August+Journals

=The Colonial Era, //A little Commonwealth,// August Journal Entries:=

=Barbara Estes, Bagley Jr. High= Life in early New England America, as told by John Demos, paints a much different picture than what is found in most classroom history books. This is due to the fact he tells it from the perspective of the lower class settler. He used probate records to infer about the everyday life of the rank and file due to the fact this element of the colony was not known for it prolific writings. Most of the written information which came from this time was written by the upper class and portrays life from their perspective. The nuclear family of the Puritan lower class numbered anywhere from seven to ten children. Because of the size of the homes it was found that extended families could not have lived under one roof. The family could have included servants which was an interesting bit of insight. He also explained that women usually married between the ages of 23-26 years of age and 20% of them died in child birth. Dumas also gave the idea that women in Plymouth had more rights than those in the Mother Land. Children on the other hand were nurtured until about a year old. They were then weaned from this nurturing and made to deal like their other siblings. The child’s willful spirit was “broken” starting at the age of two and was forced to be more compliant to the will of the parent. They were more like little adults. Unlike what is portrayed in other writings the Puritan family dressed colorfully had parties, and danced and sang. Even the sexual behavior was less rigid than expected. Thus, giving the impression they were not as repressed as once believed. Most of Dumas’ information was gleaned from court records, wills and estate inventories which demonstrated the attitudes of those settlers with no mention of the Indians of the time. My present curriculum does not include this early settlement of our country. This new insight gained from this reading will not directly affect my teaching. However, I will use this information as reference and interject it as it is appropriate to do so. =Barry Johnson, Mt. Olive Elementary School=

The transit of the group now known as the Pilgrims from the Netherlands to the New World is now, as much the fodder for legend as it is historical fact. In this book, Demos examines the daily life of the first two generations of the people who came over on the Mayflower. Since they were very busy in their struggle to exist, they had very little time for writing down their experiences. Therefore, there is a near total absence of historical data such as personal diaries or books. However, that does not mean there is an absence of information. Demos examines records such as wills, court records and the inventories of estates to determine what their life was like. Quite naturally, what emerges is a portrait of a community with common beliefs that is struggling to succeed. It is clear from his research that the Puritan lifestyle was not as sexually repressive as it is usually portrayed. There are records of sexual activity, but nothing that would indicate that they were all that uptight about it. Most of the records indicate that hostile and aggressive impulses directed into the colony were strongly suppressed. They also indicate that there were fairly rigid social requirements that people take care of each other. Family was important, and many of the wills stipulate who is to care for those left behind. This is hardly surprising, as these people were attempting to carve a community in what was at best neutral territory. If you are interested in what the life of the Mayflower Pilgrims was really like, then this is a book you should read. While most of it is nowhere near the stuff of legend, it is an accurate rendition of what their life and society was like.

=**Charzeta Richardson, Hueytown Middle School**= John Demos dispelled the myth, or should I say stereotype, of the customary modern image of the New England Puritans as a dark one in his book A Little Common Wealth. Before reading this historical view, I favored the idea that the Puritans were dissenters who valued propriety and order and were a witch hunting tribe. After reading this book, where the author reexamines the time period and provides evidence, I see the Puritans in a new light. I was most impressed with the way the book depicts the role of the men, women, and children and how each played a vital part in the community. I always imagined the Puritans as this simple people living simple lives. This is simply not true. Demos dissects the family life of the Pilgrims who traveled over to the new land on the Mayflower. He analyzes three main facets of their life including the physical setting, the structure of the household and individual development. Utilizing these areas, the reader can closely look into the material culture of the Puritans. One can plainly see what the homes looked like in all its glory, what type of clothing was worn, and there significance to every level of the society. Demos writes, “Clothing was not only a good investment for a man of some means; it was also a way of demonstrating his standing in the larger community and of conforming his own self-image”. A Little Commonwealth also opens the doors to the family life of the Puritans as well as the growth of the members of the society. Demos makes a great case that fear of aggression, conflict, and loss are the dominant themes of Puritan life in the seventeenth century. While at the same time, he illustrates how the Puritan family could be warm and supportive and that joy and fun played a vital part in their existence. This book was not a great read for me. It did rid me of stereotypes about the life of the Puritans that I developed from movies and stories.

=**Clara N. Billups, Brighton Middle School**=


 * A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in Plymouth Colony**

In this study Demos examines family life as it was for the Pilgrims who came over on the Mayflower, before they joined with the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The book is comprised of three main sections: the physical setting (housing, furnishings, and clothing); the structure of the household (family connections, including servants); and individual development (childhood, coming of age, and old age). The most striking thing for me is how all aspects of communal life were controlled by the Court: although laws were not draconian, they spelled out how one was to conduct his or her life pretty thoroughly. If you messed up then you would be punished. However, it is also true that people were not that different back then, either: parents still cared for their children and worried about their futures by making provisions for them; families were at the core of society's welfare; even women were given rights denied them in the mother country. It's interesting that even these first settlers saw the American continent as a vast area just waiting to be colonized, and one of the biggest problems facing the authorities was how to keep settlers from wanting to spread out too far from Plymouth itself, thus weakening communal ties.

