Previously in this series: Introduction. Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4.
You knew this section was coming, didn't you? There are a ton of books in my local library on this topic, and it took me a while to sift through and find the ones I liked best. Four weeks on this one. Here are my choices:
- Seton, Chapter 9, "Life in Colonial America"
- Foster, George Washington's World, part I, "When George Washington Was A Boy"
- Haskins, Building a New Land: African Americans in Colonial America (relevant sections)
- Schaun, Everyday Life in Colonial Maryland
- Benjamin Franklin, The Whistle
- D'Aulaire, Benjamin Franklin (picture-book option) or Meadowcroft, Benjamin Franklin (novel-length option)
- Pinkney, Dear Benjamin Banneker
- Benjamin Franklin, selections from his political writings, such as "A Narrative of the Late Massacres in Lancaster County of a Number of Indians, Friends of this Province, by Persons Unknown" 1764
Genevieve Foster's book George Washington's World, like The World of William Penn I reviewed in part 4, covers significant people and events throughout the whole world during the life of one person. We'll read all of it over the rest of the American History period. It's conveniently broken up into chunks of Washington's life that roughly correspond to the divisions of American history I've chosen to cover.
Schaun has several books available through my library, all of them titled something like Everyday Life In Colonial [name of colony]. They are similar and any will do; I chose Maryland because I intend to focus just a bit on this colony founded by Catholics. Some of the copies in my library system were mimeographed and comb-bound, but I found a used hardbound copy and bought it. It includes many drawings: of everyday items, such as children's toys, tools, and clocks; different sorts of houses, chimneys, roof styles, doorways, and stairways; cooking implements, pot hooks, bellows, cake molds — all kinds of ordinary stuff. There are also some local details, like descriptions of the indigenous groups that are specific to Maryland; I haven't looked at the other books enough to know whether good distinctions are made among the peoples as you move from one book to another. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't a mention of religious life. The text is written at a higher level and is kind of dense, so I expect we'll leaf through the book and talk about the pictures. If you live in one of the original 13 colonies, see if Schaun has a book for your state.
A biography of Benjamin Franklin is well-placed here, perhaps the whole thing, perhaps just his life up to 1763 (saving the rest for a later section). Either D'Aulaire's detailed, longish picture book or Meadowcroft's novel-length bio will do; both appear to be closely based on Franklin's Autobiography, which the parent and any high-schoolers in the house ought to read if they haven't already (it's a hoot). Plenty of details of colonial life will be found in these bios. Also, the children's book The Whistle is an excerpt from Franklin's autobiography, which will give a taste of his style. And it's pretty easy to find a collection of Franklin's writings from which you can choose anything that suits your family. I have selected the "Narrative" above because it draws a picture of the complex relationships between colonists and local indigenous people, but you could as well choose almost anything else. We probably won't read the whole thing, because it's kind of dense, but we'll read at least an excerpt or two.
Finally, this is a good section to start a frank discussion of slavery as it existed in the colonies. Haskins's book covers the whole colonial time period, so only part of it is relevant here. It's fairly recently published and describes the experience of Africans and their descendants; I think it'll be worthwhile to compare what we learn from this book to what we learn from Schaun's book (which does cover slavery some). Pinkney's excellent picture book Dear Benjamin Banneker is the story of that free African American mathematician-astronomer's correspondence with Thomas Jefferson. It draws heavily on the primary sources of their letters. It does a great job of telling the story of this extraordinary person without rancor, while not ignoring the context, i.e., the conditions in which most black colonists and slaves lived and worked. Plus, you get a preview of Thomas Jefferson (it's fashionable to point out the contradiction of Jefferson's passion for freedom at the same time as his slave ownership; Banneker himself pointed it out to Jefferson in a letter to the man, so this is nothing new). You also get a reminder that there were "more than a few" (according to Schaun) free black colonists, at least in Maryland.
Next: The French and Indian War.
bearing blog 