the origin of the family private property and state

While many 20th century anthropologists have disputed the conclusions reached by both Morgan and Engels regarding how ancient societies functioned, “The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State” remains a thought-provoking critique of the modern family and the inequitable distribution of wealth. The work argues that the status of women as property of their husbands is a result of this transformation and only by eliminating private property and converting to communism can women finally have an equal place in society. Influenced by Morgan’s research, Engels contends that the institutions of private property and inheritance have led to the creation of the nuclear family and the patrilineal system found in most modern societies. Engels: Along with the classes the state will inevitably fall. Engels looks into the origin and essence of the state, and concludes it is bound to wither away leaving a classless society. Morgan argued that primitive human cultures were matrilineal in nature and that power in tribal societies was controlled by women. Engels’s The Origins of the Family, Private Property, and the State (1884) was in fact largely based on Morgan’s Ancient Society. It focuses on early human history, following the disintegration of the primitive community and the emergence of a class society based on private property. Morgan’s book “Ancient Society”, which posits that human progress may be divided into three stages: savagery, then barbarism, and finally modern civilization. Largely based on notes written by Karl Marx found by Engels after his death, the treatise examines the findings in American anthropologist Lewis H.

First published in 1884, “The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State” is the groundbreaking treatise on the history of the nuclear family unit by Friedrich Engels.

The origin of the family private property and state