=**Jerme Kirk, Hillview Elementary School**=

A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in Plymouth Colony By: John Demos This study examines a family in the context of the colony founded by the Pilgrims who came over on the Mayflower. John Demos based his work on physical artifacts, wills, estate inventories, and a variety of legal and official enactments. His portrays the family as a structure. This structure includes roles and relationships which emphasize those of a husband and wife, parent and child, and the master and servant. "The book's most startling insights come from a reconsideration of a commonly-held view that of American Puritans has a variety of the ways in which they once dealt with one another.

The American Journey Chapter 1 through 3 This is a brief synopsis of chapter 1 through 3. Reviewing these chapters was very refreshing. Chapter 1 Worlds Apart: Was the first voyage of Columbus eager for power and wealth. People came by thousands to a continent that just hundreds year earlier they had not dreamed existed. Virtually the early years of America were firmly in the hands of Indians. Chapter 1 gives a closer view of what was to come in the harsh challenges of native control and to the Spanish monopoly of settlement. Chapter 2 Transplantation: the seventeenth century was virtually a time of developing land, trade, and colonies. A battle for power between France, Spain, and England. Gaining profit from the fur trade required maintaining a friendly relationship with the Native American. Adjusting to an environment developing a labor system, and worshiping in different churches was difficult for the new comers. It was not easy for the native people either; they had to deal with a rising tide of settlers and often forced to choose sides between European antagonists. The transplanted European settlers adapted too, not only in their dealing with native people but also in finding and controlling the supply of laborers needed to make their colonies prosper. For English colonies this meant the widespread adoption of slavery. For million of Africans, the result was forced migration to the New World.

Chapter 3 the Creation of New Worlds: the middle of the eighteenth century, America offered a strikingly diverse mosaic of people and communities. The beginning of slavery a lifetime of misery and plantations along with a culture of viewing them as property and not individuals. Indians struggled with the consequences of disease, trade, religious conversion, settlement, and warfare. This in resulted in the immigration of Africans. Africans exchanged traditional ethnic connections for a new identity as African Americans. English settlers adapted to the new ways of control laborer and reinvention of slavery which was unknown in England for centuries.

__A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in Plymouth Colony”__ Author: John Demos

Written Summary By =//Mrs. Linda W. Dumas//= Bottenfield Middle School

I have enjoyed reading the novel __“A Little Commonwealth”__ written by John Demos. This novel has inspired me to want to learn more about the colonists who came to the Americas and began a new life for themselves. Researching and studying the life of these colonists must have taken a lot of time and many hours in order for Professor Demos to write his demographic analysis into this detailed summarization. Life in the early colonial days was on one hand quite unique, and on the other hand it was no different from the typical family structures of today. I was really impressed to read the numerous descriptions related to the families in the Plymouth Colony. The colonists shared large extended ties also known as “nuclear families.” Having unity among the families and being autonomous was very important to maintaining law and order in the society. The men were usually the head of the household. The females did have some rights whereas in many other cultures the females hardly had any rights. The males dominated the society. Women were treated with a little more respect in the Plymouth colonies than they were in other English colonies. In Bristol the average family size was six per family. Females were prohibited from participating directly in political matters. It was impressive to learn that even during the early stages in this colony the Church was the center of the society. Even if many families did not attend church they were expected to teach religion in the home and to teach morals that would help to promote an autonomous society. Being self-governed provided order and maintained a sense of democracy. It was very important that everyone make a positive contribution to the society in order to assure everyone’s safety and to make sure the society was free of violence and other types dishonesty. Children were taught to respect their parents and other adults in the community.

Debbie Butler Clay Chalkville High School August 25, 2007

A Little Commonwealth

John Demos begin by explaining that the history of facts about the colony of Plymouth that have been told from generation to generation are only the tip of the iceberg and to truly understand the colony of Plymouth, one has to look at family life of the time. He used artifacts, legal documents and official records to try and paint the picture of life at Plymouth. He begins explaining the founding of the colony, going into detail about whatever details he could find about the day to day life of the colonists. He continues to describe their homes and the artifacts found, hoping to accurately realize their use. One thing that stands out is that even then social status and wealth played a part. This was evident in the furnishings found. It seems that “family” then was similar to family now, in that there was the nuclear family under one roof. There was probably extended family close by, but not necessarily in the same dwelling. In this same vein, it seems that the term servant might not necessarily mean servant, but might mean apprentice. Demos spends a great deal of this book looking at the sociology of the colony and comparing it at places with today’s standards, both here and in “pre-industrial nations”. This material came at a fortuitous time for me. I just happened to be teaching about Plymouth, so I integrated the societal information into the lesson, which made it more interesting for the students. This was evident by the questions they would ask when I opened the door by talking about their housing or clothing.

