Robert V. Wells

Past, Present, and Personal: The Family and the Life Course in American History

A major contribution to the rapidly growing literature on family history, this book ranges over the whole of American history to cover subjects from the changing nature of fatherhood to the relevance of the past for present-day policy-making. It raises important, and often controversial questions. Students of American social history, particularly family history; sociologists and social anthropologists.

Family size and fertility control in eighteenth-century America: a study of Quaker families.

Abstract It has long been assumed, on the basis of the information provided by the colonial and early national censuses, that the birth rate in eighteenth-century America must have been very high to account both for the rapid rate of growth and the high proportion of the population under the age of sixteen. Employing several methods of analysis, a number of experts have agreed in estimating that the birth rate at the end of the eighteenth and in the early nineteenth century was about 50, or a little higher. At the same time, the evidence in the decennial censuses is sufficient to indicate that the birth rate ofthe American population had begun a long-term decline by the early nineteenth century and that this lasted until the 1930s. It would obviously be of interest to know when and why the reduction in the level of childbearing began, but the limitations of the early census data make it unlikely that such information ever will be available for the population of the United States as a whole.

The Population of England's Colonies in America: Old English or New Americans?

In this paper growth rates, marriage patterns, fertility, mortality, population composition and urbanization in England and her American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are compared. The purpose is to see whether the colonists perpetuated English demographic patterns in the New World, or whether new environments led to new behaviour. The results are derived from numerous local studies, often based on family reconstitution. Taking into account regional variations in America, colonial demographic patterns were quite different from those in the mother country.

Demographic Change and the Life Cycle of American Families

Demographic Change and the Life Cycle of American Families Between the eighteenth and the twentieth centuries, major changes occurred in the patterns of birth and death of the American population. The birth rate declined by over 50 per cent, from around 50 per I,000 in I8oo to less than 20 per I,000 today.I Although the evidence on mortality is less clear, there can be no doubt that substantial improvements in life expectancy occurred during this period. The best estimates indicate that life expectancy at birth came close to doubling between about 800o and I970.2 In view of the magnitude of these changes, it is surprising to find that so little is known of their impact on American social institutions.

Marriage Seasonals in Early America: Comparisons and Comments

Marriage Seasonals in Early America: Comparisons and Comments In a recent issue of the J.I.H., Cressy presented data indicating that, soon after their arrival in the New World, colonists in a variety of Massachusetts towns adopted a seasonal pattern of marriage unlike either French or English yearly rhythms. At the end of the article, Cressy called for comparisons with other early American populations such as French Canadians, middle-colony Dutch, or Chesapeake residents. Data from the French and English Caribbean colonies, as well as the Spanish and Portuguese settlements, would also be of interest.

On the dangers of constructing artificial cohorts in times of rapid social change

On the Dangers of Constructing Artificial Cohorts in Times of Rapid Social Change One of the most important methodological developments in the study of history in the last decade has been the increased emphasis on cohort analysis. This technique picks up a group of people who experience some major event in their lives (e.g. birth, marriage, graduation) at the same time and then follows them over the rest of their life cycles to see when other changes occur to the group.1 For historians interested in change over time or in various life cycle patterns, this technique is ideal. Effective study of a cohort assumes that the historian has an appropriate set of data which will allow him to trace the individuals in question over a considerable period of time. Religious or civil registers of births, marriages, and deaths or series of censuses in which definitions remain the same are among the best known of such records. Frequently, however, adequate records for tracing individuals do not exist. Rather than abandon the cohort concept, many historians, especially those with interest in the family, have used information from single censuses to create artificial cohorts. This is done by treating the information in a census for people of particular ages (for example, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, and so forth) as if it also applies to a group of individuals whose lives can be traced over the same ages. Some of the most interesting and influential studies in family history in recent years have made use of artificial cohorts to arrive at their conclusions .2

Household Size and Composition in the British Colonies in America, 1675-1775

Household Size and Composition in the British Colonies in America, 1675-1775 Between 1607 and 1776, the British empire in America underwent striking growth and diversification. Fron the first primitive settlement at Jamestown, the empire expanded until, by the time of the American Revolution, it encompassed over thirty colonies stretching from Newfoundland in the north to Barbados and Tobago in the south. Although almost three million persons living in these colonies by 1775 shared similar forms of government, different environments, economies, and societies produced important variations in the style of life from one colony to another.I Virtually all historians of the period would recognize as valid such sectional divisions as Canada, New England, the Middle Colonies, the South, and the West Indies. Indeed, some might argue that important social and economic differences existed within each of these regions.2 Clearly, the English possessed a complex assortment of colonies by I775. In view of this fact, it is of considerable interest to study the composition of families and households in the colonies. Did family size and household structure change as the colonial population grew out of its frontier stage ? Were there regional variations which set families in New England apart from those in Newfoundland or Jamaica? Given the remarkable stability in the size of English households during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that Laslett has described, these questions become all the more intriguing.3 Did the same stability carry over to

A retrospective bibliography of American demographic history from colonial times to 1983.

Introduction and General Background Marriage and Fertility Health and Death Migration, Pluralism, and Local Patterns Family and Demographic History Population, Economics, Politics, and Society