Document Type
Thesis
Publication Date
4-1940
Publisher location
Orono, Maine
Abstract/ Summary
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Honors in History, April, 1940.
Author's abstract: The everyday life of the colonists who settled in Maine is a field in which very little work has been done as yet. Formerly historians placed the emphasis upon political events and wars; only recently has there been interest taken in all the facts which influence life and make history. The life they lived from day to day, their intellectual, moral and spiritual aspirations, the houses in which they lived, the food they ate and the clothes they wore, the occupations in which they engaged, their customs and pleasures, are all subjects in which we are interested, but alas, the material is all too meagre to satisfy our curiosity. The colonial period in Maine is very hazy and much that we would like to know will remain forever hidden under the broad veil of obscurity. However, we can glean some choice bits of information from the material that is available; but much labor must be expended before justice can be done to this subject. In this work, the surface only has been scratched; a great wealth of knowledge is as yet untapped. It is hoped, nevertheless, that some idea of the lives which our early colonists lived will be given to our present generation dispelling the prevalent idea that the early history of Maine is unimportant and unromantic. Indeed the territory which became largely the battleground for two rival nations in their struggle for empire, in local color, excitement and romantic action is surpassed by no other colony.
Repository Citation
Westin, Linnea Beatrice, "The Everyday Life of the Maine Colonists in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries" (1940). Maine History Documents. 435.
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mainehistory/435
Version
post-print (i.e. final draft post-refereeing with all author corrections and edits)
Included in
Rights Statement