Sommer Brown Clay Chalkville High School A Little Commonwealth We all know the traditional story of the Pilgrims traveling by Mayflower and landing upon Plymouth Rock, a life of hardscrabble existence and help from the Native Americans. Demos paints a somewhat different picture. The beginning was meager for sure, with huts made of “wattle and daub”. But as the colony evolved Demos teaches that homes were built of 2 and 3 stories. Luxuries like table linens and napkins were found in the homes of the wealthier families. The stereotype of the “Puritan” home that was male dominated with strict control of children and servants was true. But also true was the beginning of rights for women to own land and other rights within the community. Demos teaches us that the society at Plymouth was a traditional agrarian society. Families had children spaced two years apart from infancy to marrying age. Adolescents had many responsibilities and very little free time. Therefore modern behavior problems were unknown. The American Journey //The American Journey// is a typical history book for secondary education. It tells the story of the divergence between the colonists and the King in England, the rally for revolution, and the war for independence. The book is written as a narrative that would attract the attention of a high school student. In contrast, //A Little Commonwealth// is more of a factual study of colonial life. As such, this is an excellent supplement and resource for a textbook such as //The American Journey//.

Sarah Cooley Irondale Community School

A Little Commonwealth

There are many stereotypical images and stories that have been widely accepted as true concerning the people of Plymouth Colony. Schools today teach about the Mayflower, the first Thanksgiving, and of how the colonial people as a whole were modest and reserved—their lives centered on their religion. However, in telling those traditional stories, the true facts and real lives behind the stories have become lost.

The pilgrims that traveled to the New World were guided by the prospect of religious freedom. This group of Puritans temporarily fled from England to Holland, and there they experienced isolation and segregation that motivated 102 of them to travel aboard the Mayflower in hopes of creating an accepting, religion-based society.

The pilgrims that arrived in Plymouth were successful in developing a community that reflected their ways of life. Housing in Plymouth consisted of “the basics.” Most homes were small, lacking in windows, and usually had one large room called the “hall” where many of the family activities, chores, and cooking took place. Rooms were used for completing many tasks, and beds were often folded away, and other furniture could easily be moved around for functionality of the space.

Families usually had five to six children. Each family member was valuable to completing the daily tasks needed for comfort and survival. Living in close quarters, tensions were likely to occur, but most avoided conflict in order to maintain peace within the home. Wives were to submit to their husbands, and the men were to provide for the household. Marriage was a sacred union, and only in circumstances of adultery or severe abuse would the rest of the society accept a separation or divorce. Husbands, wives, and children all depended on one another.

With the careful study of court records, wills, journals, and other factual documents, historians are able to make inferences based on evidence. It is with evidence that we are able to put all the pieces together to form a picture of what life was truly like in Plymouth colony.

When teaching about the first Thanksgiving and what life was like in the colonial period, I can refer back to some of the details this book provides. I can explain in detail how colonial men, women, and children dressed in Plymouth colony, and have my students wear costumes to school for a “Colonial Day.” In addition, we can sit down to feast on foods the Plymouth settlers depended on for survival. Using an overhead, I can display what some of the different homes looked like from this period in history, and have the students imagine living in just one room with their entire families, much like the pilgrims did long ago.

Jocelyn Schilling Chalkville Elementary School In John Demos’ //A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in the Plymouth Colony//, Demos disspells the current understanding that many people have about the life of the first settlers from the Mayflower. We are all made to believe that the Puritan way of life is full of black color and plain materials, simple homes, simple lives, and empty of celebration or excitement. It seems that Demos also provides his readers with the understanding that the family is in many ways quite comparable to the families of today. We learn through his research, that the courts were very involved in the lives of the citizens. The most interesting example (in my opinion) was that of Stephen Hopkins and his maidservant, Dorothy Temple. Temple was impregnated by a convicted murderer, and Hopkins wanted to “turn the mother and infant out of his house”. He was allowed to do so, only after providing her with the necessities as she was taken in by a new master. Families also used the courts to create deeds, incredibly detailed wills, and the fostering out or adoption of children. Interestingly, the women were very active in this decision making process, something that is not always advertised in other sources. This text would be a fantastic resource to use in the classroom with students. First, it provides a view into the life of a colonial family that the textbook does not. For example, the photographs of homes, tableware, letters and deeds would be an excellent opportunity to show the students examples of how life was. In addition, the idea to show students an example of a primary source is wonderful for me. More often than not, our textbooks neglect to show our students what types of sources are available, and those are the items that are exciting to our students. The tables would also be wonderful tools to allow students to compare and contrast family life in the Plymouth Colony and present-day family life. Donna Love Gardendale Elementary History Alive August Journal Entry

“Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell

together in unity!” Psalms 133:1-2

John Demos does an excellent job in proving this in his

book, A Little Commonwealth. Demos vividly examines and

describes family life in the Old Colony, and has taken

great effort to prove himself by the use of wills,

inventories of property, and court records bringing

colonial life into reality.

Demos captures all aspects of colonial life from housing,

clothing, husbands and wives, children and servants.

However the part I found most intriguing was the unity of

the family.

