Divergent Paths: Governance of New England Towns
A very different form of community emerges in New England, one that is also distinctly American. Here the primary social unit is not the isolated farm, but the town-a tightly knit community of people bound together by th..
Divergent Paths: Great Awakening, The
As the 1700s begin, a new force-the spirit of enlightenment with its emphasis on science and reason- competes with the religious messages of George Whitfield and the first Great Awakening. The movement surfaces in the mi..
Divergent Paths: Plantation Society of the South
The plantation is a uniquely American form of community for many white and black Southerners. The region is largely rural, dependent on such lucrative but labor-intensive crops as rice, sugar, cotton, and later tobacco. ..
Divergent Paths: Role of Colonial Courts, The
Colonial courts also play a significant role in the life of the town. Records of court proceedings provide an intriguing glimpse into colonial life and what was important to people at the time. Historian Helena Wall rec..
Divergent Paths: Southern Women: The Plantation Mistress and Her Slaves
The mistresses of successful southern plantations are businesswomen who spend most of their time and energy managing the plantation household. The slave women they oversee have a dual burden: the physical work they perfo..
Divergent Paths: Witchcraft Hysteria, The
In the latter half of the 17th century, the well-ordered life New Englanders sought to establish begins to crumble with the advent of a series of calamitous events--a smallpox epidemic, war with Indians, accusations of w..
Division of Labor and the Industrial Revolution
American history professor Alice Kessler-Harris talks about the division of labor by gender before and during the Industrial Revolution. "Women's labor is...cheap labor because it's assumed that women do not have to supp..
Division of Labor in Colonial America
American history professor Alice Kessler-Harris talks about patterns of work during colonial times. Professor Harris notes that both men and women worked in the colonial household. "There was no such thing as a non-worki..
Eighteenth Century Migration to America
Historian and author Bernard Bailyn talks about eighteenth century migration to North America, which he describes as being very different from the migration of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, in which immig..
Election of 1796, The
Historian Peter Onuf provides fascinating insights into Thomas Jefferson, whose uncanny political instincts enabled him to not only weather the election of John Adams in 1796, but plan his own campaign for the presidency..