Four Regional Cultures in Anglo-America
A Summary of Cultural Characteristics, ca. 1700-50
| Location | ||||
| Hearth | Massachuetts | Virginia | Delaware Valley | Back-country |
| Region | Greater New England | Tidewater South | N.J. PA. DE.. N.MD | Southern Highlands |
| Language & Literacy | ||||
| Dialect | Northern | Southern Coastal | Midland | Southern Highland |
| Literacy (S)(M/F) | 80% / 50% | 50% / 25% | 65% / 33% | n.a. |
| Materials | Wood frame | Wood & Brick | Stone & Brick | Earth & log |
| Style | Saltbox, Stretched, Box | Hall & parlor | Quake plan | Cabin style |
| Family | ||||
| Identity | Strong nuclear | Extended | Moderate nuclear | Clan & derbfine |
| Cohesion | High | LOW | Moderate | Moderate |
| Completed size (F) | 7 | 3 | 5 | n.a. |
| Servants (mean) | 0-1 | 4-5 | 1 | n.a. |
| Ceremony | Civil Contract | Sacred ceremony | Meeting & agreement | Abduction Rituals |
| Mean Age (Ma) (m/l) |
26 / 23 | 24 / 18 | 27 / 24 | 20 / 19 |
| Adults never wed (m/f) | 2% / 6% | 25% / 2% | 12% / 16% | n.a. |
| Male dominance | Moderate | High | Moderate | Very High |
| Prenuptial Pregnancy | Low (10-20%) | High (20-40%) | Very low (5-15%) | n.a. |
| Rate (PPR) | ||||
| Bastardy rates (B) | Low (7-10) | High (28 – 118) | Low (1-7) | Unknown |
| Child Naming, Child Nature/Nurture |
||||
| Origin of Names | Biblical | Norman / Teuton | Mixed Biblical | Saints Names |
| Bible Names (NB) | 90% | 50% | 70% | 65% |
| Descent of names | 2 generation nuclear | 3 generation extended | 3 generation bilateral | 3 generation |
| Parent Names (Np) | 60 – 70% | 20 -30% | 20 – 30% | 20 – 30% |
| Child nurture | Will-breaking | Will-bending | Will-bracing | Will-building |
| Sending out | Yes | Mixed | No | mixed |
| Old Age, Death | ||||
| Age ideals | Elder-Saint | Elder-Patriarch | Elder-Teacher | Elder-Thane |
| Age Ideology | Veneration | Patriarchy | Elderly | Tanistry |
| Age heaping (A) | Old age bias | Seniority bias | no census data | Mixed |
| Death Ways | Activist-Fatalist | Stoic-Fatalist | Optimist-Fatalist | Nescient-Fatalist |
| Burial Customs | High austerity | High ceremoney | Extreme austerity | Folk ritual |
| Religion & Magic | ||||
| Demonination | Congregational | Anglican | Quaker | Presbyt. etc. |
| Worship | Lecture-centered | Liturgy-centered | Spirit-centered | Field mtg. & fellowship |
Definitions of Quantitative Indicators:
- Age Bias, computed as a ratio of the reported age to expected age.
- Voting participation as a proportion of adult white males.
- Bastardly rate, illegitimate births per 1000 total births.
- Crime index, ration violent crimes against persons to crimes against property
- Mean years enrolled
- Completed family size, mean number of children born to all families
- Gini(?) ratio, ranging from .00 (perfect equality) to .99 (perfect inequality, the uppermost percentile owns all)
- Land grants, mean size in acres
- Mean age at first marriage
- Naming patterns, proportion of biblical names
- Proportion of first-borns children named for parents
- Crimes against order, as a proportion of all crimes
- Prenuptial pregnancy rate, proportion of first births within 8 months of marriage
- Refined persistence rate, percent of living adults persisting through 10 years.
- Signature/Mark literacy rates, percent signing by mark
- Season of marriage, the timing of major peaks in the annual marriage cycle
Note: These two (hand-in-hand) pages really are notes taken during a class while I attended college around 1997. At the time, I just knew this was information that led to a general insight when it comes to genealogy. -Peg