The husband was the head of the household, but the wife

shared some of the authority. Parents appeared to have

more control over their children than seems to be true

today. Oddly enough childhood only lasted from birth until

six or seven years of age. The child then took some

responsibility of chores, or may have been placed in the

home of someone else to learn a certain trade or become an

apprentice. If trouble arose, the court would make the

decision of what to do.

A Little Commonwealth is a valuable resource. A resource I

will use often in teaching early American history.

Staci Ragland Hueytown Elementary A Little Commonwealth Family Life in Plymouth Colony

This book greatly changed my perspective about the Pilgrims. The author, John Demos, completely takes the reader to that day and time so long ago. Based on evidence and artifacts that he has diligently studied, life then becomes clear. The book is divided into three parts; the physical setting (including housing, furnishings, and clothing), the structure of the household (including children and older relatives), and the themes of individual development, (from infancy to elderly, including master and servant). Much detail apparently went into Demos’s research due to the very specific details he writes of. He uses records of births, deaths, marriages, estate records, wills, and various artifacts to base his research upon. The Pilgrims were unlike the always starched, prim and proper, uptight individuals we so often see in our history books. Demos paints a more realistic picture of the “human” side of them. They appreciated fine clothing, loved to have parties, and had very large families. They were concerned about their children and the family unit. They wanted to raise their children to be well behaved and they were concerned about providing for them. Many of their wives died while giving birth to them. Since I teach elementary social studies, I would not use this book directly in my teaching. However, it did impact me as far as laying a foundation to better understanding the Pilgrims as a people.

Jeremy Campbell Clay Chalkville High School

Demos, John. A //Little Commonwealth: Family Life in// //Plymouth// //Colony//, 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

When thinking about the Pilgrims, one conjures visions of the //Mayflower//, escape from religious persecution, the first Thanksgiving, simple pious lifestyles, as well as numerous other ideas that Americans tend to associate with the Separatist group. However, in his work, //A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in Plymouth Colony//, John Demos attempts to eliminate some of the misconceptions surrounding the earliest settlers of the Plymouth Colony. Through a painstaking amount of research, Demos writes a cultural reinterpretation of the Plymouth Colony, examining its basic foundation—the family. As Demos points out, previous research on the Plymouth Colony told a story of a tight knit, homogenous, religiously zealous (to the point of intolerant) group of settlers. Demos argues, rather, that in some respects, life in Plymouth Colony did not differ vastly from other communities in the Western world of the seventeenth century. These areas included the need to own property and gain material wealth. According to Demos, in fact, once the Pilgrims established Plymouth, the gap between the rich and poor increased at a consistent rate. It also did not take long for the settlers to begin expanding territorial claims. Like other societies, Plymouth’s citizens grew increasingly restless being confined to one area, and began to spread out. Here we see the early stages of expansion into the (uniquely) American frontier. In terms of religion, most history books discuss Pilgrims as intolerant of those that do not adhere to their strict Puritan ideology. Again, Demos argues to overturn this common myth. Although he does not dispute that religion served as the foundation of the community, Demos does question the idea that the community excluded others based on things such as church membership. Demos claims that, “[land] grants were no longer confined to upright, religious-minded settlers; towns accepted, with no questions asked, almost anyone who proposed to move in” (p.10). This contradicts the common belief that Puritan communities remained exclusive in terms of church members. Although Demos claims that land grants do not depend solely on church membership, he does reinforce one area that remains consistent with the popular conception of Puritan communities—the role of religion (particularly the Old Testament) in influencing the law. In teaching a high school class, this area would seem to provoke a heated discussion about the role of children and the nature of punishment. In terms of punishment, Demos contends that “Honor thy Father and Mother” was taken literally in Plymouth. Due to the strict interpretation of the commandments, the problem of rebellious children rarely arose. Another interesting point that Demos discusses is the privilege of education and the age at which a child begins working. This is a topic that could spark interesting discussions, or engage the students. As Demos points out, it was fairly uncommon for most children to receive an education, especially in the early era of Plymouth. Instead, a child was oftentimes sent to live with a stranger in hopes that he would learn a trade. It would be interesting to discuss with a group of students how they would react if their parents, instead of sending them to school, sent them to live with a stranger.

Robert M. Adams, Teaching American History Grant

Demos, John. __A Little Commonwealth, Family Life in the__ __Plymouth__ __Colony,__ 2nd Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

John Demos’ __A Little Commonwealth, Family Life in the__ __Plymouth__ __Colony__ is, by the author’s own words a, “crossover” book—the kind that might appeal to “generalists” as well as fellow scholars”. Demos’ text is based upon copious study of early records of the Plymouth Colony, including wills, public records, court documents, personal letters and correspondence, and limited existing written history of the time, mainly William Bradford’s personal history of the colony. In addition to what surely amounted to a painstakingly detailed examination of the available written documents, Demos also incorporates a study of artifacts credited with being found in the physical dwellings of the early settlers as well—items such as cooking utensils, household possessions, and other “furnishings”. It should be noted that Demos himself also states that his book focus on the “everyday life and ordinary people; a central role for analysis and interpretation; and a readiness to borrow from theory and method from the social sciences”. In other words, Demos has taken dubious and detailed research, and through a process of cross-referencing and constant assumptions, produced a theoretical hypothesis as to how the Plymouth Colony operated based on repeated inference and conjecture. Throughout the book, Demos reminds us that not all of the information presented is historical fact, but rather theory, which can be debated, and calls for continued research and development. Demos’ text offers a, “topical principal rather than a chronological one” which details the life of the “average man” in the “Old Colony” of Plymouth.

