Sharon V. Salinger, Taverns and Drinking in Early America (Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002)
Most aspects of colonial life in early America are well talked about: housing, food, daily routine, religion, etc. One of the more glossed over, yet interesting topics, is that of colonial drinking and the taverns in which it takes place. Why did colonial Americans enjoy drinking so much? In Sharon V. Salinger’s, Taverns and Drinking in Early America, she outlines how drinking traditions started and how it affected daily life and the impact it had on the people of early America. Salinger’s overview of the origins and developed habits of drinking in early America provides insight to the different purposes the activity and taverns in
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The overview of taverns and drinking and their great impact on daily life is obvious in the evidence and narration Salinger provides. She uses a journal written by Thomas Jefferson to explain how deeply entrenched in their daily lives taverns and drinking were: “Thomas Jefferson noted with alarm that cheap distilled spirits were “spreading through the mass of our citizens,” yet he is credited with inventing the presidential cocktail party”(3). Despite any negativity surrounding drinking, its growth in popularity was unstoppable. She also adds the fact that ‘water was considered an unsafe beverage’, which partially explains the reason for alcohol’s rise to popularity and appearance in the daily lives of early Americans. This increase in drinking also lead to the tavern culture and the need to regulate it, which brings in the lawmaking side.
The thesis of Salinger’s book and research states, “Colonial taverns and hotels that developed from elite taverns manifested an American society that maintained segregation in public by race, gender, and class”(245). Essentially, over the course of the eighteenth century colonial taverns grew exclusionary, in time serving certain sections of society rather than the whole community. She writes even at the very beginning of the text of the separation: “In the urban taverns that served a middle class and elite clientele, men gathered on a regular basis to transact business, argue over issues of local politics, or share a convivial
George Washington, a whiskey distiller himself, thought that distilled spirits were “the ruin of half the workmen in the country….” John Adams, whose daily breakfast included a tankard of hard cider, asked, “….is it not mortifying…. That we, Americans, should exceed all other …. People in the world in this degrading, beastly vice of intemperance?” and Thomas Jefferson, inventor of the presidential cocktail party, feared that the use of cheap, raw whisky was “spreading through the mass of our citizens (Rorabaugh 5).” Drinking was the culture of the American people. During this time “white males taught to drink as children, even as babies. “I have frequently seen fathers” wrote on traveler, “wake their Child of a year old from sleep to make it drink Rum, or Brandy (Rarabaugh 14). This is fascinating for me, because the people were crazy by allowing their teens including babies to drink alcohol. What more interesting is that fathers want their adults of 14 or more to go tavern with
Due to the Chesapeake Bay’s focus upon economics, by the 1700’s westward expansion had expanded to encompass large swaths of America. By contrast, the New England colonies had little interest in the accumulation of wealth, as can be seen in “An Ordinance for Wage and Price Regulations in Connecticut” published in 1676. Both laborers and their respective bosses were called upon to “consider the religious end to their callings, which is that receiving such moderate profit as may enable them to serve God and their neighbors with their arts and trades comfortably” (document 5). This economic ignorance is met, however, by a strong focus on social bonds lacking within the Chesapeake Bay colonies. The puritans called upon their members to “rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together,” and through this societal paradigm, “Be as a city upon a hill” (document 1). In contrast John Smith identified many of the tradesmen and others with position and power within Chesapeake Bay as attempting to “[make] all the men slaves” (document 4). The focus upon profit with the Chesapeake Bay colony came at the expense of human dignity in many cases, while the focus upon brotherly compassion within the New England colonies stymied the
Throughout the rich history in the United States tobacco, timber, and alcohol have been very important to the culture in America. Each of these products contributed economically to the colonies. Some have contributed to the shaping of governments and laws. There has recently been a debate about which colonial product was most important to the colonist. Each product has served an important role in building each one of the colonies. Evidence shows that tobacco played the most critical influence on many colonies in early America.
In an unknown newspaper, John Warner Barber published a cartoon depicting “The drunkard’s progress, or the direct road to poverty, wretchedness & ruin”, in which he illustrates the timeline of a drunkard’s short life (Doc. 2). Barber illustrates an alcoholic’s ultimate downfall, from the point in which his addiction to alcohol begins, to getting injured and condemning traditional institutions such as religion, to abusing the family and children at home, and to death. Moreover, Barber conveys the realities that every person of the nineteenth century has faced – a family member who has become lost himself in the relief that alcohol gives. When this document was published, millions of men and boys had succumbed to this dangerous indulgence. Since the eighteenth century, when alcohol was initially mass-produced, more and more people have drowned their sorrows – from work or from family problems - and committed countless crimes that resulted in drinking this beverage, including abusing their families and losing much of their money to gambling.
