THE CHANGING LIFE OF THE

PEOPLE

Chapter 20

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Students will analyses how the lives of

ordinary people changed in the 17th and 18th Century

Students will understand the living conditions, marriage patterns, child-rearing practices, educational opportunities, consumption of food and other commodities, medical practices, religion and culture.

AP TIP

Emphasis on social history has become a vital part of the AP Euro curriculum. Sometimes students tend to see social history as less serious or less important, but that would be a serious error in preparing for the AP exam, since the exam includes a substantial number of social history question on attitudes toward children.

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LIFE

Age at time of marriage 17th C & 18th C

Averaged 25 – 28 Some never married at all Most worked for about 10 years and were fully adults by the time of marriage Marriage might have been delayed for

some, due to delay in receiving permission from local lords or government officials

LEAVING HOME Young men

Apprentice Itinerant worker

Young womenFew opportunities (more as the 18th C wore

on)Domestic service

Hard work. Low wages Victims of unwanted sexual advances from their

employersPregnancy cause a girl to be firesProstitution was often the only recourse

PREMARITAL SEX AND COMMUNITY CONTROLS Illegitimacy was relatively low until

1750 Although 1/5 to 1/3 of the children were

conceived before marriageStrong community controls in traditional

village life cold pressure young couples to marry.

Other community intervention included public rituals that humiliated people (forced to “ride stang” (backwards on a donkey) Adultery Abusive treatment of spouse

NEW PATTERNS OF MARRIAGE AND ILLEGITIMACY Illegitimacy rates soared from 1750 to 1850

Reaching more than ¼ to 1/3 of all births Why? Some suggest that the growth of the

cottage industry meant income was no longer tied to land, so younger people could become independent and marry earlier, often for love.

More young people moved to cities in search of econ. Opportunities

“penny weddings” showed how hard it was for families to pay for weddings. In Scotland guests provided cash gifts to help pay for the wedding.

CHILDREN AND EDUCATION

One reason women had 6 or more children was that many typically 2 or 3 would die before they would reach adulthood.

Only when medical care and sanitation improved did more babies survive to adulthood; at that point, family size began to shrink.

Infanticide was all too common Foundling hospitals existed in cities

In Paris about 1/3 of the babies were abandoned to them

Hospitals took in about 100,000 per year – always more babies that they could take in

High death rates – 50 to 90 % died in their 1st year Legalized infanticide?

CHILDREN - LIFESTYLE Attachment to children was in question Children were typically treated with severe

discipline Children should be obedient and quiet Enlightenment views

Children should be held to a different standard Allowed to play and learn by playing Philosophes argued for better treatment of children Children clothing changed to give them greater freedom

of movement Rousseau – forerunner of progressive education

The best way to educate children is to have them follow their own interests and to stimulate their curiosity.

Children should be given practical skillsBoys – craftsGirls – domestic skills

SCHOOLS AND POPULAR LITERATURE Most children were illiterate

18th C provided more opportunities for education Nobles and well-to-do bourgeoisie often sent their

children to Jesuit schools/colleges 17th C – Protestant and Catholic desired your

people to be able to read. Prussia 1st to make elementary education

mandatory in 1717 – read scripture and create a educated population to better serve the state

Male literacy rates increased between 1600 – 1800, from 20% to between 50% in England and 90 % in Scotland.

Women also saw improvement in literacy – lower than men

READING MATERIAL “chapbooks” – short pamphlets (mostly religious

topics) The novel – introduced in the 18th C (mostly issues of

love & family) Popular literature developed genres such as

Fantasy stories Romances – particularly medieval ones Crime stories Fairy tales Practical manuals Almanacs

Printed forms Pamphlets Newspapers Broadsides Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense sold some 600,000

copies

FOOD, MEDICINE AND NEW CONSUMPTION HABITS Households changed

Private spaces Defined functions Decorated – books & prints

Plate at dining table rather than common dish a century before

Diet 1700s

Coarse dark bread or grains added to soup Peas & beans Uncommon: fruit, milk (only for cheese & butter) Less meat than in 1500

1800s Potatoes became a staple Corn, squash, tomatoes – Columbian exchange Tea, sugar, tobacco, coffee, & chocolate

Tea, coffee & sugar – desired as stimulants Mercier described energizing effect (Paris 1780s)

FASHIONWomen entered the consumer world

Greater number of garments & accessories More diversity of style Outspending men

Men Plain dark clothes Gave up magnificent multicolored outfits of

earlier century

INCREASE IN MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS

Physicians, surgeons, midwives, faith healers, apothecaries (pharmacists)

1700s women med practitioners common, 1800s denied admission to med colleges Still active as midwives & faith healers

Madame du Coudray Taught the art of midwifery

Hands on 1st life-size obstetrical model (she created) Wrote a childbirth manual Received government support

Midwives Delivered the majority of babies @ home Treated women’s illnesses Forceps – forced women out of delivery role

Physicians used monopoly on the new instrument to exclude midwives Faith healers

Used religious practice to cure Popular in countryside

Apothecaries Druggists

MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS Training

Long years of hands on training Bloodletting,

Surgeons vs. barbers/butchers Battlefield roles

Amputation of wounded limbs of soldiers No anesthesia or attention to sanitary conditions

(germ theory not know – death due to infection very high)

Advances Smallpox vaccine

Lady Montagu – Ottoman Empire inoculation (about 1/5 died from vaccine)

Edward Jenner – cowpox inoculation

RELIGION & POPULAR CULTURE Parish church

Religious & social life Records of births and deaths Educated children Cared for destitute & orphaned

Royal absolutism Increased control over church Spain

No papal proclamation w/o royal approval France

Jesuits – expelled by Louis XV in Too loyal to the pope Dissolved in 1773 (with help from Spain)

Austria Maria Theresa & Joseph II abolished monastic orders that were

contemplative

RELIGION Protestants

Removed all images and stained glass windows from churches

Banned processions & pilgrimages Pietism

17th C Protestant movement stagnated New movement – stressed personal, emotional religious

experience Lutheran ideal “ priesthood of all believers” Grew in Germany Mass education Study groups Reading the Bible Offered the chance to be reborn

Methodists John Wesley organized a new club on Oxford campus

Spread movement thru revival meetings Message – all men and women can be saved Popular in England

Resentment over favoritism in the Church or EngEnlightenment skepticismShortage of churches (pop growth)

RELIGION Catholic

Religion flourished in Catholic countries Elaborate Baroque decorations Popular pilgrimages Procession in celebration of saints & Jesus

Jansenism Pietism w/n Catholicism

Adopted many Calvinist concepts Predestination Piety & spiritual devotion

Attracted French intellectual elite & urban poor

LEISURE AND RECREATION Carnival

Festive period for several days before the deprivations of Lent Dancing, drinking and masquerading Plays & processions

Literacy Grew Oral traditions favored

Tavern or pub

Town & city amusements Fairs Spectator sports

Horse racing Boxing Bullfighting, bull baiting, cockfighting

Enlightened elites began to criticize blood sports