__A Little Commonwealth__ is divided into three parts, “The Physical Setting”, “The Structure of the Household”, and “Themes of Individual Development”. It should be noted that the author begins with a very effective and useful introduction to the Plymouth Colony, which, to a novice reader of the subject, concisely and accurately depicts the early history of the original Puritan colony. The introduction affords the reader a timeline that addresses a brief history of the Puritans in England and Europe and the decision to board the //Mayflower// and embark on its voyage to the New World. It then traces the establishment of the Plymouth Colony, its social and governmental structure, fundamental beliefs of the colony, and early trials and tribulations, going so far as to detail its development and growth from what Demos refers to as its, advancement from “Puritan to Yankee” culminating with its annexation into the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691.

Demos’ first undertaking is the establishment of the physical structure under which the original Puritans lived. In great detail, he familiarizes the reader with the types of housing in which the Puritans lived from the original “wattle and daub” English cottage to the simple story-and-a-half single bay design, and finally the enlargement of the aforementioned structure with the addition of a second story and possible expansion resulting from lean-tos. The reoccurring theme in all the houses was the juxtaposition of the fireplace / chimney and its importance to the entire family. Additionally, Demos repeatedly reminds the reader that the single most influential factor in homebuilding was the relationship to the weather. In addition, he establishes the fact that most rooms in homes did not have single uses but rather served “multiple purposes”. Demos then discusses the dress / clothing of the Puritans, trying dispel the popular notion that the only color Puritans wore was black, pointing our that the choice of clothing, while consistent in style, did occasionally include other colors as well, mainly “russet” or other shades of orange or brown. Black was considered the color of choice for all formal occasions due to, “certain connotations of dignity and formality”. One interesting discussion was the clothing of children, in which Demos points out they dressed and appeared as, “little adults” with, “sons modeling the dress of their fathers, likewise girls of her mother.”

In part two of his text, Demos introduces us to the social hierarchy that dominated the family. He goes to great length to establish the fact that the traditional nuclear family as we know it was common in Plymouth as well. In addition, he divides those that lived in houses into three basic categories: “husband, wife, children and servants”. The third of which is unique in that the term “servant” not only encompassed the actual servants working in the house, but children from other households that had been “put out” to other homes in order to gain education or apprentice in a trade. Demos also discusses in detail the importance of marriage from the social, economic, and traditional standpoints. He discusses the relationship of husbands and wives and theorizes that while wives were under a “reverend subjection” to her husband, according to records, in reality she did possess much more autonomy and say-so in matters than originally believed. Another unique aspect of Demos’ discussion is the “extensive jurisdiction of the court over many areas of domestic life”; supporting this point were the laws that dictated punishment for adultery, divorce, permission for marriage, and even laws dictating the right to live apart from a family without having a family of your own. In addition, the relationship of child to parent was taken so seriously as to be addressed by local laws. In summary, the parent was responsible for the their childrens’ safety and welfare and the instruction in education and religion as well.

The relationship between masters and servants is unique given the fact that “servant” referred to, “the whole spectrum of persons who might be resident in a given household, but not a member of the immediate family”. Each servant did “live in” the home and their master would be responsible for providing, “meate, drink, and apparrell & lodging”. An interesting case study from this chapter was the aforementioned “putting out” of children into other households in order to learn skills, trades, or acquire education. While “Negro and Indian servants” were rare, on occasion they did exist, they were included in the estate of a dying man and could be passed as “property”. However, records did indicate, “most servants lived in intimate terms with the families of their masters, but intimacy did not in this case imply equality”. In the conclusion of part two, Demos describes a detailed “welfare system” in which direct bloodlines were most important in dealing with the elderly or orphaned.

