Taverns and Drinking in Early America

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.

Author: Sharon V. Salinger
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Published: 08/01/2004
Pages: 309
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.98lbs
Size: 9.06h x 6.40w x 0.79d
ISBN: 9780801878992

About the Author

Sharon V. Salinger is chair of the Department of History at the University of California, Riverside.