123 School Work

Patriachalism and Paternalism

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  Slave society in Virginia during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was based on two common ideas known as patriachalism and paternalism. Both beliefs centered around one dominant male figure in each household with a common goal, to achieve domestic harmony. "For colonial gentlemenauthority was a delicate project, much like a house built upon an unstable foundation. To keep such a structure standing, the owner had to be extremely sensitive to fine cracks and imperfections, shoring up the edifice to prevent the entire house from tumbling down," (Brown, 51). The two documents chosen take different standpoints as to which one was more successful in attaining that goal. Kathleen M. Brown argues that a household under a patriarchal regime was more stable, than one that used a paternal approach. The other author, Philip D. Morgan, goes into more detail about a concept he called "enlightened patriarchalism" and how it affected the relationship between blacks and whites.
       According to Brown there were three divisions that patriarchal controls were based on; race, gender and social class...