In the final part of his text, Demos delves into the, “Themes of Individual Development”. Demos predicates this section of the text by warning, “There are, however, few good precedents for an effort to correlate historical facts with psychological theory, and part of what follows is plainly exploratory” and that “All such statements are highly conjectural…”. To this end, Demos traces the development of typical settlers from “Infancy and Childhood” through “Coming of Age” and finally into “Later Years”. Much of the third part of the book had been discussed earlier in the text in various forms, but is expounded upon in the later section. While discussing the relationship between parents and children, the unique aspect that is presented is the development of the child. This includes the typical development of a child from infancy, in which the infant mortality rate was relatively low according to records, and includes the traditional “terrible two’s”, as we refer to them presently, as a child begins to assert independence. However, Demos points out that it is here that childhood, as we know it today, fails to parallel the childhood of the average Puritan child. Childhood would traditionally “end at the age of 6”, at which time the child was expected to begin learning a trade by mirroring their father / mother or even be “put out” to other households to do the same or gain an education. Uniquely absent from the Plymouth Colony is the “teenage rebellion” as we know it today, during the time of “adolescence”. Demos hypothesizes that this is partly due to the aspect that most Puritan children were viewed as “little adults” even at an early age and were raised to act the part. Procedures and expectations of marriage are also detailed, as are the rules that would dictate the marriage ceremony, which, given the religious nature of the colony, are ironically referred to by Demos as, “being a civil thing” and not a, “sacrament, but rather a type of contract between two individual persons”. One interesting aspect is the traditional courtship, betrothement, marriage customs and the colonial laws that regulated such ceremonies. In addition, another interesting discussion is the discussion of wills, contracts, and granting of possessions-- mainly land. The most difficult of the time periods to accurately discuss was the “later years”; here Demos drew two main conclusions: With age, came positions of leadership within the colony and most males during this time period had “little idea of retirement—little, that is, beyond a retirement made necessary by illness or extreme infirmity”.

In conclusion, Demos’ book effectively summarizes the life of everyday Puritans in the Plymouth Colony. Although at times he contradicts himself and repeatedly develops more questions during the course of his answers, he takes a very mundane subject and attempts to introduce as much information on the subject as possible through meticulous and scrupulous research. Regarding the usefulness of this work in relation to classroom teaching, there are several aspects that I plan to utilize in class. In my teaching, I have found that students like to relate themselves to the subject matter. The information related in the “Coming of Age” (Chapter Ten); the schooling, expectations, and relationship between parents and children will hopefully illicit discussion and comparisons of modern day beliefs of expectations of youth. In addition, the text is wrought with anecdotes and stories that can be utilized in classroom discussions. Finally, the book’s introduction and conclusion are excellent summaries of the traditional, historical information taught regarding the establishment of the Plymouth Colony.

April Smith Coffey Irondale Middle School Teaching American History Grant

In //A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in Plymouth Colony//, John Demos seeks to demystify the colonists of Plymouth by portraying their “averageness”, discussing their physical setting, the structure of the household, and their development. While the citizens of Plymouth are often considered to be very much the same, they were, in fact, a heterogeneous group. The housing in the Plymouth colony, like its members, was extremely diverse. It consisted of varying floor plans and furnishings, often based upon its inhabitants’ wealth. However, an overwhelming theme remained: the homes were, in spite of their variations, reflective of the Puritan character in their simplicity.[|[1]] Additionally, the clothing of the Plymouth colonists showed considerable diversity in terms of material, manufacture, and value. Like homes and furnishings, fashion choices were based upon the wealth of the owner. Furthermore, the structure of the household in Plymouth was exceptionally diverse, consisting in some cases of a basic nuclear family, and in others instances, including extended family or servants. Even within these basic categories, considerable variations existed.[|[2]] For example, while many times children resided with their parents, it was not uncommon for children to live in other homes as servants or to receive education. In his final section, “Themes of Individual Development,” Demos changes his pattern, emphasizing similarities rather than differences among the colonists. Demos discusses infancy and childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. He draws a sharp contrast between the adolescents of Plymouth colony and modern teens. Adolescence was essentially not a distinct stage for the Plymouth colonists, as the transition between child and adult was much more fluid in the colonial era.[|[3]] //A Little Commonwealth// removes many of the previous assumptions regarding the Pilgrims and the Plymouth colony. For this reason, it can be incorporated easily into lesson plans. In his efforts to portray the colonists as very diverse, Demos makes them seem very real, more accessible to young students of history. Students hear of the great accomplishments of the Pilgrims, the Mayflower Compact and the first Thanksgiving. Rarely do they hear of the everyday life of these colonists. //A Little Commonwealth// is history from below, focusing not on greatness, but rather, bringing the actual lives of the Plymouth colonists into focus.

[|[1]] Demos, p. 25-51.. [|[2]] Demos, p. 60-125 [|[3]] Demos, p. 128-149.

Sabrina Porrill Bragg Middle School //__A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in__// //__Plymouth__// //__Colony__// is a novel by John Demos that analyses the day to day workings of a typical family in the Plymouth colony of the 17th century. The author use lots of primary documents and accounts to tell the reader about Puritan colonists and colonial life in America. The first chapters look at the homes, furnishings and clothing of the Plymouth Puritans. Then the author analyses the structure of the common Puritan colonial household starting with the husband and wife relationship. Although marriages during this time can appear “arranged” and “useful”, the author does show the reader that love and caring commonly did play a role as well. He then looks at children within this family dynamic. They were treated, he says, as “little men and women” as early as five or six years of age primarily because life in a colony required one to grow up fast and help with the “business” of survival. The care for the poor, elderly and those who could not take care of themselves by the family unit and community as a whole is also discussed as well as the master/ servant relationship, which may be more close and caring than one would originally think. The final chapters analyze the individual development of these colonial Puritans from infancy to later adulthood and do so by using Erik Erickson’s “eight stages of man” and the internal and external struggle that has to be resolved at each stage. This truly does help the reader to understand the “person behind the Puritan”. In conclusion, these families were small and nuclear with little privacy, with set roles and responsibilities for all members at a very early age and with the huge task of acting as “business, school, vocational institution, church, house of correction and welfare institution” all rolled into one.

