That, with the exception of force, there is no quality in the male constitution capable of binding together the various individuals born of the same father, is apparent from the past history of the human race. Mr. Parkyns, referring to the character of the Abyssinians, observes that the worst point in the constitution of their society is the want of affection among relations, “even though they be children of one father.” He says that the animosities which keep the tribes in a constant state of warfare do not exist among the offspring of the same mother and father, but, as the children of polygamous fathers are more numerous than own brethren, fraternal affection is a rare thing.[140] A comparison between the family group under archaic usages at a time when woman’s influence was in the ascendency, and the Roman family under the older Roman law, will serve to show the wide difference existing between the altruistic and egoistic principles as controlling agencies in the home and in society.
A significant fact in connection with this subject is here suggested, that, although for untold ages women were leaders of the gens, so long as their will was supreme, no human right was ever invaded, and no legitimate manly prerogative usurped; but, on the contrary, all were equal, and the principles of a pure democracy were firmly grounded. Liberty and justice had not at that time been throttled by the extreme selfishness inherent in human nature.
Although the processes by which women at a certain stage of human development lost their independence were gradual, they are by no means difficult to trace. The history of human marriage as gathered from the various tribes and races in the several stages of growth shows the primary idea of the office of wife to have been that of sexual slavery, and discloses the fact that it was the desire for foreign women who, shorn of their natural independence, could be controlled, which caused the overthrow of female supremacy.
As during the earlier ages of human existence the women of the group were absolutely independent of men for the means of support, they were able to so control their own movements. Only foreign women—captives stolen from their homes and friends—taken singly or in groups could be subjugated or brought into the wifely relation. Indeed, until the systematic practice of capturing women from hostile tribes for sexual purposes had been inaugurated, and the subsequent agency of repression—namely, ownership of the soil by males, had followed as a natural consequence, the usurpation by man of the natural rights and privileges of woman was impossible. The male members of the group had not at that time the power to sell their sisters and other female relations, but, on the contrary, defended them manfully against the assaults of hostile tribes. The foreign captor, the wife-catcher, was an enemy who was both feared and hated, and upon him were showered the maledictions of the entire group upon which the assault had been made. In retaliation for his offence, the men who had been bereft of a sister must in their turn commit a like depredation; thus, through the removal of women, the men of early groups gradually gained control of the common possessions at the same time that they were being supplied with foreign wives over whom they exercised absolute control. In process of time, when wealth began to accumulate in the hands of men, and when friendly relations began to be established between neighbouring tribes, foreign wives, without influence, were received in exchange for the free-born women of a man’s own clan; henceforward a resort to capture was unnecessary. Distant tribes, however, were still liable to attack. Wars were waged against the men, who were sometimes slain, sometimes taken prisoners, the invaders taking possession of the lands and compelling the women to accept the position of wife to them. Finally, negotiations were entered into whereby women were uniformly taken from their homes to become wives in alien groups. Later, the ba’al form of marriage came to prevail within the tribe. Professor Smith, quoting from the advice given by an Arab to his son, says: “Do not marry in your own hayy, for that leads to ugly family quarrels,” to which he adds,
there was a real inconsistency in the position of a woman who was at once her husband’s free kinswoman and his purchased wife. It was better to have a wife who had no claims of kin and no brethren near to take her part.[141]
Under earlier conditions of the human race women as bearers and protectors of the young were regarded as the natural land-owners; hence, they did not leave their own homes to follow the fathers of their children. The woman who left her own relations for the hayy of her husband could no longer exercise control over the possessions of her own gens, neither could she at a later period inherit property from her kindred for the reason that her interests were identical with those of her children and her children belonged to another clan. As property could not be transferred from the group in which it originated, she was disinherited. Through marriage women gave up their natural right to the soil, and consequently to independence. A knowledge of the facts connected with the origin of the institution of marriage, reveals the fact that women lost their influence and power, not because of their weakness, but because they were foreigners and dependents in the homes of their husbands.
The statement was made at the beginning of this chapter that the origin of marriage and the establishment of the family with man at its head involve the subject of economies.
When property began to accumulate in the hands of men, when women were forced to relinquish their right to the soil and thus to become dependent on men for their support, their slavery was inevitable. Later, when through the exigencies of the situation, woman went without protest to the home of her master, there to become a pensioner upon his bounty, her slavery was complete.
In process of time, women bound to foreign tribes by the children which they had borne, began to accommodate themselves to the situation, and even to claim an interest in the home of their adoption, whereupon friendly relations began to be established between the tribe of the mother and that of the father. Hence may be observed the fact that the maternal instinct was the agency by which the barriers between unrelated groups were gradually broken down, and by which a spirit of friendliness was established between hitherto hostile tribes. As the coherence of the group and the combination of the gentes to form the tribe had been possible only by means of this instinct, so the confederacy of tribes to form the nation was accomplished in the same manner.
The change from female supremacy to male dominion is among the most important of the evolutionary processes. From the facts underlying the development of human society, and especially those underlying the two diverging lines of sex-demarcation, it is evident that evolution does not proceed in an undeviating line toward progress. It is perceived, that seeming retrogressions always involve a gain—a gain which could have been accomplished in no other way.