Sharon V. Salinger's Taverns and Drinking in Early America supplies the first study of public houses and drinking throughout the mainland British colonies. At a time when drinking water supposedly endangered one's health, colonists of every rank, age, race, and gender drank often and in quantity, and so taverns became arenas for political debate, business transactions, and small-town gossip sessions. Salinger explores the similarities and differences in the roles of drinking and tavern sociability in small towns, cities, and the countryside; in Anglican, Quaker, and Puritan communities; and in four geographic regions. Challenging the prevailing view that taverns tended to break down class and gender differences, Salinger persuasively argues they did not signal social change so much as buttress custom and encourage exclusion.
- ISBN13 9780801876844
- Publish Date 17 July 2003 (first published 30 April 2002)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 27 September 2010
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Johns Hopkins University Press
- Format eBook
- Pages 328
- Language English
- URL http://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/ecom/MasterServlet/GetItemDetailsHandler?iN=9780801876844&qty=1&viewMode=1&loggedIN=false&JavaScript=y