Ryan Posey Clay Chalkville High School

“A Little Commonwealth” by John Demos

Teaching American History Grant

The group known as the Puritans holds an iconic stature in American History. Most Americans most likely believe they have some idea of what these people looked like and how they lived. The story of the pilgrims in Plymouth is taught to small children during their first history lesson on the holiday of Thanksgiving. According to John Demos many of these notions are accurate. However in his book he brings out a significant amount of information that would apparently contradict some of these ideas. The story of Puritan life depicted in the book “A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in Plymouth Colony” can help us to develop a better understanding of the reality these people faced and creates a more accurate image of these early settlers in America. Demos describes many elements of Puritan life including the physical setting and the housing in which they lived. Property ownership was of premium value due to the lack of currency in the colonies. Those that were fortunate enough to establish property ownership would build housing that was meant to provide shelter and little else. Demos describes three main forms of housing that were present in the Plymouth Colony. This housing started at the most simplistic level with small one roomed houses and later progressed to multiple levels and rooms. Demos makes the argument that this was not a clear progression and that all the forms of housing existed during the same time frame in the colony. The descriptions of these homes clearly illustrate the necessity of family cooperation because of the fact that several people would be living and interacting with each other in a very small space that left little availability for privacy. The remainder of the book is mostly dedicated to the relationships of the inhabitants of these homes. One of the most enlightening descriptions is that of the relationship between husband and wife. Demos reinforces many long held beliefs of the male dominated society in which women were given little rights or respect. However there are some interesting ways in which women held a share of power such as in dealings with inheritance and the condition of children. The book describes how contrary to what is commonly believed several women were able to obtain divorces. Although a great deal of physical and mental abuse was allowed other areas were seen as grounds for divorce. One area is male impotence. Marriage was viewed socially as a union that should be able to reproduce. If a man was not able to provide a child, a woman was sometimes granted divorce. The other area was adultery. It is well known that this was a very harshly received crime in the Puritan world and that very violent reprimands could be issued. If a husband was found to be found guilty of adultery a divorce could be supported. However most accounts from Plymouth are of adultery by women and Demos says that women were always held in suspicion based on original sin committed by Eve in the bible. Another significant relationship was that between parents and children. The book describes the treatment of children and the nature of their lives. Honor and respect was the law of the land for children in Puritan communities. This was very literal and children found to be disrespectful could be punished with death, although this was very rarely the case. The book also describes the concept of children being sent away. There was very little opportunity for females in the community, but young males had opportunities to learn a trade or craft from a mentor. At a young age they would be sent to live with this individual and would spend many of their formative years living with and learning from this individual. Many children would spend a majority of their lives away from their parents. Girls were often married a very young age and were separated from their families. In the Puritan society children were forced to mature very quickly. This relationship, like almost every other aspect of Puritan life was dictated by the lessons of the Old Testament in the bible. There are many cases of abuse towards children and most often parents were not reprimanded in any way. Harsh discipline was accepted in the “spare the rod, spoil the child” mentality. Parents were only held responsible when they were found to not be providing the basic essentials needed for their children such as housing, adequate food and attention to other health needs. . Other chapters discuss relationships between masters and servants; wider kin connections; coming of age and other topics. These chapters help create a broad overview of life in Plymouth. This is a society that is much more diverse than previously thought. It consisted of many people from different classes living together and trying to adjust to a strange new living environment. There is a good deal of information in this book that differs from ideas that have been commonly accepted about these people’s lives. This includes the relationships between various people and the nature of servants, spinsters and unmarried men. These are examples of people who were outside the norm in this society and were those that for much of history have been excluded from this social construct. When considered as a broad view of society this book helps to redefine what life as a Puritan truly would have been like. This book could be utilized in multiple ways in lesson plans. One way is simply from a social comparison standpoint. This book provides examples of sometimes drastic differences in relationship norms of the Puritan time period and today. The excerpts from the book could be used as supplementary materials in the classroom. A second the book could be used in lesson plans is as an outside or additional reading. The book could be assigned in whole or parts to help flesh out the human element of the Puritans. More creative teachers could use the information in this book to create projects were students construct or create images and projects that illustrate an in depth understanding of Puritan life.

