Description
Book SynopsisAn exploration in the history of biopolitics, The Early American Table offers a unique study of the ways in which English colonists in North America incorporated the you are what you eat philosophy into their conception of themselves and their proper place in society. Eden aptly demonstrates that ideas about the bodyideas that may seem irrelevant or even laughable todaynot only guided day-to-day personal behavior but also influenced society and politics. According to the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century understanding of the body, food affected the blood, bones, mind, and spirit in ways other social markers (e.g. clothes, manners, speech) did not because food was directly assimilated by the consumer. A plentiful, varied diet of high-quality refined foods created virtuous, refined individuals fit to govern society. In contrast, a more restricted diet of poor-quality, coarse foods made an individual coarse, even beastly, and unfit to lead. In the Old World, especially before
Trade Review
A valuable addition to the body of scholarly works exploring history and culture through the lens of food. An intelligent, original contribution. Highly Recommended.
* Choice Reviews *
A fascinating study.
-- Hilda Smith, University of Cincinnati
An original contribution to several fields of early American history and of British history too.
-- David Fahey, Miami University, Ohio
Table of ContentsTable of Contents
Preface
Introduction
Part I. The Individual Golden Mean
Chapter One. The Humoral Body
Chapter Two. The Humoral Society
Chapter Three. Secure People and Societies
Chapter Four. Insecurity and the Common Kettle
Part II. The Social Golden Mean
Chapter Five. The Mechanical Body
Chapter Six. American Icons
Chapter Seven. Which Golden Mean?
Chapter Eight. A Mechanical Society
Chapter Nine. The Yeoman Farmer
Conclusion
Notes
Works Cited
Index
