Customer Reviews

America at 1750: A Social Portrait

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4 star:		(1)
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The brilliant historian Richard Hofstadter was working on this book when he died in 1970. In eight highly readable chapters he presents clear discussions of several areas of Colonial America, among them: the explosion in population, the diverse ethnicity, the world of white indentured servents, black slavery and its trade, along with a discussion of the predominant middle class life many enjoyed, and finishes with three fine chapters on Colonial religion and the Great Awakening. His mastery of his subject matter and the clarity of his writing is a joy. The Scotch-Irish, the German religious sects who were excellent farmers, the terrified blacks kidnapped and marched 550 miles to the coast and into slavery, the desperate white indentured servents selling themselves into virtual slavery for a time, the always extremely dangerous ocean crossings, the greedy-yet terrified slaveholders and the cruel slave codes they wrote, the relatively prosperous Americans, the coming of G! ! eorge Whitefield--America's most spectacular preacher, the religious schisms that the Great Awakening brought: all these stories are here. And all packed into a highly readable book. A pleasure to read. Thank you Professor Hofstadter.

This is a magnificent work of historical imagination. Hofstadter's last book, it was what was to begin a much larger, possibly three volume epic on the social conditions of America at distinctive periods in our history. And while this book is missing the fuller vision of a more articulated society, the chapters that are present are truly alive with insight and understanding of the way things probably were. Here we see the slave trade not just from a one-sided arcadia, but from every side, from the profiteers and the oppressed, from the African kings selling their nation to the early-day abolitionists mildly arguing their case. We see the white slaves too, the pains and humiliations of indentured servitude to the hearts and minds of men believing themselves at the very least a step up from inhumanity.

Then there is the middle class of the pre-revolutionary colonies, filled with religious fanatics and patriotic zealots, all of them looking to make a buck. We see that this class formed the basic foundations of the nation to come and how the politicians of the day catered mostly to this hardly regal, far-reaching group of normal, everyday folks. This chapter, perhaps, gives the fullest picture of the society that was that went on to create the society we are today.

And then there is a long discussion of the church and the 'Great Awakening' that plundered through the minds of so many post-witch hunting citizens. These chapters explain the foundations that led not just to a seperation of church and state, but to the required need for religious diversity and how this principle, above all else, came to found our subsequent ideas on American freedom.

A glorious, neccessary book, it makes one mourn for this already celebrated historian and wonder what might have been (and regardless of that annoying cliche, one can't help but think in such basic praise dialect when finishing).

I find it fascinating that this wonderful glimpse into our nation shortly before the American Revolution could be thought of as stuffy, boring and a waste of time. Hofstader, a brilliant and yet very human scholar, has offered us a wonderfully concise, compelling and illuminating read - a rare and precious gift to anyone wishing to examine the evolution of our nation. He has done all the work, not only allowing us to form our own conclusions from the facts rather than spoon-feeding us his unsubstantiated opinion, but has presented this vast amount of data in a breezy, very readable manner. The only explanation I could arrive at of how anyone could find this great book a waste of time is that these reviews are as much a reflection of the reviewer as the book under review.

Bravo Professor Hofstader. I regret that you did not live to complete your masterpiece.

To give you a little insight on my opinion, I was assigned to do an "outside reading" for my U.S. History class and I picked this out of the list of acceptable books. This book really does pack a lot of information into it for you, and it breaks up the monotony of facts and locations by throwing in little stories, examples, and quotes, which give history a little more "personal" feeling. The first chapter is a real snoozer, dealing mostly in population figures and growth, but it picks up from there. I also found the last few chapters on religion and the Great Awakening a little redundant, but still interesting.

Unless you are under obligation to read this for some sort of class, I would not recomend wasting yout time trying to wade through the quagmire of redundantly long, boring text. If I could pay attention to it for more than two sentences at a time, most likely I would find it to have a wealth of information; but it's dry, overly-intellecual style makes it impossible to stay interested. If you're looking for a challenge to read, you face two; deciphering the nealry 300 pages of rediculously long sentences, and staying awake. I even go so far as to say reading it is a complete waste of time, because the energy you must invest to understand this work' coupled witht the frustration of an endlessly boring stlye does not even compared to the information you will actually get out of it.

Unless you are under obligation to read this for some sort of class, I would not recomend wasting yout time trying to wade through the quagmire of redundantly long, boring text. If I could pay attention to it for more than two sentences at a time, most likely I would find it to have a wealth of information; but it's dry, overly-intellecual style makes it impossible to stay interested. If you're looking for a challenge to read, you face two; deciphering the nealry 300 pages of rediculously long sentences, and staying awake. I even go so far as to say reading it is a complete waste of time, because the energy you must invest to understand this work' coupled witht the frustration of an endlessly boring stlye does not even compared to the information you will actually get out of it.

To read this book you need to be fully awake and have full concentration. This is not the type of book to bring to the beach. Though Richard Hofstadter makes a convincing case of what colonial times were like and he obviously was a scholar, he writes very monotonously. if not thouroughly interested in american history at 1750 i would not recommend this book. otherwise, if you are a history-fanatic, this book gives a wide range of perspectives and fully covers the history of the time.