Candace Heard Minor High School Teaching American History Grant Reaction to //A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in// //Plymouth// //Colony// by John Demos Demos’ work virtually ignores the quintessential fodder of most material written about the Pilgrims and focuses on their social practices. Although there are frequent reminders of the Calvinistic religious practices, they are offered as a matter of the routine of their daily life. Many Americans today, if they consider the Pilgrims at all, have an automatic set of key words that come to minds: Mayflower, piety, Indians, and the first Thanksgiving. Demos has made them appear human and approachable, for he presents them as a group of people much like us today. He showcases their dwellings, their furnishings, their fashions, and their familial structures, with their attendant roles and responsibilities. As was common throughout our colonial period, almost all rights, privileges, and customs were more freely distributed and practiced in America than they were in England. The fact that women had more choice and power in the home and community supports this statement. It is also refreshing to see how the community helped and supported those among them who were indigent or alone. Demos debunks the stereotypical Pilgrim and in his place presents a recognizable human being who functions appropriately, and surely even better than current American could or would if they were suddenly to find themselves living in 17th century Massachusetts. On Thursday, September 6, 2007, some vandals broke into a power sub-station and stripped away various items made of copper. There followed a power outage that affected 28.000 people in Adamsville and Forestdale. At school, students were exultant, thinking that no instruction could continue. My classes found themselves taking notes as I lectured without the aid of three overhead projectors. Lunch was delayed, cold sandwiches replaced hot food, and hall ways were dim. The students, though behavior was fairly good, were rattled by the occurrence. They realized how much dependency is placed upon the flow of electricity. Today, most people consider those who lived 350 years ago as benighted, yet going without electricity for 1 ½ hours discommodes us and almost brings routines to a stand-still. Perhaps, there should be more appreciation for the success of those who came before us. When vast quantities of cuneiform tablets were discovered in the ruins of Nineveh, scholars who were able to translate these writings found that the majority of the material focused on mundane day-to-day data: accounts, bills of sale, actuarial figures and demographic information. Demos found much of his information for the discourse on daily life among the Pilgrims from similar documents. Most of the documents that a society leaves behind are not comprised of monumental works of arts or theories of government but of records of ordinary activities by ordinary citizens. Such is the work of a historian. Another fact I learned from the treatise that disproved my previous assumptions was the average lifespan of the citizens and the average age at marriage of most couples. I had presumed that marriages were made at a tender age and that death occurred at a relatively young age. Perhaps the communal living and the commonwealth of friends and family, coupled with a keen sense of responsibility, contributed to a longer lifespan. The very basis of the word commonwealth is //weal//, which means a sound, healthy, and prosperous state. I noticed that Demos claimed that most all education was provided at home and he commented that the delivery of education has been “outsourced” to formal institutions. It is interesting, therefore, to consider the sharp rise in home-schooling prevalent in our society today. Perhaps a return to the practices of simpler times can make a major contribution to 21st century family life.
 * Sandi Covington,** **Crumly** **Chapel** **Elementary School**
 * Summary of “A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in** **Plymouth** **Colony”**

This book banished many of the beliefs I’ve held about colonial life since childhood. With all of the research and obvious time put into it, the findings were very believable. Just about everything about the early colonists way of life that most of us have been taught is either wrong or at the very least, suspect.

For instance, I always thought that they wore black or very dark clothing. Now I find that (in everyday wear), russet-colored clothing was about the most common worn. They even wore reds and blues. This takes getting used to! My frame of reference or prior knowledge – is blown out of the water. Also, information about the type of lodging they occupied disputes what I’ve been taught all these years. The three main types of houses were interesting. Even more interesting was the pre-occupation with socio-economic status. This seems so “un-pilgrim like” to what I’ve been taught. The hoarding of “material” possessions is another thing that doesn’t fit what I’ve thought all these years. Let’s not forget about the relative sexual “promiscuity” that existed. I use that term ‘loosely’. In the past, I believed that early settlers, i.e. pilgrims, were all puritan-like; except for ther rare “Scarlet Letter” woman (Hester Primm?) It’s somehow comforting for me to know that the early settlers weren’t so different from the way we are today.

Sabrina Porrill August 25, 2007 //__A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in__// //__Plymouth__// //__Colony__// is a novel by John Demos that analyses the day to day workings of a typical family in the Plymouth colony of the 17th century. The author use lots of primary documents and accounts to tell the reader about Puritan colonists and colonial life in America. The first chapters look at the homes, furnishings and clothing of the Plymouth Puritans. Then the author analyses the structure of the common Puritan colonial household starting with the husband and wife relationship. Although marriages during this time can appear “arranged” and “useful”, the author does show the reader that love and caring commonly did play a role as well. He then looks at children within this family dynamic. They were treated, he says, as “little men and women” as early as five or six years of age primarily because life in a colony required one to grow up fast and help with the “business” of survival. The care for the poor, elderly and those who could not take care of themselves by the family unit and community as a whole is also discussed as well as the master/ servant relationship, which may be more close and caring than one would originally think. The final chapters analyze the individual development of these colonial Puritans from infancy to later adulthood and do so by using Erik Erickson’s “eight stages of man” and the internal and external struggle that has to be resolved at each stage. This truly does help the reader to understand the “person behind the Puritan”. In conclusion, these families were small and nuclear with little privacy, with set roles and responsibilities for all members at a very early age and with the huge task of acting as “business, school, vocational institution, church, house of correction and welfare institution” all rolled into one.