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Ideas about "spoiling" children have always involved consideration of just what is a spoiled child, how does spoiling occur, and what are the consequences of spoiling; They have always included concepts of a child’s nature and concept of the ideal child and the ideal adult.
The many mothers of 1820 who belonged to the early "maternal associations" struggled to uphold the ideas about child raising that had been prevalent in the 18th century. They had always been told that the spoiled child stood in danger of having trouble later in life (when exposed to all the temptations of the world) and, more importantly, stood in danger of spiritual ruin.
At first, the only approach these mothers knew was to "break the will" of the child. This approach, coming initially from the theology of Calvin, the French protestant reformer, was inherited from the stern outlook of the Puritans. As one mother wrote, "No child has ever been known, since the earliest period of the world, destitute of an evil disposition however sweet it appears". Infant depravity, by which was meant the child’s impulses, could be curbed only by breaking the will so that the child submitted implicitly to parental guidance.
In 1834, a mother described this technique: Upon the father’s order, her 16-month-old daughter had refused to say "Dear Mama", and had been left alone in a room where she screamed wildly for ten minutes. After the ten minutes, the child was commanded again, and again she refused, so she was whipped and ordered again. This continued for four hours until the child finally obeyed. Parents commonly reported that after one such trial of "will", the child became permanently submissive.
In passing, we can note that knowledge about a child’s "No" period might have moderated the disciplining of little children and the application of the adage "spare the rod and spoil the child" .
By fleeing the child from its evil nature, parents believed they could then guide the child into acquiring the right character traits, such as honesty, industriousness, and society. These moral principles, fixed in the child’s character, were to govern it throughout life, in a society where free enterprise, individual effort, and competition were believed to be the ruling forces.

The purpose of this article is to （）.

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