Explaining the Popularity of

Mid-Nineteenth Century Conduct Books

Why was so much emphasis being placed on polite conduct and "restraint" during the period between 1830 and the 1860's? Here are just a few possible explanations to consider:

Concerns about the dangers of city life may help explain the popularity of conduct books. Many of the transactions that were done in seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth century America would have taken place between people who knew one another because they had lived together in the same community for a long period. As communities expanded and cities swelled, more and more encounters would be taking place between strangers. Therefore, it became important to dress and behave in a way that signalled strangers that you were a respectable individual. At the same time, the moral code emphasized by the conduct manuals reminded people of the importance of behaving fairly even when dealing with strangers.

Concerns about the temptations of city life may help explain why conduct books were often given as gifts to boys or girls. When young men and women lived in the homes of their parents up until the time of their marriages--and then often moved into another house in that same village or town--parents and the community could monitor their behavior. But this was not possible when young people moved away to the city.

Economic changes that were creating new career opportunities for young men also created a market for advice books. Formerly, a boy who needed to learn how to support himself would typically have farmed, gone to sea, or worked as an apprentice to a craftsman (for example a cabinet maker or a blacksmith) in order to learn a trade. Farming, sailing, and working at a trade required specific kinds of practical skills, but the kinds of "white collar" jobs that were opening up in stores and businesses in the middle of the century required young men who also had social skills.

Fears about the changing nature of the population may have led to a preoccupation with proper conduct. Because of the significant increase in immigration in the middle of the century (stimulated at least in part by the potato famine in Ireland), the population was not only expanding but also becoming increasingly diverse. Moreover, up until 18__, the fact that only property-owning males could vote meant that control of the government was largely in the hands of those at the higher end of the socio-economic ladder. However, the adoption of the ______ meant that any male over the age of ___ could vote, thus creating fears among some members of the upperclasses that both the behavior and the votes of the poor man, the uneducated man, and the immigrant would destroy the civic order.