Michael R. H. Swanson, Ph. D.
Roger Williams University
Office Hours  M,. T, Th, F, 9:00-10:00
Feinstein 111
(4010 254 3230
American Studies 335
New England
Fall Semester
2000
The New England Village
Joseph S. Wood
Baltimore:  The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997
We'll begin this unit with a brief discussion of Geography and Regionalism as analytical and interpretive tools.  The Encyclopaedia Britannica Online will serve us well here. 

For Monday, September 25

Read, First,  Three Articles from the E.B. Online
Bookmark these articles, as you will probably want to return to them from time to time. As you read the article on New England scroll down past the end of the text to a series of cross linked references.  You will want to read the section on Villages, and perhaps browse in several of the others.  It is the image of the village as described here that is at the core of Wood's Book.


Read, as well, in The New England Village,
                    Introduction, p. 1-8

There are some important concepts here, though there are not a lot of pages to consider.  Woods' general thesis is contained on pp. 3-5, commencing with the paragraph which begins "the story".  It is important to note how Wood interprets the creation of the "Village Myth".  It is this myth which forms the basis of what the Encyclopedia suggests about Villages in New England.
For Wednesday, September 27

Read, in The New England Village
Chapter 1, The Colonial Encounter With the Land, pp. 9 - 51.

There are a number of concepts to acquaint yourselves with, including "Cultural Ecology" (p. 10), the land types mentioned (intervale, marsh zones, meadow zones, etc.), the "Town System", (p. 38 and following), and the distinction between "nucleated" and "dispersed" systems of settlement.  Understand, too, the concept of "settlement by replication", and the reason(s) why it became the principal process of development of New England throughout the colonial and early national eras.

There are a lot of lllustrations in this chapter, and they need careful study...especially the types with which you are less familiar.  You will find it helpful to use the photographs in conjunction with the topographic maps, as these will help you translate the map symbols.  Make sure you understand what an "Isochronic Map" is (p. 35).  understanding the prefix "iso" will help, and this will also make the topographic maps easier to understand.

Wood continues his general practice of stating his chapter thesis at the outset of the chapter (pp. 10-12).  Check your understanding of it by seeing if you can paraphrase it in your own words. 
For Friday, September 29, and into Monday, October 2

Read, in The New England Village
Chapter 2,  Village and Community in the 17th Century 52-70

This is a short chapter but a very important one.  Community is a sort of buzz-word these days.  We speak of the "college community" here.  But then the E-Bay auction site on the Internet also calls itself a "community".  Make sure you understand Wood's definition on p. 53.
You will also need to understand what a "village" is, and note that this term is not synonymous with "town".  Make sure you understand the relationship between towns and villages.

Two types of village are noted in this chapter, and you will have to be able to distinguish between the Nucleated and dispersed types.  You should have a sense of what kinds of conditions called each type into being, and also a sense of which type predominated.  

The relationship between village and community is also important, and will become even more important when we begin using our next book, "A Very Social Time".

Internet Assignment. 

An investigation of the index to The New England Village yielded a list of well over 100 towns and villages cited. I want us to investigate these places to determine at least something of what happened to them in the years following the period which the book covers.  There are some very interesting internet resources which will help with this.  Many towns have web sites of their own... official ones and unofficial ones.  The Library of Congress American Memory page offers among its collections a fascinating collection of panoramic views from the 19th and early 20th centuries.  The technology through which these are presented allows the view to some in to incredible levels of high detail.  (You may have to download viewing software to get full benefit of these illustrations, but the process is safe and simple).

I'm asking each of you to conduct a little individual research on a few New England towns.  First, investigate whether there are panoramic views of your towns.  If there are, note this and spend some time considering each.  Can you notice any vestiges of the colonial or early 19th century village or town?  What changes have happened? Click on the button below to locate your own specific assignements.  IF none of your towns have a panoramic view.  Choose any other New England town and look at it. 

Also, search for town histories for the towns you've been assigned.  Use a good search engine to do this. 
For Wednesday, October 4

Read, In The New England Village,
Chapter 3:  The Architectural Landscape, pp. 71-87

In this chapter Wood questions whether our picture of 18th century domestic architecture is accurate.  If not, what did the average 18th century house look like?  As one might expect, wealth and length of community settlement determines the answer.  I don't expect you to master all the technical statistics in this chapter, so don't let them overwhelm you.  Do concentrate on the descriptive data on the range of house size and house value (pp. 74-78).
Illustration 3.8 (p. 84) is less confusing than it looks at first.  The size of the circles indicates the number of houses in the towns surveyed.  Black areas represent two story houses and white areas one-story houses.
As one might expect, the number of surviving 17th anc 18th century houses is fairly small, and biased towards the houses of the wealthiest and most substantial citizens.  The Parson Capon House (right)  is a famous example of a 17th century house. 

The Hooper Houe (below) represents a more elegant 18th century version of domestic architecture.

Click on both pictures to visit a website with more examples