FAMILY STRUCTURES

OHANA

• Ohana means family
• Tight family knit communities have a better quality of life
• Puritans believed that the family was the foundational unit for a godly society.

MALES

• Men were the head of the house hold
• (Puritans practiced in patriarchy)
• Husbands were in charge of discipline for children and their wife
• Fathers were expected to teach their children how to behave.

FEMALES

• Women were expected to be submissive to their husbands
• Wives were important in decision making
• Names for women: Patience, Silence, Fear, Prudence, Comfort, Hopestill, and Be Fruitful
• Wives were expected to have at least 6 children due to the high mortality rate
• Women taught children for the first few years before their husband took over

MARRIAGE

• Marriages lasted about 12 years (due to high mortality rates)
• People remarried often
• It was acceptable for husbands to discipline their wives using the rod.
• Marriage was considered a civil affair

CHILDREN

• Children had the same responsibilities as adults
• (Church, chores, repressing individual differences
• Children would be labeled as "bewitched" if they showed too much emotion (mainly girls)
• Girls helped with house work
• Boys helped with outside chores.