In honor of Lief Erikson Day (Lief was the “real” Europan discoverer of America, and is symbol of proud Scandinavians everywhere), Tuesday is Cancelled. Monday will be held in its place. (In other words, See you Tuesday!
Special Notice:
Hope your long weekend was grand
As I have you back to back, we're going to watch a PBS video. The American Experience series, A Midwife's Tale. Based on a diary of a Hallowell, Maine, midwife, the film is extraordinary, not only for the story, but for the way it captures the essence of village life in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. You should understaned the psychodynamics of living in a dispersed village better after watching this film. Try to pay as much attention to the physical background as you can. The transcript can be read by clicking on the image below.
Martha Ballard's diary, which inspired the book and film is available in its entirety at DoHistory. Clicking on the picture to the right will bring you there.
Reminder: By Majority Rule I've delayed the due date for the paper until Sunday night. If you have trouble with Bridges, send it by e-mail to mswanson@rwu.edu
Read, in The New England Village,
Chapter 4. Villages in the Federal Period, pp. 88 - 113
In many ways Chapter 4 is the core of Wood's book. Here we learn that the village forms we traditionally have associated with colonial New England are actually products of the early 19th century. There are some terms you'll need to understand here:
elaboration
Central-Place Theory (note that not all towns or villages are central places)
Town Division as a Process (when and with what results)
Center Villages (and the economic changes which led to their creation)
Turnpikes (and the influence of transportation patterns on town growth or decline)
Give some time to studying the figures showing town development (figures 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.8, 4.10, and 4.11) See if you can form a hypothesis about the different patterns of town development you see in each place.
Illustrations of these villages played a prominent part in Wood's Chapter 4:
Ware, MA (1637)
Wickford, RI (c. 1780)
Francestown, NH ( 1780, 1800, 1820)
Pittsfield, MA (1780, 1800)
Dedham, MA (1762, 1795, 1817)
Meriden, CT (1780, 1806, and 1835)
Walpole, NH (1780, 1810)
Norwich, VT (1778 , 1820)
Shirley Centre and South Village (1883)
So it is Treasure Hunt Time again. I'd like each of you to fine one or more illustrations, contemporary, or historical, from ONE of the towns listed above and post it with a brief description to your journal. Try hard NOT to repeat the "finds" of others in the class, which means taking a quick look to see what's been posted before you hunt, yourself. First come, first served, and happy hunting.
Meriden, Connecticut looks considerably different now, doesn't it? The picture is from Panoramio, a website where thousands of amateur photographers add work of their own...most of the photographs are scenic, and capture impressions which ordinary people find worth recording. Visit it by clicking on the image.
Chapter 4. Villages in the Federal Period, pp. 88 - 113 
