Sunday, October 12, 2014

Problems with Social Order and Hierarchies in the post-Revolutionary American South - Tajae Pryce


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.

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