Before the Melting Pot: Society and Culture in Colonial New York City, 1664-1730 [Paperback]

Joyce D. Goodfriend (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0691037876 | ISBN-13: 978-0691037875 | Publication Date: September 19, 1994

From its earliest days under English rule, New York City had an unusually diverse ethnic makeup, with substantial numbers of Dutch, English, Scottish, Irish, French, German, and Jewish immigrants, as well as a large African-American population. Joyce Goodfriend paints a vivid portrait of this society, exploring the meaning of ethnicity in early America and showing how colonial settlers of varying backgrounds worked out a basis for coexistence. She argues that, contrary to the prevalent notion of rapid Anglicization, ethnicity proved an enduring force in this small urban society well into the eighteenth century.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An excellent study of New York City's diverse population. -- Choice



Joyce Goodfriend's book advances the discussion of the meaning of pluralism in colonial America through a deft integration of ethnic history, African-American history, and women's history in a non-ideological manner. -- David S. Cohen, Journal of Social History



We have here a major contribution to our understanding of colonial America and an interesting case study of the variety in the history of American assimilation. -- Paul A. Gilje, American Historical Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (September 19, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691037876
• ISBN-13: 978-0691037875
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #779,354 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Portrait of Colonial Ethnicity, March 24, 2000

By 

Brian O'Malley (Atlantic Beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Before the Melting Pot: Society and Culture in Colonial New York City, 1664-1730 (Paperback)

The title is a clever pun on the Nathan Glazer and Daniel Patrick Moynihan work, Beyond the Melting Pot, which is a history of ethnic groups in modern New York. Joyce D. Goodfriend offers an excellent discussion of ethnicity in colonial New York. She examines patterns of officeholding, occupation, intermarriage and church attendance among various ethnic groups over several generations. While Goodfriend discusses the English, her work is stronger in considering the French Huguenots, and strongest in examining the Dutch. Her thoroughness is illuminating and her style entertaining.

This book, however, does not encompass every ethnic group in colonial New York. For instance, the German and the African presence in the city does not receive the same scrutiny as the French and the Dutch. Goodfriend does offer a portrait of ethnic interaction. Her work, however, is primarily a consideration of Dutch (and French) adjustment to English colonial policy.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Melting Pot, April 19, 2009

By 

Rob S "Rob S" (United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Before the Melting Pot: Society and Culture in Colonial New York City, 1664-1730 (Paperback)

I found this to be a tough read and somewhat boring. I bought this book due to an interest in this time period and it does give facts about research in this period but is not really a history per say. The lack of material regarding colonial United States was surprising to me. Most history books deal with the initial founding of an area and then jump to the Revolutionary War. If you are looking more for a developing history rather than facts I would recommend Russell Shorto's, Island at the Center of the World, but that only takes you to the beginning of the 18th Century. Finding material from 1700-1770 is are rare unexplored nitch in time. You will find the Anglicanization of the America's interesting and it's clash with the Dutch culture that originally settled this area.