The post-Revolutionary era of the
United States brought forth great changes in the way society as a whole
functioned. As industries were created and diversified, new cultural elements
began to work their way into the mentality of the nation’s people. The South
specifically was a place societal hierarchies virtually determined how one
would be perceived and many times how they would act and carry out their
communal duties. Social structures such as race, gender and class were marginal
frameworks for classifying groups of people and individuals. While this system
was recognized by leaders and those of governance, it was also internally
maintained and reinforced by the people themselves allowing little
opportunities for reformation or divergence. The hierarchal system of this
society was one that impacted the Old South so greatly that elements of it
exists in our current era affecting not only how the South and America does
business, but also how people see themselves, how they treat each other and is
often the foundation for tension between different groups of people and for the
presumptions people harbor for others.
The impact of race relations of this time period is an
important element to incorporate when creating an idea for how the state of
society was. It is also important to note that race has been historically
labelled as an ‘invented’ idea gaining prominence during the 17th and
18th centuries. Race designates different groups of peoples that
share common, distinguishable traits. By making something as distinguishable as
ones ethnic phenotype, it was easy to establish ideas and norms in order to
reinforce negative associations. The fundamental idea is based off of the
assumption that blacks were an inferior race that was dangerous to themselves
and to other members of society. Slavery allowed this way of thinking to be
reinforced and prolonged. Blacks were put in subservient, subhuman roles. Their
lives were traded and had monetary value and they had no rights guaranteed to
them. For black people, this must have impacted them deeply. Reading the
recounts of slaves and masters alike, allows us to see that there were some
instances of rebellion to the way slaves were treated but said rebelliousness
would eventually lead to submission. For example in Incidents in the Life of
a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs recalls an incident where she verbal disagrees
with her master not allowing her to court a black man she met which led to her
master striking her. Another example could be the accounts of slaves feigning
illnesses or running away to get out of whatever laborious activity they were
assigned to do but some would come back once their ‘episode’ is over. In
theory, this upholds behavior that marks a certain level of gradual
dehumanization. The self-evident rights that all humans are born with are
denied and no chance of hope for change exists. If they cannot fight or ratify
their situation, then what are blacks in America supposed to be labeled as?
They are not classified firstly as a human being even or as male or female.
Their primary identifier is black. This methodology led to foolproof presumptive
characteristics that all members of society could be aware of and recognize;
black people were dangerous, unintelligent and subservient. Any black person
that would try to raise his social status quickly realized that it would be
safer for him to go about life in his social class. Deviating from his societal
place would spark attention from others as well as fear and resistance of a
change in the way things were done.
Analyzing the societal environment of the Old South may
attribute to comparisons of feudal or Middle Ages themes of the past. Honor and
valor are themes that most southerners upheld and defended greatly. With this
also came stark distinguishes between men and women of the time not only
legally but socially. It is easy to imagine what typical a female of this time
period, no matter what economic or educational level, might picture when they
think of an ideal life. One would imagine a life of finding a strong loving
husband willing to fight for her and keep her and her children safe and
comfortable, the woman handling the domestic areas of the household and
remaining as a humble, Godly guide for which to keep her husband on the
righteous path. Women were taught as little girls their place, but not as how
race was taught to blacks but more as something a good women would strive for.
These ideas were reinforced and validated with Christian teachings and
interpretations. This allowed little resistance of the desired social norms. In
fact women expressed their desires for staying in that role. As Mrs. Cary
writes in a chapter of her book dealing with female piety, “Religion…is at
least most necessary to enable women to perform their allotted duties in life.”
Again, by branching off of the fundamental roots of Christianity, the ‘duties’
of women were validated and deviancy was to be taken as blasphemous. The women
were expected to be pious, their ‘power’ was to be expressed through grace and
modesty. Her role in society, specifically in marriage, was to domesticate the
man. Men, however, were not pious by nature which is why women were necessary
to keep them at peace. Men were often described as violent and viriloid
creatures who needed moral temperament as deemed by God. With that being said
it is necessary to look more closely at these supposed truths and their effects.
