Detailed Imagery Of Early Colonial American Lives example essay topic

Tensions of people living under the British government in the reconstruction period led people to leave the small island to journey over to the "New World". The introduction of the book described the general motives of people who left Britain. Some reasons were economic pressure, starvation, and to get away from religious restrictions among other reasons. The new arrivals to the "New World" settled and colonized what is now known as the eastern coast of the United States. These people, who were once farmers in Britain, continued their profession as farmers in a new land, while others were specified craftsman. The central theme of the book was the American lifestyle in the early 17th century and detail descriptions of the lifestyles of many individuals and how they conducted their everyday activities.

A great portion of the book describes the homes of the Englishmen. There were specific floor plans of common houses and many pictures and descriptions of architecture around the colony, which were explained to mimic those in Europe from the design to the inclusion of servants and apprentices. The book essentially let you visualize the "everyday life in early America". The book does not have a main character due to its documentation format, but it does focused on a group of people, which were the wave of settlers in colonial America. When they came, most were dependent on what they had.

They didn't think of any new way to settle themselves that were determined to preserve their lifestyle in their homeland. They were a group of people who didn't care too much about religion, but they were young ambitious and very competitive in looking for ways to gain quick wealth. Although many thought that they would find better lives, they ended being surprised by the lack of food and severe winters that led to the starving time once the colonies were set up. The book maintains some focus of this group of people during the starving and throughout the rest of the book.

The end of the book basically dealt with sectionalism and the differences of the colonies. The colonies were different in many ways regarding culture, language, and government. In the comparison of the north and the south, the author used the perspectives of two people to compare and contrast the similarities and differences between the two divisions. Sarah Kemble Knight from gave perspectives on the north, and a Frenchman who visited Virginia gave perspectives on the south. Knight saw the north as a place that contained many Native American tribes that surrounded the colonies, and they weren't feared of. She also described how well supplied the north was with food and water and saw that blacks were not uncommon in towns like Boston because they made up 3 to 4 percent of the population.

The social life in the north was very old-fashioned with the ideal families, who dressed plainly. Knight witnessed many people conducting businesses, specifically general stores, in New Haven. In the south, the Frenchman saw things were very different from the north. Upon his arrival, he said, "It is in this state, for the first time since I crossed the sea, that I have seen poor people". The Frenchman saw scattered plantations and undeveloped towns inhabited by whites. The rich occupied the best land in the south.

He saw a distinct separation of class between the wealthy and the poor. The end of the book also depicted the life of William Fitzhugh of Virginia who owned 23,500 acres of unsettled land. His plantation added another 1,000 acres. This shows the wealth of certain individuals while the majority of the southern population was poor. Although the lifestyle differs between the north and the south, their everyday routine, however, remains the same. The book did not entertain me.

In that sense, and the fact that I personally do not like to read a lot, I would only give it a satisfactory rating. Other than that, I would give the book a good rating because it accomplishes its main purpose: to allow the reader to attain mental images of how early Americans really lived. The books also offered actual pictures of what was preserved from that time period. Everything from actual incidents that occurred, like the witch hysteria, and the differences among the colonies all the way down to the weapons and artifacts and the different fence types were shown with details.

With this book you get to "see" what existed during the colonial period in America. Most textbooks pertaining to history usually give you important historical events and figures. Those books usually don't focus on the little things in life. Everyday Life in Early America however does focus on those "little things" that people do in their daily activities. That allow me to understand more of the colonial ways and why they did what they did from settlement to the colonization of America.

The book gives me very detailed insights of how the people lived, which I never get to see from history books and various other textbooks. I would not recommend this book to my friends because all of my friends do not like reading. Further more they do not care too much about history. To those who are like my friends I do not recommend reading this book. For those who would like to read books for entertainment I would not recommend reading this book as well. There are those who enjoy history or want to learn and see detailed imagery of early colonial American lives.

To them I strongly recommend this book, for it opens the door to America in the 17th century. All you have to do is walk through that door and you will relive what the colonists lived.