Bruce H. Mann’s Neighbors and Strangers: Law and Community in Early Connecticut, covers 160 years of Connecticut history starting with early colonization to the period of the French and Indian War. The book explores the evolution of economic practices, by using records of debt litigation in the colony. Connecticut transformed from isolated townships to overlapping and interdependent trade networks. The shifting demographics of the towns and the expansion of trade caused the nature of exchange to evolve to meet the new demands. Neighbors and Strangers is a detailed overview of the economic growth and social change during the early years of New England.
Seventeenth-century Connecticut towns were isolated, which meant trade between other communities was rare and self-sufficiency was the rule. The seclusion made the residents dependent on their fellow community members for all of their social, spiritual, and economic needs. Even though the townsfolk were bound together in multiple overlapping ways, business occasionally created conflict. The close ties that needed to be preserved for the good of the community, meant that grievances had to be redressed in ways that satisfied both parties and maintained community tranquility.
Originally, the limited currency available in the towns and
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Its highly detail accounts of legal proceedings, and the more legalistic practices adopted into secular and church arbitration, demonstrate Mann’s points effectively. Mann’s book is a masterful look at the evolution of isolated colonies into a broad network that shortly thereafter became ready to form into a burgeoning nation. This work contributes a great deal to the body of historical knowledge and brushes on many excellent topics that can, and should be, expanded upon in order to further understand social and economic history in
While both the people of the New England region and of the Chesapeake region descended from the same English origin, by 1700 both regions had traveled in two diverse directions. Since both of these groups were beset with issues that were unique to their regions and due to their exposure to different circumstances, each was forced to rethink and reconstruct their societies. As a result, the differences in the motivation, geography, and government in the New England and Chesapeake regions caused great divergence in the development of each.
Horsmanden’s journal provides a wealth of information about eighteenth century New York if one is willing to analyze it critically and ignore the bias present in it. If one does this they catch fascinating glimpses of a divided world, one where people are partitioned by race, economic status, homeland and religion. A world filled with fear and suspicion caused by the tension inherent within such societal division. The same tensions that either gave rise to a massive conspiracy to destroy the town of New York or gave credence to a nightmare constructed by the minds of the people and fed by individuals’ self-serving nature. Regardless, eighteenth century New York was a troubled place and Horsmanden’s Journal of the Proceedings gives us a partial but valuable insight to the lives and interactions of colonial New York’s peoples.
The inhabitants of Salem village were Puritans who left Great Britain to pursue their religious freedom. However, their search for the sacred land was merely a dream; as they set foot on the new land, they faced numerous challenges. In the article, Boyer and Nissenbaum point out, “problems which [confront] Salem Village … :the pressure of commercial capitalism and the social style that [accompany] it; the breaking away of outlying areas from parent towns … the shifting locus of authority within individual communities and society as a whole” (Text 194). These social and economic problems created a conflict between Salem village and Salem town - in other words, the gap between the poor and the wealthy, “a community … that its inhabitants experienced two different economic systems, two different ways of life, at unavoidably close range; and so structured politically that it was next to impossible to locate” (Text 195). These differences were directly responsible for socioeconomic tensions. However, socioeconomic problems weren’t the only reasons of the tension as the authors believe factionalism play a role as well. According to the authors, “[t]he charges against Daniel Andrew and Phillip English, for example, followed closely upon their election as Salem Town selectment” (Text 195), therefore, these charges were merely a reason to eliminate political opponents. Yet that wasn’t the worse part, the population of the village was divided into two factions: pro-Parris and anti-Parris. After analyzing many different cases, the authors conclude, “supporters of the trails generally belonged to the pro-Parris faction, and opponents of the
During the 1600’s the New England and Chesapeake regions were beginning to settle and colonize. While both came from English origin and had dreams of wealth and freedom, differences began to form just as they settled and by the 1700s the two regions will have evolved into two distinct societies. Because of the exposure to different circumstances both regions developed issues that were unique from one another and caused them to construct their societies differently. Therefore, the differences socially, politically and economically in the two regions caused the divergence.
A community is a group of people who work together towards a common goal and share a common interest. Lack of such a quality can and most likely will cause a struggling town or city to fall into the extremes of poverty and wealth. The New England community was so strong and so supportive in comparison to that of the Chesapeake Bay, that it is no wonder they developed into two distinctly different cultures before the year 1700. The Chesapeake region developed into a land of plantations and money-driven owners, with the elite wealthy, almost no middle class, and those in poverty creating the population. New England, on the other hand, had developed into a religion and family based society comprised of mostly middle class families by 1700. Looking at the terrain, ethic, government, and even the people themselves, reveals clues about how the drastic split in society came to be. It was one America, but two distinct societies had developed in it by the 1700's.
Nevertheless, Gross also demonstrates that the economic problems (land scarcity) had already accelerated emigration from Concord—the younger generations were rejecting their patrimony and staking a claim westward or in other, less settled New England communities. Many of these wayward and prodigal sons returned to Concord and subsequently became successful businessmen. Thus, emigration and immigration in Concord was well-established before the American Revolution. Gross could have been more succinct.
