strength, this control is thrown off by his sons as soon as they are able to shift for them- selves. A power grounded in brute force is hardly to be identified with the patriarchal authority of the Roman father, based as it was upon ancestor worship and exercised under more highly advanced conditions of social and industrial life than ever existed among primitive peoples. The con- clusion reached by most contemporary social writers is that the patriarchal family, far from being the original social unit, is a comparatively recent development in the long history of family organization.
The Theory of Original Pair Marriage. — There remains to be considered the view of an increasing number of social investigators. This theory holds that the original form of sexual union was pair marriage — the union of one man and one woman for a period more or less transitory. The researches of Tylor, Starcke, Westermarck and others all tend to support this view, which, however, is not yet con- clusively established. The arguments in its favor may be briefly summarized. First, pair marriage is occasionally found among beasts of prey, while among the manlike apes it is the more usual form. This simple family, consisting of parents and offspring, seems to be the outcome of animal experience in the intense struggle for food. It is probable that a small group can more readily obtain sustenance, where supplies are not abundant, than a numerous herd. More- over cooperation in food getting would be far more likely to occur within a group bound together by familiar association
12 The Family as a Social and Educational Institution
and by the needs of helpless young than in an irresponsible horde. That such cooperation does exist among animal families has been abundantly demonstrated. Secondly, the feeling of jealousy seems too strongly rooted in the natures of men and beasts alike to make the theory of absolute pro- miscuity at all probable. Such a passion would tend to produce a modified form of monogamic family, even though such unions were probably transitory in character. Thirdly, polygamy and polyandry, forms of marriage held by some writers to precede monogamy, seem to be the outcome of a more advanced social and industrial organization than primi- tive man could have developed. For example, there is quite possibly a close connection between polygyny and the division of society into classes based on wealth or military prestige. Plurality of wives very generally adds to the social standing of the leading men in savage or barbarous tribes. Finally, for the majority of mankind pair marriage must, perforce, have been the only form of union at all possible, owing to the fact that in most countries the male and female birth-rate is nearly equal. Moreover, Westermarck has shown * that in cases where pair marriage does not now prevail there are evidences that it once did exist and has been superseded by a laxer form of marriage.
Relation between Family Organization and the Food Supply. — Perhaps the most obvious deduction from these conflicting views is that no one theory has been satisfactorily established. The life of primitive man is shrouded in an obscurity hard to penetrate. It is quite possible that no one type of sexual union ever prevailed over the whole earth. Rather is it reasonable to believe that the struggle for exist- ence, reduced to its lowest terms in the struggle for food, largely determined what form of marital relationship or family life should prevail in any one locality. The close connection between family organization and the food supply
1 History of Human Marriage, pp. 507-8.
The Primitive Family 13
seems fairly well established. The German writer Grosse, in a recent valuable study,1 has carefully traced the forms probably assumed by the family in the hunting, pastoral and agricultural stages of civilization. The evidence goes to show that in the lowest groups which live mainly upon the produce of the hunt, eked out by seeds, fruits and shell-fish, the struggle for a livelihood is severe and a modified form of the monogamic family is the prevailing type as best suited to the conditions. When the pastoral stage is reached by certain peoples, private property in domesticated animals and rude implements has become a widespread institution and has marked effects upon the family. For, with the develop- ment of the instinct of property, wives come to be regarded as valuable assets, since they carry on crude agricultural work and perform all the productive household labor. Family organization is monogamic or polygynic, according to the wealth of the male head. If his possessions are few, monogamy is a necessity; if he has wealth in lands and cattle, he is able to purchase numerous wives who furnish him with useful offspring and add to his possessions.
In Grosse's view the agricultural stage slowly succeeds the pastoral when the population has so increased in numbers that grazing lands furnish insufficient food for the needs of men and cattle. A part of these lands is gradually cultivated with greater care and intensiveness and the returns in a steady food supply amply repay the labors of the agriculturist. The land, now coming to be regarded as the most valuable source of wealth, is held and cultivated in common as the property of the group, who divide its produce among house- holds or individuals. Now it is no longer the simple family that constitutes the social unit, but the " Sippe " or clan which owns the land. Among many agricultural peoples the common land descends in the clan through maternal ancestors only. The reason for this probably lies in the
1 Die For men der Familie und die For men der Wirtschaft.
14 TJie Family as a Social and Educational Institution
fact that women were the first tillers of the soil, the inventors of agriculture; and many savage tribes, as the Iroquois, Wyandottes and Hurons in North America, recognize their rights in the land they have cultivated. The family within the clan may be monogamic or polygamic in form. This depends as before upon the ability of the male to purchase wives, since women are still looked upon as property. The households frequently contain several generations of related families and are ruled by a head who is usually, although not always, the oldest male relative. Even to-day in the Slav villages of Eastern Europe the household head apportions the work of tilling the common lands and disposes of the produce and the income with the consent of the adult members of the household.
The final stage of development recognized by Grosse is that of the higher agriculturists. At this stage industry and division of labor have so advanced that only one section of the community is devoted to agricultural pursuits. Other groups pursue a variety of industries of which crude manu- facturing is most important. Among these peoples two forms of family organization may be distinguished : (i) the patriarchal family, now fully developed as in ancient Rome, China and Japan; (2) the Sonderfamilie, or monogamic family of two generations — parents and children — the type prevailing in the Western world at the present time. The patriarchal family no doubt existed in germ within the clan, as the Slav households above described clearly show. With the breakdown of clan organization and control, however, full power over the family (including all those related by descent through males from a common ancestor) fell into the hands of the oldest male head. The modern simple family of Western Europe and America, Grosse believes to be a later offshoot from the patriarchal family, due to an advance in economic life. As_jjL_yarie.ty of industrial pursuits de- veloped with advance in civilization, the household