A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in Plymouth Colony

In this pioneering study, Mr. Demos examines the family in a specific American context, that of the colony founded by the Pilgrims who came over on the "Mayflower," during the first two generations of its existence. In the absence of the usual literary sources, he has centered his reserach on physical artifacts, wills, estate inventories, and a variety of legal and official enactments, and he has drawn also upon the methods and techniques of the behavioral sciences. The result is a study in depth of the ordinary life of a colonial community in the broader environment of seventeeth-century America.