Order and Civility in the Early Modern Chesapeake

Tise cutting-edge collection of essays in this volume represent the vast array of experiences in the Chesapeake region, encompassing the racial, class, ethnic, and gender diversity that characterized life in early Maryland and Virginia. Order and Civility in the Early Modern Chesapeake makes a significant contribution to the growing interest in the Chesapeake as an accurate indication of the English customs, rituals, and beliefs men and women brought to the New World. Ultimately, this study suggests that the multicultural Chesapeake created significant cultural, intellectual, and social norms that have shaped the diverse world of the American people.

Order and Civility in the Early Modern Chesapeakecaptures a variety of experiences in the early modern Chesapeake, illustrating the race, class, ethnic, and gender diversity that created a unique New World experience. Students and scholars will find this book essential to understanding the colonial Chesapeake.

Table of ContentsIntroductionSection One: Belief SystemsIntroductionChapter One: Adam Jortner, Without Demons: Witchcraft, Gender, and Law in the Colonial ChesapeakeChapter Two: Monica Witkowski, "A Witch amongst All Them": Chesapeake Witchcraft as a Case Study for Colonial North American Witchcraft BeliefsChapter Three: Debra Meyers, "The people are not att all fond of the Litturgy or cerimonyes": Theology in the Early ChesapeakeSection Two: Legal SystemsIntroductionChapter Four: Jeffrey Sawyer, English Law and the "Rights of Persons" in Early MarylandChapter Five: Allison Madar, "An Innate Love of Cruelty": Master Violence Against Female Servants in Eighteenth-Century VirginiaChapter Six: Karen Lubieniecki, Apart Before Death: Separated Women in Colonial MarylandChapter Seven: Kristalyn Shefveland, Sic jurat transcendere montes ("Thus he swears to cross the mountains"): Alexander Spotswood, Colonial and Native diplomacy in the 1722 Albany PeaceSection Three: Labor SystemsIntroductionChapter Eight: Teresa Foster, "A shameful and unblessed thing"Convict Bondwomen in eighteenth-century MarylandChapter Nine: Vaughn Scribner, 'A Genteel and Sensible Servant': The Commodification of African Slaves in Tidewater Virginia, 1700-1774Chapter Ten: Jennie Jeppesen, "To serve longer according to law": The chattel-like status of convict servants in Virginia