Fertility in Massachusetts from the Revolution to the Civil War focuses on the socioeconomic determinants of fertility differentials and trends in Massachusetts from 1765 to 1860. The book provides useful insights into the nature of the development of Massachusetts in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Topics covered in the text include analysis of the differentials and trends in white fertility ratios at the national, regional, and state levels; differentials and trends in mortality rates in Massachusetts; impact of land scarcity and the role of urbanization and industrialization on fertility; relationship between modernization and changes in fertility in Massachusetts; and the correlation of the decline of fertility in the West with the situation in developing countries. Demographers, sociologists, historians, researchers, and economists will find the book interesting.
George Robert Twelves Hewes, a Boston shoemaker who participated in such key events of the American Revolution as the Boston Massacre and the Tea Party, might have been lost to history if not for his longevity and the historical mood of the 1830's. When the Tea Party became a leading symbol of the Revolutionary ear fifty years after the actual event, this 'common man' in his nineties was 'discovered' and celebrated in Boston as a national hero. Young pieces together this extraordinary tale, adding new insights about the role that individual and collective memory play in shaping our understanding of history.