Of Kith and Kin: Correlations Between the Medieval Family Under Feudalism and the Colonial Family

The relationship between later European Medieval families alongside early Euro-American families is often ignored, but their individual dynamics represent institutionalized change, and gives insight to socio-economic and cultural shifts. This essay explores the basic structure of Feudal families and how these structures are compared and translated into the initial independent American families. Not only will the essay discuss the “modern” analysis of how the medieval period was defined, but will also map where that definition began to change. These findings can be used broadly to research past the modern–post industrial family–model, and the implications that Feudalism had on early American socio-economic structures, as well as how this has been reflected in several generations of family archetypes.