LEADER 03885nam 2200589 a 450 001 9910778447003321 005 20230207230703.0 010 $a0-674-26297-2 010 $a0-674-03419-8 024 7 $a10.4159/9780674034198 035 $a(CKB)1000000000805505 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000122337 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11135810 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000122337 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10123854 035 $a(PQKB)11203565 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3300639 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3300639 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10328817 035 $a(OCoLC)923112557 035 $a(DE-B1597)589941 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780674034198 035 $a(OCoLC)1294423282 035 $a(EXLCZ)991000000000805505 100 $a20031016d2004 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aCircles and lines$b[electronic resource] $ethe shape of life in early America /$fJohn Demos 210 $aCambridge, MA $cHarvard University Press$d2004 215 $axi, 98 p. $cill 225 1 $aThe William E. Massey, Sr. lectures in the history of American civilization ;$v2002 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 $a0-674-01324-7 327 $tFrontmatter -- $tContents -- $tPreface -- $t1. The Traditional World and the Logic of Circularity -- $t2. The Transitional World and the Power of Novelty -- $t3. The Modern World and the Rise of the Linear -- $tNotes -- $tIndex 330 $aIn this intimate, engaging book, John Demos offers an illuminating portrait of how colonial Americans, from the first settlers to the postrevolutionary generation, viewed their life experiences. He also offers an invaluable inside look into the craft of a master social historian as he unearths--in sometimes unexpected places--fragments of evidence that help us probe the interior lives of people from the faraway past. The earliest settlers lived in a traditional world of natural cycles that shaped their behavior: day and night; seasonal rhythms; the lunar cycle; the life cycle itself. Indeed, so basic were these elements that "almost no one felt a need to comment on them." Yet he finds cyclical patterns--in the seasonal foods they ate, in the spike in marriages following the autumn harvest. Witchcraft cases reveal the different emotional reactions to day versus night, as accidental mishaps in the light become fearful nighttime mysteries. During the transitional world of the American Revolution, people began to see their society in newer terms but seemed unable or unwilling to come to terms with that novelty. Americans became new, Demos points out, before they fully understood what it meant. Their cyclical frame of reference was coming unmoored, giving way to a linear world view in early nineteenth-century America that is neatly captured by Kentucky doctor Daniel Drake's description of the chronography of his life. In his meditation on these three worlds, Demos brilliantly demonstrates how large historical forces are reflected in individual lives. With the imaginative insights and personable touch that we have come to expect from this fine chronicler of the human condition, Circles and Lines is vintage John Demos. 410 0$aWilliam E. Massey, Sr. lectures in the history of American civilization ;$v2002. 606 $aHISTORY / United States / Colonial Period (1600-1775)$2bisacsh 607 $aUnited States$xSocial life and customs$yTo 1775 607 $aUnited States$xSocial life and customs$y1783-1865 615 7$aHISTORY / United States / Colonial Period (1600-1775). 676 $a973 700 $aDemos$b John$0133952 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910778447003321 996 $aCircles and lines$93745198 997 $aUNINA