Before the mid-1800s most Americans believed that the Patriarchal role and farming were the only way of family control and means in earning money. However, in the mid-1800s there was a market boom because farming land was becoming scarce, while mills and factories were rising from the ground everywhere. The change from farming to market or wage earner proved to be the most significant change Americans faced since possibly the fight for independence. This change forced men like Elijah Pierson to move to New York to work as a businessman or merchant. The change of market encouraged women to start working and provide financially for the family. For the men who believed in patriarchy like Robert Matthews this this change proved to be difficult as they now realized they were not the only providers of the family. …show more content…
He was the second son in his family, which caused him to move to New York City. After first joining the Presbyterian Church in 1819, but in 1822 he married Sarah Stanford and joined the Baptist church. Pierson unlike some men took the market change in full swing and became a successful mercantile businessman by the age of thirty-four. Unlike the times and Pierson’s beliefs, Sarah ran the house and was even involved with Frances Folger’s Female Missionary Society which Pierson soon joined. This Society was a definite resemblance of the changing times. In 1830, things fell apart for Elijah Pierson, when Sarah died, he did not know what to do since she did everything for him. He believed he could resurrect her from the died and swore that God and Sarah were talking to him, his career also fell out because he had devoted all his energy and time to preaching. In the course of one year in the act of trying to resurrect Sarah, Elijah lost all of his old evangelical and business friends one by