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An introduction to evolution of dance
An introduction to evolution of dance
Intellectual and social culture of colonial america
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In Colonial America during the times of settling in to the new lands and building a society, the children and adults had fun while working and doing chores. The colonial folks worked hard but got plenty of time to participate in recreational activities. Just as a long day at work, any person wants to relax and unwind as well as socialize with friends. Recreation in colonial times contained many of the activities that we know of today- mostly because what we know has to have started somewhere by some folks. The people had both individual and sport teams, board games, card games, gambling, and so much more. However the main focus of the colonial eras’ recreation and leisure is that ia consisted mostly for men rather than the women. As I will …show more content…
go through the popular games and entertainment, the number of women participating will also be accounted for and their sole purposes during this era. William Byrd II of Virginia kept a diary with all the events he had attended too and the activities he participated in. According to his journal, the most popular activities for colonial people in the eighteenth century included gaming, dancing, and cock-fighting. These recreational activities were so frequent that the government had to forbid these games when the Continental Congress met in 1774. Because the tension towards Great Britain and the war advancing, the government decided it was best to forbid any leisure activities that would distract the colonists from the seriousness of the war. However, the colonists replaced the forbidden games with other entertainment. Dancing was one of the first public entertainment forms in the northern colonies, in Increase Mather’s 1684 An Arrow Against Profane And Promiscuous Dancing Drawn Out of the Quiver of Sculptures.
As the population was increasing, dancing schools were developing all throughout the colonies, from Boston, Newport, Philadelphia, Charleston, Williamsburg, and much more. Although dancing was for both men and female, there were more female participants than male. Even the children loved dancing. The popularity of lessons of the English and Scottish countries were growing in the eighteenth century. “The craze for dancing schools was fed by the passion for private and public balls.” William Byrd attended two balls in two days. “One was a public fete hosted by Charles Stagg and the other was a private dance hosted by the governor of Virginia.” However attending these extravagant balls and lessons were more towards the wealthy, but those who were unable to afford it, did not give up on dancing. They held home parties, and weddings where folks would dance all night long unbothered about how “rich” the setting must be. Dancing was one of the most popular activities amongst women since majority weren’t allowed to play sporting game or
cock-fights. Cock-fights was a masculine-dominant style of entertainment. Along with horse-racing, and sport-games. However, despite the lack of female participants, they were not afraid to sponsor the fights in their business. Cock-fights were usually held in rooms at taverns. The South Carolina Gazette of 1732 promoted a fight at the tavern characterized as “the House of Mrs. Eldridge on the Green” (McLean, p. 296).
After the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492, the powerful Old World scrambled to colonize it. The three major nations involved in this were Spain, France, and England. Spain took more to the south in the Central American and Mexico areas while France went north in the Canada region. The English came to America and settled in both the New England and Chesapeake area. Although the people in these regions originated from the same area, the regions as a whole evolved into different societies because of the settlers’ purpose for coming to America and the obstacles faced in both nature and with the natives.
Numerous individuals may be quick to accuse others of wrong doings that are not necessarily the truth. In this matter, it is evident in the Salem Witch Trails, which happened in 1692, where individuals accused their own neighbors of witchcraft because of unforeseen death or sickness. Moreover, it led to 200 innocent human-beings that were accused of worshiping the devil’s work, which led to 19 helpless individuals who were hanged because of these untruthful allegations. Furthermore, the Salem Witch Trails were a historical event that is due to lack of knowledge, selfishness, and inhumanity.
The New England colonies developed a close-knit homogeneous society and a thriving mixed economy of agriculture and commerce. They developed this by creating a group called the New England Confederation. This focused on the protection of the people in the colony in the event of enemies trying to attack them. On page 49, it says “The primary purpose of the confederation was defense against foes or potential foes, notably the Indians, the French, and the Dutch.” They created this as a safety net for the New England colonies. Every part of the New England colonies had two votes, it didn’t matter on the size of the colonies. The ran it as their own because the king of the time didn’t care much for the colonies.
