History Essay: Analyzing Patriarchy and Patronage in Early America

This essay analyzes the concepts of patriarchy and patronage in early American society, drawing heavily from Gordon Wood's "The Radicalism of the American Revolution." It examines how the elite class dominated the social structure, viewing common people as subordinates. The essay discusses the significance of patriarchal dependence, highlighting the elite's control over land ownership, inheritance laws, and intermarriage practices. It further explores the role of patronage, where the elite protected and controlled the economically disadvantaged, creating social bonds and dependencies. The paper concludes by emphasizing the documented impact of these power dynamics on early American society, illustrating the inequalities that shaped the period. The essay references relevant scholarly sources to support its arguments and provide a comprehensive understanding of the topic.

Running head: HISTORY
History
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1HISTORY
Introduction
In this paper the fact of the patriarchal dependence will be discussed from the book The
Radicalism of the American Revolution. This book has been written by Gordon Wood (Wood,
2011). In this essay, the aspect of the patriarchal dependence and significance of the patronage
will be highlighted. The condition of the early America would be discussed as well. These issues
are considered to be a very significant ain the context of portraying America.
Aspect of patriarchal dependence
The aspect of the patriarchal dependence has been discussed in the book in various ways.
In this book the author has discussed about the early America. He has opined that the high
society people of early America thought themselves as the superior within the society. The
people of the elite society saw the common people of the country as lower in the status or the
subordinates (Coontz, 2016). This implies that the society had been dominated by the elite
people of the society in all the ways. The patriarchy had been very much clear in the early
America more than the United Kingdom. The guild is considered as one of the social institutions
that were very much strong in the early America. The activity of teaching took place in the
household families mostly. The colonists believed that the household families would need to be
associated very much with all the people within the society. The people in the society wanted to
be a part of the families so they could gain the social security.
The lands in the early America belonged to the elite males of the society. There were so
many English laws related to the inheritance of lands that were implemented in the United States.
The cities in which these laws could be applied were New England and Virginia. The
primogeniture policy could be applied (Coontz, 2016). According to this policy, the eldest son of

2HISTORY
the families would get the rightful hold of the lands. They would also be the landowners and the
head of the household families as well. The high society people or the elite people always
wanted to get the females of their families get married to the elite males of the society. The
aspect of intermarrying was very commonly practiced within the society. This shows that the
patriarchy had dominated the society (Rindfleisch, 2012).
Society and patronage
The patronage in the society had been one of the most significant trends within the early
American society. The elite and high society people in the society considered the common
people as their sons and daughters. The colonialism had affected the entire America in various
ways and the present America cannot be compared with the early America. It is because the
colonialism had changed the entire landscape of the America in those early years. However,
these effects of the colonialism were not much in practice in the modern America. The elite
people had always protected the downward people of the society who were economically
backwards. These people from the downward section of the society showed the allegiance to the
elite class. There were some significant bondage within the society like that of the loyalties and
the legal bondages (Lytle & Orgel, 2014). However, the socially backward people always stayed
allegiant to the elite people of the society. All these issues have been discussed in the book in a
grave manner. The effect of paternalism and dependence has been depicted in the book properly
indeed. The subordinate people had been patronized by the elite class.
Conclusion
On a concluding note it can be said that the patronage and patriarchy among the people
had been very well documented in the book The Radicalism of the American Revolution. The

3HISTORY
subordinate people in the country have been dominated by the elite people of the society. This
inequality had led an impact on the society.

4HISTORY
References
Coontz, S. (2016). The way we never were: American families and the nostalgia trap. Hachette
UK.
Daniels, C., & Kennedy, M. V. (2014). Over the Threshold: Intimate Violence in Early America.
Routledge.
Lytle, G. F., & Orgel, S. (Eds.). (2014). Patronage in the Renaissance. Princeton University
Press.
Radhakrishnan, S., & Solari, C. (2015). Empowered women, failed patriarchs: Neoliberalism and
global gender anxieties. Sociology Compass, 9(9), 784-802.
Rindfleisch, B. C. (2012). What it means to be a man”: Contested masculinity in the early
republic and antebellum America. History Compass, 10(11), 852-865.
Wood, G. S. (2011). The radicalism of the American Revolution. Vintage.