ABSTRACT
I will discuss three broad eras in the history of U.S. families: (1) Colonial times, when most white families were largely self-sufficient farming groups, where everyone worked and contributed; (2) the 1800s, when industrialism arose and transformed the economy and all institutions; the separation of work from family life began; and there were fewer families farming; (3) and the twentieth century, when families became smaller and more private, with more emphasis on personal fulfillment. As we describe and discuss these eras, please remember that they are at best approximations of the complex realities of family lives. Changes over time are gradual and overlap with previous conditions. Out of necessity we create categories in order to make some sense of history, of how families changed and why they did so. But individuals and families pay no attention to historians and sociologists and the periods they create. People live their lives to meet their needs and wishes; they respond to immediate conditions before them and they often go beyond what they inherited.
