AS VARIOUS AS THEIR LANDS: THE EVERYDAY LIVES OF EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY AMERICANS [Paperback]

STEPHANIE GRAUMAN WOLF (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2000 | ISBN-10: 1557285993 | ISBN-13: 978-1557285997

A fascinating and vivid portrait of the lives and habits of people in the American colonies the sixth volume in the Everyday Life in America series.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Wolf understands that the past is a foreign country. [This] splendid account of eighteenth century life reflects the newest scholarship and introduces us to a colonial American society that was complex, lively, and rapidly changing...Full of surprises." -- Linda K. Kerber, author, Women of the Republic --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: University of Arkansas Press (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557285993
• ISBN-13: 978-1557285997
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,284,766 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Everyday Lives of Eighteenth-Century Americans, April 8, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: AS VARIOUS AS THEIR LANDS: THE EVERYDAY LIVES OF EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY AMERICANS (Paperback)

This work is part of The Everyday Life in America Series through which the reader learns about the mundane yet more important contributions of the "regular" colonists who populated this land. Most history books focus on great men - and only rarely, great women - major wars, and grand schemes and innovations. Wolf's book and the others in the series offer a picture of the early "humanscape" with a better understanding of the colonist's everyday lives. As the author states, "For every Cotton Mather, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, or George Washington there were hundreds of assemblymen, clergymen, and judges; thousands of people who made up mobs, polls, and armies; and tens of thousands of farmers, artisans, laborers, women, children, servants and slaves." (11) I am now convinced that no history is complete without consideration of the lives of these "everyday" individuals. The sheer numbers, as well as the scholar's aspiration to understand the past more completely, demand it.

When a person reads about the past, they tend to romanticize it. Therefore, the hearts of most twenty-first century Americans are warmed by the commonly held image of early settlers working together as a new people in a new land, achieving seemingly impossible goals, massaging unrealistic dreams into reality. However, as Wolf's title suggests, the overriding theme of her book is diversity rather than the believed commonality. Wolf addresses this theme of diversity with regard to national origin, race, religion, social status, gender, settlement region, and more. The degree of complexity is increased by those variables. Though we have been made aware through more traditional histories that America was - and is - something of a "melting pot," Wolf delves beyond and beneath the usual focus on country of origin to uncover the depth of diversity in the eighteenth century. Given the complex human mosaic that was America, George Washington stated that it was "little short of a miracle" (10) that any sort of union was achieved. For the author, major events essentially provide a context that might enhance the reader's understanding of the "voices" of eighteenth-century Americans. For that reason, Wolf suggests that slavery and the Revolutionary War are important "backdrops" to consider as one listens to these "voices." The everyday lives of inhabitants might certainly have been affected by these historical events, though not to the degree one might believe. Using the Revolutionary War as an example, the author points out that: "...while history is written backward, it is lived forward, and for the people who experienced it, the War of Independence was really just one more interruption of their daily routines similar to many that had gone before." (9) Such statements challenge the reader to consider the everyday lives of people as the focus, rather than the events that make great chapter headings in textbooks. Another central message in Wolf's book, is that time is just one component of the history of the eighteenth century - and perhaps a relatively unimpressive one at that. Consideration of the diversity of American experiences at this "single point in time" allows greater understanding of our early nation. Therefore, on February 17, 1775, settlers in Pennsylvania lived one day of life while people in the Carolinas experienced something radically different. The organizational strategy of As Various as Their Land involves three separate sections labeled "The Home Front, "The Workaday World," and "The Public Domain" (Wolf 15, 139, 213 respectively). As the section titles suggest, they each deal with everyday home, work, and community experiences in the eighteenth century. I could not help but think of the Venn diagrams used in an algebra class, as Wolf describes these three overlapping circles of everyday life. The concept of overlap is essential to any accurate depiction of life - past or present. Such "intersections of sets," as they might be described in algebra terminology, create the understanding of life as it was lived in early America. The purpose and focus of Stephanie Grauman Wolf's book were very thought provoking. The purpose requires the reader to adjust their concept of history and the people who lived it day by day. The author used an impressive array of sources in presenting the "voices" of individuals through letters, diaries, and various other documents. However, the conclusions drawn from such a small "sample" of subjects seemed rather broad- and sometimes overly emphatic. Though Wolf makes a great effort to include information from the situations, I was completely aware that each "voice" provided just a glimpse at a moment of history. Just as the more "traditional" histories focus on certain prominent people, then, As Various as Their Land has comparable limitations by focusing on the "voices" of available and select individuals. And to be fair, any depiction of human events - whether created then or now-is almost always incomplete. This difficulty, however, should not be overemphasized. Wolf's book successfully fills in considerable gaps and connects the dots of traditional renderings with real human beings who lived history forward in eighteenth-century America.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for Genealogists, April 6, 2002

By 

Ken Roberts "social historian" (Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: AS VARIOUS AS THEIR LANDS: THE EVERYDAY LIVES OF EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY AMERICANS (Paperback)

We all know about the Revolutionary War, and George Washington, Ben Franklin, Paul Revere, et al. But what about Enoch Shrigley or Jonathan Heacock? Martha Pearson, maybe? Susannah Morgan? Who, you may ask, are these people? Enoch, Jonathan, Martha, and Susannah were no one that you have read about in your American History lessons in school. They were my ancestors, my multiple Great Grandparents who lived in Pennsylvania in the 1700's, and, except for a few small facts and stories here and there, I know very little about their lives, especially the women. But, they all lived during the time period covered in "As Various As Their Land," a book that I highly recommend. And learning about the lives of my above listed ancestors is why I truly love these 'you are there' everyday life books. I have copies of the many different books of this ilk that are available and, being heavily into my family history (and genealogy in general), I use them extensively to put 'flesh on the bones' of my long dead ancestors. They help one to understand how the War For Independence or how the politicians of the day affected the mass of 'unknowns.' Stephanie Grauman Wolf has done a very good job in her representation of what the 'plain ordinary folk' of the 18th century were like. Because of her book, I now can tell you pretty much the way a typical person of 1770 may have dressed, cooked, what they may have eaten, did for fun, how they were schooled, etc. In another Every Day Life type book that I reviewed (Daily Life In Victorian England), I began my review with something like "If history books in school were written like this, perhaps more school children would be interested in the subject of history." That statement holds true for this book by Ms. Wolf as well.
Why four stars instead of five? Just a couple of small things that I felt should have been included. For example, a larger piece on the language of the period - how they spoke to each other. Did they speak properly (as you see on tv or in the movies), or were they more like our present day persons, using slang in their speech? More on cleanliness, as well as music of the times would have been a nice addition. And the over done subject of racism kept creeping in. Otherwise, for the most part, I have found this book to be invaluable to the genealogist or the student of history, or even the remotely curious. Four stars is still very good!