In the subheading, The Urban Web, it talks about how many taverns became the place where people would get belligerently drunk. " One governor told the assembly, would have 'fatal consequences to the government',". Franklin's very FIRST virtue is
Written in 1951, J.D. Salinger’s, The Catcher in the Rye continues to be a popular book amongst Americans. Although The Catcher in the Rye has been banned in many public school settings in the United States it continues to stay atop some of the greatest books of all time lists. Whether people are in their teens or in their fifties they find themselves drawn to Holden Caulfield. At some point in their life they could relate to a sense of alienation, caused by money and wealth. Humans are wired to be jealous and want what others have. Holden Caulfield has the opposite problem, he has money and wealth which he inherited from his hard working parents. However, he himself is not motivated to work hard, graduate prep school and earn his own wealth. Instead he despises hard working students at the many prep schools he drops out of. Holden also has a big number of family complications. An area to explore is how wealth can contribute to feelings of alienation and despair. Holden Caulfield has a complex relationship with money, not wanting to associate from it, but benefiting from it. A further look into the 1950’s may give an insight into the troubled mind of Holden Caulfield.
The first problem that his conclusions face is the scarce amount of statistical data from the colonial era onwards. The few surveys he is able to find are mostly either production records or sales records that do not provide an accurate picture of how, when, where, and by whom the alcohol was consumed. Although these surveys give a good window into the amount of alcohol in early America by looking at how much was produced and how much of it was sold, it cannot truly be used to document American drinking habits. In the same way a window into a home may be used to get a solid understanding of the kitchen but may not show the living room, basement, or bedrooms, this data is insufficient to make wide reaching claims
Have you ever remembered the time people against the consumption of alcoholic beverages? It was the temperance movement which began in the early 19th century in order to reduce drunkenness. Nevertheless, the temperance movement promoted government to make the prohibition in the society. Citizens were not allowed to drink the alcohol and banned the alcoholic affected America to maintain their social harmony. Moreover, citizens especially the drinkers’ children developed more slowly and they were more liable to the accident so that the temperance movement can easily educate the alcoholics. For these reasons, the temperance movement should be justified as the most influential event in the U.S. History.
Saloons outnumbered “schools, libraries, and churches” by 1909. Also, there was a greater understanding of the harmful effects of excess alcohol use on health from medical professionals. Politically, “taverns were controlled by brewers” such as Anheuser-Busch or the liquor trusts (Temperance Movement in the 1900’s). Concerns of excess alcohol consumption brought about a climate of social awareness and calls for change in the early
Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye has been pronounced a literary classic for its atypical portrayal of adolescence, to effectively convey the protagonist’s alienation and confusion. The introduction of The Catcher in the Rye is underpinned by disorder and confusion through a stream-of-consciousness narration, which digresses from one subject to another. Consequently, Holden’s multitudinous thoughts and feelings appear to lack a cohesive pattern. Additionally, Holden’s prevalent ascription of other students as “phony” (Salinger, p.3) alludes to his alienation and isolation as a form of self-protection; he rejects those he does not understand. Furthermore, the vocabulary encapsulates typical adolescence dialect of the 1940s, and resultantly, alienates contemporary reader. This is typified through Holden’s use of colloquial speech, in particular, his exclamation “that killed me” (Salinger, p.42) to express his amusement. Therefore, the introduction of Holden’s disjointed monologue in The Catcher in the Rye foreshadows Salinger’s unique interpretation of adolescence.
The recreational time of middle class people was often spent at the theatres and museums. Now think of your favourite drink to have in public. Is it soda, a milkshake, juice? In addition, think of your a public place to drink. This is the idea of a tavern in the 19th century.
In the mid 1600’s, colonial laws attempted to control alcohol consumption, but drinking per se was not remonstrated. Between
What did John Winthrop mean when he spoke of his “city upon a hill”? To what extent were the Puritans successful in building a model community? How and why did the market economy threaten and ultimately transform the
The role of religion in early American literature is extremely pervasive and it forms the obvious theme for most written work composed during the period. The highly religious nature of the early settlers and their
In the United States alone the drinking patterns throughout history have changed dramatically to reflect the times. Starting out in colonial times the usage of alcohol use was seen as a blessing, and harmless to society. It was acceptable to drink while at work, and during social events, however drinking alone was highly frowned upon. Many early religions believed that alcohol was a gift from God, “man should partake of God’s gift with out wasting or abusing it”#. To enhance and encourage the social