While analyzing through T.H Breen 's “Horses and Gentlemen: The Cultural Significance of Gambling among the Gentry of Virginia”, multiple aspects are established about the background of the particular gentry and also the significance of the leisure activities they participated in. When describing the colony, the people were made up of higher class individuals and mostly shared the same beliefs. The main cause of these actions fascinated Breen, and his article goes to answer why they found pleasure in such activities. Therefore, he then came to the concept that the gentry idolized two forms of living, materialism and individualism, both which possibly lead into the gambling behavior. I too agree with his observations of the colony and the idea that the leisure activities do portray a deeper sense of who they were.
(7 There once was an Italian man by the name of Amerigo Vespucci, who sailed the seas and explored South America. And later named America after himself.
Evidence suggests that families often enjoyed everyday leisure but in reality working class social life was divided by gender. Married women’s leisure tended to be separate from the public domain and was not very different from work, but was linked with domestic duties and family relations. It was during this period that to survive families had to send their sons and daughters into the labor force to supplement the earnings of the father, while the mother cooked, cleaned, cared for the children and manufactured goods in the home. The typical wage-earning woman of 1900 was young and single.
...ith “sex, drinking, and gambling” during the Gold Rush. The more they engaged in these activities, the worse they probably felt, since they failed to be real men who showed self-control. The idea of a woman's role was detrimentally ingrained in the Anglo-men, it was probably easier for them to excuse their immorality than to take responsibility for their actions.
After World War I, America was going through an uplifting time of good fortune and prosperity. This period of freedom, known as The Roaring Twenties was a time for fun and disobeying rules. The 1920s brought new and exciting things to American culture. Music, entertainment, pop culture, and fads were greatly impacted during this time in history. The effects of each of these areas still influences America today.
The sports, games, and pastimes of the time of Shakespeare have not just been set aside and paid no attention to, but they have been effectively abandoned and omitted. The Elizabethan hobbies have been thoroughly overshadowed by many modern sports such as baseball, football, soccer, hockey, and an abundant amount of other games. The 16th century English pastimes included many activities that were impeccable examples of both simplicity and amusement intertwined. With all of these amusing yet transparent games, the era was most acknowledged for theater- a prominent art that is still valued today. The sports, games, and pastimes of the time of Shakespeare are rarely played today because they would be considered illegal, barbarous, and inhumane.
The colonies did not initially desire to succeed and become independent from the British, at first they were very proud of being British. Throughout the years of being a British Colony, The mother country of Britain committed actions that the colonists could not stand much longer. From taxation without representation to quartering British soldiers unwillingly, the tension built up until the colonists eventually rebelled. Some colonists remained loyal to the crown, while others joined the rebellion. These rebellious forces grew in strength and number, when the rebellion grew too big, the Revolution sparked. No longer would the colonist be forced to the British law, the colonists were willing to fight and die for their freedom. This event was
...ads. While in Virginia the governor’s mansion brought balls, banquets, and dancing to the communities. But overall, colonial America was considered to be pretty mundane, monotonous, and dull. The main events were marriages, funerals, and church-goings. While daily events consisted of farming and trading. But as the seventeenth century progressed, visiting and socializing, dinner parties, dances, and hunts in the south became more and more popular and brought more happiness to society. In addition wealth was gained through tobacco sales and trade
When settlers from England came to America, they envisioned a Utopia, where they would have a say in what the government can and cannot do. Before they could live in such a society they would have to take many small steps to break the hold England had on them. The settlers of America had to end a monarchy and start their own, unique, form of government. They also had to find a way that they would have some kind of decision making power. The most important change that the colonies in America had to make was to become a society quite different from that in England.
What major problems did the young republic face after its victory over Great Britain? How did these problems motivate members of the elite to call for a federal constitution?
The growth of the United States of America is unquestionable over the past couple of centuries, and the reason being is due to the strength of the constitution that was established by the founding fathers, and other leaders that shaped this country. Individuals traveling from Europe brought over their traditions and philosophical knowledge to enhance their way of life.
The various essays comprising Children in Colonial America look at different characteristics of childhood in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Children coming to the American colonies came from many different nations and through these essays, authors analyze children from every range of social class, race, and ability in order to present a broad picture of childhood in these times. While each essay deals with an individual topic pertaining to childhood, they all combine to provide a strong argument that children were extremely valued in society, were not tiny adults, and were active participants in society.