Americans During the Nineteenth Century, Essay Example

This short article concerns changes in the domestic life of middle-class Americans during the nineteenth century.

Essentially, the article makes two main points. Firstly, that notions of privacy were, for the most part, non-existent in most American homes before the 1800’s. Houses were designed not for privacy but rather for comfort. Separate bedrooms for individual members of the house were rare, indeed it was common for the main bedroom to lead in directly from the street.

The way houses were designed and furnished changed during the 1800’s. Rooms become private retreats and guests were treated in rooms specially designed for that purpose alone. Houses become places of privacy and celebration, where as before they were simply places of functionality.

The second point the article makes is that the house itself became a symbol of wealth and status. The appearance of the home became important, for example. Overall the article argues that these changes began to create a noticeable difference between how the middle and lower classes lived.

The article is nicely written and very interesting. However, one criticism would be that we are not given any reasons for these changes in domestic life during nineteenth century America. We are left wondering why styles suddenly changed, and where did this new supply of wealth come from? As it is, the writer seems to suggest that America’s middle-class had little choice but to follow these new trends. This seems unlikely, and is a point well worth discussing. However, overall, the article is extremely interesting and has encouraged the reader to further investigate aspects of domestic life in nineteenth century America.