Dependent States: The Child's Part In Nineteenth-century American Culture

by Karen Sanchez-Eppler

Because childhood is not only culturally but also legally and biologically understood as a period of dependency, it has been easy to dismiss children as historical actors. By putting children at the center of our thinking about American history, Karen Sánchez-Eppler recognizes the important part childhood played in nineteenth-century American culture and what this involvement entailed for children themselves.Dependent States examines the ties between children's literacy training and the growing cultural prestige of the novel; the way children functioned rhetorically in reform literature to enforce social norms; the way the risks of death to children shored up emotional power in the home; how Sunday schools socialized children into racial, religious, and national identities; and how class identity was produced, not only in terms of work, but also in the way children played. For Sánchez-Eppler, nineteenth-century childhoods were nothing less than vehicles for nation

Genres: History, American History

288 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2005

Reviews

[Lisa Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating tour through childhood, looking back at the 19th century. She addresses several subjects: children's dependency, and how this influenced their writing and play before childhood was viewed as a time of play; society's recruitment of children as moral forces of reform for vice (especially the vice of alcoholism); the idealization of children's innocence in 19th century photos of dead infants and children; and the use of children's images to promote the agenda of building an American Empire. Who thought children could be so useful? This is a century where society made a dramatic transition in how children were viewed. The century started with children who were simultaneously wicked -- in need of strict censure and education -- and God's perfect angels to be emulated as paragons of virtue. The century ended with children who were to be protected, allowed to grow, learn, and play, but were also expected to consume the goods capitalism was selling. From a "God-centric" childhood, to a "toy and play-centric" childhood. Children's use to society, as such,changed. The ideas and history are compelling. My only criticism is that the book reads like a PhD thesis, in need of editing for clarity to make it more accessible to those of us who are not familiar with her field.