Every Man's Home a Castle

Julia Bowes examines how nineteenth- and early twentieth-century battles over compulsory schooling, child labor laws, and vaccination gave rise to a political ideology of parental rights.

She shows how diverse groups—immigrants, religious communities, medical dissenters, and conservative activists—coalesced into national movements defending parental authority against state intervention.

Bowes connects these legal and social struggles to landmark court decisions and lobbying efforts that elevated parental rights as a constitutional and cultural principle.

The book argues that the ideal of the white male head of household as the primary 'rights-bearing' individual underpinning these movements shaped the contours of modern conservatism.

Through archival research and analysis, Bowes links historical conflicts over children to contemporary parental rights politics.