Family Cycles: Strength, Decline, and Renewal in American Domestic Life, 1630-2000

by Allan C. Carlson

Overview

In this paradigm-shifting volume, Allan C. Carlson identifies and examines four distinct cycles of strength or weakness of American family systems. This distinctly American family model includes early and nearly universal marriage, high fertility, close attention to parental responsibilities, complementary gender roles, meaningful intergenerational bonds, and relative stability. Notably, such traits distinguish the "strong" American family system from the "weak" European model (evident since 1700), which involves late marriage, a high proportion of the adult population never married, significantly lower fertility, and more divorces.

The author shows that these cycles of strength and weakness have occurred, until recently, in remarkably consistent fifty-year swings in the United States since colonial times. The book's chapters are organized around these 50-year time frames. There have been four family cycles of strength and decline since 1630, each one lasting about one hundred years. The author argues that fluctuations within this cyclical model derive from intellectual, economic, cultural, and religious influences, which he explores in detail, and supports with considerable evidence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781412863322
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	04/30/2016
Series:	Marriage and Family Studies Series
Pages:	182
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Allan C. Carlson is president emeritus of the Howard Center for Family, Religion, and Society in Rockford, Illinois and was distinguished visiting professor of history and politics at Hillsdale College.

Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction

1 The Puritan Family Utopia, 1630–80

2 The Time of Troubles, 1680–1730

3 Five Systems . . . One Pattern, 1730–1780

4 Post-Revolutionary Crisis, 1780–1830

5 Building Victorian Families in America, 1830–80

6 The Unraveling, 1880–1930

7 The Surprise!: Family Renewal, 1930–70

8 The Whirlwind, 1970–2000

9 Lessons?

Index

Editorial Reviews

"Recommended" —K. Celello, Choice "Allan Carlson is America's preeminent historian and defender of the family. This volume demonstrates that worry about the strength and durability of families is not new on our shores, but nevertheless that there is cause for concern in our current ‘cycle’ of decline. While the ‘crisis of the family’ is a recurring phenomenon, Carlson suggests that something uniquely worrying might be present in our current cycle of decline. His analysis should be both a source of concern and renewed effort to begin anew a cycle of family health and vitality.” —Patrick J. Deneen, University of Notre Dame

From the Publisher