Louis B. Wright’s book The Cultural Life of the American Colonies really is an oldie but goodie, having been written in 1956, but reprinted by Dover Publications, Inc. in 2002.

If you are like me, you must wonder what day-to-day life in colonial America was really like. We learn about how Puritans spent all day in church on the Sabbath, creating towns where there were none and how social and cultural life was strictly determined by local officials.

However, what does that really mean?

What did colonists do for fun? What activities were preferred by men? What influence, if any, did women have in local politics? How did life change when there was more than one religion practiced in town? What place did art and architecture have in the New World? How accepted were scientific observations? How did the age of communication develop? Were non-English speaking people assimilated into colonial life? Was formal education viewed as a necessity?

These are the kinds of questions addressed in Louis Wright’s book.

Contents

Editors’ Introduction
Preface

1. Agrarian Society and Leadership
2. The Gospel of Work and the Aristocracy of Trade
3. Non-English Elements and Their Influence
4. Diversity of Religions
5. Zeal for Education
6. Books, Libraries, and Learning
7. Literary Production: North and South
8. Drama, Music, and Other Diversions
9. Architecture and the Decorative Arts
10. Scientific Interest and Observation
11. The Press and Communications

Bibliography
Index

The opening chapter of this book was interesting, in and of itself. As the book was written in 1956, commentary is made about the agrarian life still followed by Americans of the mid-20th century. Much of that rural farm life, as we know, is long gone. This isn’t meant to be a negative in any way, just enlightening that American life has changed that much in my lifetime.

Wright’s book, as a whole, reads almost like a textbook. Again – not meant to be a negative. It is a scholarly work with a 21-page bibliography at the back.  There are also extensive footnotes.

I also have to admit that reading this book brings back memories of my college days when I was reading textbooks. Out of curiosity, I checked a passage online for readability and it is definitely  college level so it takes some concentration to stick with it.

The chapter titles are self-explanatory and cover all aspects of daily life in colonial America, but are deceptively simple in describing the amount of information contained under each topic.

However, Louis Wright was an excellent social historian and, after I finished reading this book, I had a much better understanding of the influences on my colonial ancestors and how those influences formed their beliefs and affected their lives.

Through the years, I have become increasingly more interested in the social history of my ancestors because I can see them more as living souls instead of just names with BMD entered on a family group sheet.

If you are feeling the need to gain some of the same insights about your early American ancestors, then this book is for you. Even if you are unsure whether or not you’d like this book, the price can’t be beat! It’s definitely worth a few dollars.

The Cultural Life of the American Colonies by Louis B. Wright, 2001 (reprint from 1956), by Dover Publications, Inc. can be purchased online for as little as $3.00.

Today’s book review ties into Women’s History Month 2022. Scholarly works detailing the lives of women before the 1800s are not easily found.

However, Mary Beth Norton has written Separated by Their Sex: Women in Public and Private in the Colonial Atlantic World, published in 2011 by Cornell University Press.

Scholarly definitely means well done, but it doesn’t mean difficult to read. Norton’s book is well researched with biographical stories presented in five chapters, covering 182 pages. Lengthy notes are at the end of the book.

Also of interest is that the women’s stories are not just of the American colonies, but also of English women. Hence, ‘Colonial Atlantic World’ in the title.

Contents

Introduction

1. Lady Frances Berkeley and Virginia Politics, 1675-1678 & Mistress Alice Tilly and Her Supporters 1649-1650

2. English Women in the Public Realm, 1642-1653 & Mistress Elinor James and Her Broadsides, 1681-1714

3. John Dunton and the Invention of the Feminine Private & Mistress Sarah Kemble Knight and Her Journal, 1704

4. Women and Politics, Eighteenth Century-
Style & Lady Chatham and Her Correspondents, 1740s-1760s

5. Consolidating the Feminine Private

Conclusion: Defining “Women”

There is a huge amount of historical detail about women of the colonial era – from the disdain that many men displayed towards their petitions for rights to those who assumed leadership roles normally reserved to men.

One of my favorite ladies in this book is Sarah Kemble Knight, who rode the old Boston Post Road alone while traveling to Connecticut and New York to administer the estates of deceased relatives.

I’ve driven that road many times during the years I lived in Rhode Island and can’t imagine a lone woman riding horseback, mostly by herself, for hundreds of miles. And – that she kept a journal of her travels.

I also enjoyed reading the responses to Benjamin Franklin’s Rules and Maxims for Promoting Matrimonial Happiness. His advice definitely was not welcomed by many women.

While the chapter titles might make one think that this book only delves into the lives of upper class women, seen as wielding more power because of their economic situation, that would be an error.

Norton touches on topics that range from politics to friendships to daily life.

Many women in this history remain nameless to time, but their actions indicate that they strongly believed that women’s voices should be heard and that women deserved to be granted rights and opportunities similar to those that men had held for centuries.

Although this book was published in 2011, I had never come across it until recently.  I recommend this book to those who wish to learn more about what life was really like for women who lived during the American and English 17th and 18th centuries.

Separated by Their Sex: Women in Public and Private in the Colonial and Atlantic World by Mary Beth Norton, Cornell University Press, 2011 (Reprint in 2014), can be purchased online for about $22 (new) and $5.00 (Used).