Religion as a Guide to Men

I decided to use the preface from one of my books, The Young Man’s Friend by Daniel C. Eddy, as my image. However, in both the books I viewed, Lectures to Young Men on Various Subjects by Henry Ward Beecher and The Young Man’s Friend by Daniel C. Eddy, the subject of religion as it pertains to living a morally righteous life. Although there were many different socioeconomic classes and genders that used religion as a guide to morality, both the authors I viewed focused on a male, white middle-class citizen in their books. This sentiment sets the precedent for men’s gender roles in the Antebellum Period, as the men of the time read and analyzed the books I viewed for the exhibition. The preface of The Young Man’s Friend does a nice job of overviewing the book itself, its audience, and its purpose, which is to educate maturing men on the ways in which they should act in order to achieve the status of a respectable gentleman. Ultimately, young men who read this book seek a moral high ground according to religion and stray from possible evils and sinful pleasures. Some examples of vices to avoid are gambling and coveting a neighbor’s wife, among others. As you can see, the book gleams much of its vices from the 10 Commandments, as they were a guide to morality and taken very seriously in the 19th century. The books allude to the Puritan views of the time, and how those views ultimately affected the formation of gender roles in the 1850s. The authors state that their goal is to reach a public audience, most likely throughout the United States. They also seek to impress traditional Puritan viewpoints onto his readers. The books blend different styles of writing in order to push their agendas onto his readers. The books also establish men’s gender role as the dominant figure in society and in a household. Both my author’s viewpoints on the subject of societal gender roles aligns closely with the views of the authors read by my groupmates. Together, they display an overall theme of men being the dominant gender in society and religion’s effect on how these gender roles are to be played out within society in a multitude of situations.

[1] Beecher, Henry Ward. Lectures to Young Men on Various Important Subjects. New York, NY: Derby and Jackson, 1857.

[2] Daniel C. Eddy. “Young Man’s Friend.” Boston, Graves and Young, 1865.

[3] Clark, Clifford E. "The Changing Nature of Protestantism in Mid-nineteenth Century America: Henry Ward Beecher's Seven Lectures to Young Men." The Journal of American History 57, no. 4 (1971): 832-46. doi:10.2307/1917785.