If a man is thought to be violent and undomesticated by nature, then what
happens when he takes this anger out on his wife or another female? It is
recorded that many instances of domestic abuse went on with nothing more than a
slap on the wrist as punishment. It is to be excused, unless pushed further,
and a man should be forgiven for his behavior as he ‘could not help it’ and
hopefully his wife can put him back on the right path. The things that women
were excused for and presumed as were for being mentally and physically weak
beings who must remain ‘womanly’. There is no room for forgiveness of deviant
behavior as it is an act against God whereas men often get by due to natural
tendencies.
Expanding more on the ideal life of a Southern lady
allows us to see even deeper, more important societal order reaffirmations that
hold much psychological grounds. The ideal life of piety and a perfectly
domesticated household is, in my opinion, unattainable. Society cannot be
perfect for a group as large as the female gender much less an even smaller
population because of deviancy and the need for the fulfillment of everyone’s
desires. I do believe however that the educational history and level of the
woman is a major if not determining factor for how she holds these ideals.
Looking at Mrs. Caroline Lilly’s religious journal, one can clearly see she is
dealing with an internal struggle to achieve a state of Christian perfection.
However, this 32 year old school teacher seems to have more Earthly, rational
things on her mind such as tending to her family fields, her schoolhouse,
raising her children and taking care of her household with her husband. She
reiterates her satisfaction with not being more religious but acknowledges that
no matter how she goes about, she always has God and his teachings in her
heart. To me this is a form of modernization that exists when one is
enlightened. She holds her spirituality in high regard but isn’t necessarily
focused on what one may describe as the ideal southern lady. She appears
happily married and goes about her tasks as independently as she can,
oftentimes leaving the children with their father as she works or does
business. Contrasting this woman from the typical woman in an area such as the
backwoods of North Carolina shows how exposure to little to no higher education
or the wrong form of education can warp the minds of young girls and adult
women. The same image of the ideal lady exists but these economically and
educationally poor white women are constantly chasing it putting aside most of
their rationality. Many women found multiple suitors with hopes of marrying and
raising children holding an estate and possessing he honor and acceptance of
their peers, but ended up being abused, used or left with children to take care
of. The dream was unattainable even more so for poor white women. These women
are disenfranchised and unable to make much drastic change to their social
status other than marrying rich. With limited education comes submission to
this life. They accepted that this was how it must be and continued the
behavior until they felt satisfied or defeated. This idea that women should be
these perfect, beautiful pious figures seriously hurts womankind as a whole.
Constantly having to live up to an image that a white male society has
developed while never being able to possess the power or rights of these men
puts these women in a vicious circle of submission and oppression.
Class tensions and divisions are not inherent human
traits, they are learned behavior dating back to the first members of
intelligent civilization. With education comes the enlightenment that people, despite
their physical or economic differences, are actually not that different at all.
However, what seems to be more influential is knowledge passed down from
family, peers and neighbors. More than likely, especially in the highly
agricultural South, a person’s neighbor probably belonged to the same class and
looked the same, in terms of ethnicity. This means that there is a high chance
of the same ideas about other members of society being shared and reinforced
among these groups. The South was plagued with both top-down and bottom-up
ideologies about social norms and presumptions that once planted in the minds
of the people spread heavily and is near impossible to get rid of without
conscientious effort. It is not impossible to start seeing improvement in some
of the negative effects of this phenomena, as we have seen much change in legal
and societal views over time, but many of these ideas still exist in our
culture. These presumptions often falsely validate themselves whether through
high crime rates in African American populations, people living under the
poverty line being labeled as lazy or people holding the idea that women ‘asked
for’ rape or abused and were at fault. These hierarchal classifications and
presumptions work so cohesively with society and how we go about our lives that
it may seem to be something normal but we must remember that this was the case
in the post-Revolutionary American South; slavery was the norm, female
submission was the norm and so on. With effort, enlightenment and more time for
minds not primed in these beliefs to develop into voters and lawmakers, the
ills of social hierarchal classifications can gradually improve and people will
demand recognition of their human rights and privileges and focus less on upholding
the traditionally determined image of their race, class or gender.
