Siblings for Keeps in Early America

A norm of strong relations between adult brothers and sisters persisted for a long time in early America. Two particular features of this relationship lasted from the seventeenth through the early nineteenth century. One was a shared ethic of "kin-keeping" (maintaining family ties) among Euro-American adult brothers and sisters; the other was a related practice of extensive sibling socializing. But these features did not last forever. In hindsight, the enormous importance of adult siblings in each others' lives seems part of a world many Americans have lost.