The author describes what life would have been like for our ancestors between 1790 and 1840. That sounds somewhat mundane, but the amount of detail he is able to describe is amazing. Also, in that time span, there were quite a few changes to the way people lived. This book is part of a series – “The Everyday Life in America Series”, which consists of six books, by as many authors, which start in “Early America” and go through 1945. This book is the second in the series. While we think we know what life would have been like in this era, and some of it was not a surprise, it is useful to have it described in one place, in so much detail.
The book begins by describing the work lives of various groups of people. At the beginning of this period, farming was the most common occupation. Larkin describes the rhythm, tasks, and the changes to that lifestyle, for the men as well as the women. By the early 1800’s, the industrial revolution was starting to change that, at least for people living in the growing cities. The next chapter talks about marriage, childbirth, health, and death. Sounds simple, but aspects of all of these changed during this time period. For example, treatments for various ailments changed, although we still would not consider even the changes to be modern medicine.
Later chapters describe housing, which varied widely depending not only on the relative wealth of the family, but the location. Housing styles and traditions varied from Northern states to the South, and the Western frontier was another story altogether. Another chapter discusses day-to-day life, including what people ate, and there are chapters on the prevalence of music, the social life of different groups, and the fact that Americans traveled more within our country than Europeans traveled within Europe at that time.
If this was your family, how would you research them? Larkin describes everyday life in so much detail that just reading this book will help put you in your ancestors’ shoes. He also quotes several people who kept diaries during this time span, some of whom either bemoan or celebrate the changes they have witnessed. And if this book does not tell you everything you want to know about a specific aspect of life in early nineteenth century America, there are twenty-six pages of sources in the bibliography, many listed by chapter.