Everyday Life in Early America

I read this book after reading The Reshaping of Everyday Life: 1790-1840 (Everyday Life in America) and Home Life in Colonial Days. All the books had a little over-lap but each book had slightly different focus, information and detail. I enjoyed this book very much; the chapters are as follows: O Strange New World > Who came and Why They Came - What They Brought With Them - What They Found <br /> <br />Settling In <br />The Farm <br />The House <br />The Home <br />Health <br />The Rhythms of Life <br />Manners and Morals <br />Red, White and Black <br />War <br />Beyond the Farm <br />Wonders of the Invisible World <br />Toward the Eighteenth Century <br /> <br />This book has a lot of super quotes - it was very thesis-like in that the introduction had 2 quotes, one from The Waning of the Middle Ages and the other from In Small Things Forgotten: An Archaeology of Early American Life and then the author's final paragraph from the introduction really set the tone for the book: <br /> <br />"Although relics from the past do survive, the everyday life of seventeenth-century Americans differed drastically from ours. As Fernand Braudel, like Deetz, reminds us to comprehend it we must 'strip ourselves in imagination of all the surroundings of our own lives.' The journey backward, he adds 'is a journey to another planet, another human universe." <br /> <br />And this author really hits a home run showing how different life was and giving us a full understanding of the frame of mind of people then, and what was going on in history and around them and all that created them; a super dramaturgy of the times. <br />

The only genuine problem with this excellent book is that it does not compare favorably with some of the other books in this series. For instance, if one turns to this after reading Schlereth's amazing VICTORIAN AMERICA, one is scaled down the book seems in comparison. This is not the fault of author David Hawke. The problem is the paucity of details in everyday life in 17th century America compared to the late 19th. Unfortunately for Hawke, the life of Americans in the 17th century was rudimentary and, of necessity, simple. What makes VICTORIAN AMERICA such a delight is the almost overwhelmingly amount of delicious detail. Nonetheless, life in 17th century colonial America is apt to be less familiar to most readers than that of late 19th century America, and this book performs an enormous service in providing a concise, well-written overview of what that life was like. Hawke is especially good at exploding various myths that have evolved over the years concerning colonial life. Unlike the later volumes in the series, Hawke deals, by dint of necessity, of the larger historical situation.Some of the topics that Hawke takes up include the structure of towns and villages, the nature of farms and the crops grown, houses and the types of objects found within them, the health of the settlers and treatment of illness, social stratification, indentured servitude and slavery, relations with Native Americans, and various superstitions. If the book was somewhat less exhilarating than some of the later books in the series, it nonetheless is quite informative. I highly recommend it to anyone wishing to learn more about the nuts and bolts of colonial life.

This book is a must for anyone who wants to achieve a greater understanding of day-to-day life in 17th century America with a few hours of enjoyable reading. Hawke largely avoids the in-depth treatment of weightier political, social, and religious issues that bog down most such histories, and instead focuses on giving the reader a palpable impression of what it was like simply to be alive. It's not all farm implements and spinning wheels, either. The author skillfully uses anecdotes to covey the impact of bigger issues like industry and economics, transportation, warfare, morals and manners, etc. Excellent!

I read this book during my sophomore year of college, and it has forever stayed in my memory as the most entertaining history book I've ever read. What's so wonderful is that its concern is the texture of everyday life (duh! :=), rather than dates and names. Truly interesting.

A fascinating book full of quotes from people of that era. The book examines all facets of life in 17th century America and explains how our way of life in the US evolved. I couldn't put it down.