It was not until the 1700s that the thirteen colonies finally started to flourish on their own. The east coast of North America was soon booming with success. But the Northern and Southern colonies’ did not take exactly the same routes in order to reach success. The Southern and Northern colonies began to show similarities in immigration and social structure and began to show differences in their economy.
“In the first years of peacetime, following the Revolutionary War, the future of both the agrarian and commercial society appeared threatened by a strangling chain of debt which aggravated the depressed economy of the postwar years”.1 This poor economy affected almost everyone in New England especially the farmers. For years these farmers, or yeomen as they were commonly called, had been used to growing just enough for what they needed and grew little in surplus. As one farmer explained “ My farm provides me and my family with a good living. Nothing we wear, eat, or drink was purchased, because my farm provides it all.”2 The only problem with this way of life is that with no surplus there was no way to make enough money to pay excessive debts. For example, since farmer possessed little money the merchants offered the articles they needed on short-term credit and accepted any surplus farm goods on a seasonal basis for payment. However if the farmer experienced a poor crop, shopkeepers usually extended credit and thereby tied the farmer to their businesses on a yearly basis.3 During a credit crisis, the gradual disintegration of the traditional culture became more apparent. During hard times, merchants in need of ready cash withdrew credit from their yeomen customers and called for the repayment of loans in hard cash. Such demands showed the growing power of the commercial elite.4 As one could imagine this brought much social and economic unrest to the farmers of New England. Many of the farmers in debt were dragged into court and in many cases they were put into debtors prison. Many decided to take action: The farmers waited for the legal due process as long as them could. The Legislature, also know as the General Court, took little action to address the farmers complaints. 5 “So without waiting for General Court to come back into session to work on grievances as requested, the People took matters into their own hands.”6 This is when the idea for the Rebellion is decided upon and the need for a leader was eminent.
Winthrop’s Boston: A Portrait of a Puritan Town, 1630 - 1649 by Darret B. Rutman seemed to be a long and excruciating read. The book had a great deal of information that the reader could learn from it, but most was lost when trying to stay awake to read it. On the other hand, Rutman had the concept down. The importance should be put on the idea behind the book because if you are interested in the idea you will gain knowledge. Nonetheless this book shows you the circumstances that Winthrop faced, what the founder of Boston fought through to create “The City on the Water”.
The chartered companies in England, whose major precursor being medieval merchant-guilds, were a form of organization that had lawful trading monopolies over certain goods in specific geographical areas as stipulated in the state-granted royal charters . As many companies became engaged in overseas trading in the sixteenth century, an innovative form of chartered company, namely, the joint-stock company came into being as an evolution from the “regulated” chartered companies. First, their structure minimized commercial and political risks involved in the dynamic conditions overseas, which spread risks and provided incentives to investors in the companies. Second, “the issuance of a royal charter granted these entities quasi-governmental functions, such as recruiting settlers and building fortifications” that gave the companies more flexibility. Joint-stock companies played a linchpin role in the establishment of New England. This essay takes Virginia Company as an example in support of this statement by analyzing the principal evidences that demonstrate Virginia Company’s historical, political and philosophical significance to permanent settlement in America. Most people, during their conversion at the Thanksgiving Dinner table, would not associate Virginia Company with the founding of the United States; however, this is not the case. Virginia Company is equally important to the birth of the United States of America, if not less, than the Massachusetts Bay Company.
6 American Bee Journal July 1921, ‘Incidents in Massachusetts Colony Prior to 1654’ by George W. Adams
Hartog, Hendrik. "The Public law of a County Court: Judicial Government in Eighteenth Century Massachusetts." American Journal of Legal History, XX (1976), 282-329
Fourteen hours of seemingly interminable horror on May 19 1780 and the following night descended on New England. No one who lived through the experience of the Dark Day, the Dark Night, and the Blood-Red Moon would ever forget those long black hours. There was nothing about the sunrise that morning that would have indicated that the day would turn out to be one never to be erased from memory. True, the past several days had seen a reddish and rather dim Sun climb the morning sky in the east, and the Moon, nearing full, had looked discolored. But no one was particularly alarmed by this, as it was spring, and New England, the most populated part of the British colonies was, as every year,
In 1634, just a few years after Winthrop’s arrival, Bradford recalls the economic surge as the price of corn and cattle rose exponentially. Although some stood to profit, this was undoubtedly to the detriment of many. The economic instability brought suffering and hunger to many. At a time of such great need, the puritans didn’t band together as Winthrop had intended, but instead each man began to act for his own benefit, and livelihood by increasing profits no matter the cost to the less fortunate. Bradford confirms that “Those who once lived together in Christian and comfortable fellowship must now part and suffer the divisions” (148).
"Neighbors is a short story written by Raymond Carver. The short story is in brief about the married couple, Bill and Arlene Miller, who are left to take care of the Stone's apartment. The plot is chronological and despite a few memories of the characters, the action beings when the stones leave for their trip and ends after the Millers have gone through their apartment. The short story "Neighbors" is about comparison and if you try to fit in another's footsteps it could affect you physically and mentally.