In the book, "The Minutemen and Their World" by Robert A. Gross, a closer look is taken at the American Revolution by examining the lives of the people that live in Concord, Massachusetts. By researching and interpreting diaries, court records, colony records, genealogies, and private papers Gross begins to describe a society before, during, and after the American Revolution. He furthermore succeeds in creating a well-written historical text that is easy to read, interpret, and enjoy. It can be thought that Gross accomplishes this by giving the reader a better sense of the life of a person during the American Revolution. Also, the author presents the fact that not only were the people of Concord undergoing a Revolution to fight for their independence, but they were also undergoing social, economic, agricultural, and religious revolutions.
Before the Revolution, Concordians were living in their own world, figuratively and literally speaking.
Official seal of Concord, Massachusetts
A spooky-looking house in Concord
Concord, MassachusettsThe society of Concord was well developed and contained problems locally. These problems interfered with the everyday social and economic atmosphere. For instance, relationships between parents and their children were deteriorating. Also, the soil was being used up because of over farming which led to the problem of too man sons and not enough land to be divided up between them. The generation gap between social classes was also widening and political offices were held by an elite few which were passed down almost as a legacy through families. These local problems were momentarily put on hold with the emergence of the aspect of a Revolution. The unity required to overcome the enslavement by the British Crown was much more important to the people of Concord than their somewhat meager problems and bickering. The main aspect behind the people's will to remain free was that they wished to...