Four Regional Cultures in Anglo-America: A summary

Four Regional Cultures in Anglo-America

A Summary of Cultural Characteristics, ca. 1700-50

This page really goes hand in hand with this page .
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

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