The Evolution of Childhood in Europe and America Essay

The Evolution of Childhood in Europe and America Somewhere around the beginning of the seventeenth century, the perception of the nature of childhood -- its duration, its perceived purpose, its requirements, its quality -- changed rather significantly in the Eurocentric world, a period Valerie Suransky identifies as a watershed for the modern notion of childhood (1982, p. 6). Actually, two things seemed to have happened: first, the idea of childhood as a separate developmental stage began to arise; second, the idea of who was deserving of childhood also began to broaden. The pattern was similar in Europe and America, with some minor variations which resulted from geography, religion, etc., but the differences are inconsequential.†¦show more content†¦106-27). They were perceived as little battlegrounds in the cosmic war of Good versus Evil. And it was considered necessary to, literally sometimes, beat the devil out of them (Calhoun, 1945, pp. 40-41). Corollary to this view of human nature, and childrens nature, was the Calvinist, or Puritan, work ethic, which valued hard work as a weapon in the battle against Evil. Given this view of children and work, it is not difficult to understand why, with the seventeenth century development of industries such as coal mining, children would be put to work in them: the culture had come to believe that children needed to be kept occupied in productive things in order to save their souls, and believed that work per se was good. Industry easily accomodated this view. Thus, the development of industry had a profound influence on the history of childhood in the lower-classes. With the development of the factory system, for instance, there was much demand for labor (Rose, 1991, p. 3). Given that throughout human history the end of infancy and the beginning of induction into adult life had occurred somewhere around age seven, it was rather natural that seven year olds should go to work in the factories and mines. What changed for these children was only the kind of work, and perhaps its duration. Instead of laboring in the fields, many now labored in factories and in mines. And instead of laboring with and for family members in exchange for room and board,Show MoreRelatedAdolf Hitler And The Nazi Regime1552 Words   |  7 Pages but I’ve never been quite fond of history books. However for my American History class I read: People Who Made History; Adolf Hitler, and I have to say this book was rather interesting. This book gave a lot of b ackground and history to Adolf’s childhood, along with his military strategies, as well as his rise and fall as leader of the Nazi regime. 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