John Demos (1) (1937–)
Author of A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in Plymouth Colony
For other authors named John Demos, see the disambiguation page.
John Demos (1) has been aliased into John Putnam Demos.
Works by John Demos
Works have been aliased into John Putnam Demos.
Associated Works
Works have been aliased into John Putnam Demos.
Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England (1983) — Foreword, some editions — 1,398 copies
Novel History: Historians and Novelists Confront America's Past and Each Other (2001) — Contributor — 134 copies
The Family in History; Interdisciplinary Essays (Harper Torchbooks, Tb 1757) (1971) — Contributor — 34 copies
Inventing the Psychological: Toward a Cultural History of Emotional Life in America (1997) — Contributor — 16 copies
The American Family in Social-Historical Perspective, Second Edition (1978) — Contributor — 15 copies
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Reviews
The Heathen School: A Story of Hope and Betrayal in… by John Demos
I don't love this the way I love Demos's The Unredeemed Captive, but it is still a well-written and insightful work of history, and filled with great set-pieces. I particularly recommend the sections dealing with the death of Henry Obookiah and with Elias Boudinot's courtship of Harriet Gold. (I would love to read a biography of Elias Boudinot or of John Ridge, whom Demos really brings to life in this book.)
I don't love this the way I love Demos's The Unredeemed Captive, but it is still a well-written and insightful work of history, and filled with great set-pieces. I particularly recommend the sections dealing with the death of Henry Obookiah and with Elias Boudinot's courtship of Harriet Gold. (I would love to read a biography of Elias Boudinot or of John Ridge, whom Demos really brings to life in this book.)
It is hard to believe a book about witch hunts could be so incredibly dry and boring.
The last chapter, about "modern witch hunts," is highly problematic as he addresses topics in a few pages that have had their own whole tomes written (Red Scare, McCarthyism, Satanic child abuse in day cares scare). As a result, all nuance is lost and even the accuracy of some claims seemed questionable.
Much better books have been written on this topic. Look elsewhere.
The last chapter, about "modern witch hunts," is highly problematic as he addresses topics in a few pages that have had their own whole tomes written (Red Scare, McCarthyism, Satanic child abuse in day cares scare). As a result, all nuance is lost and even the accuracy of some claims seemed questionable.
Much better books have been written on this topic. Look elsewhere.
Where I got the book: review copy provided by publisher. This review first appeared on the Historical Novel Society website.
The intersection of the idealism, religious fervor, and experimentation of the early American republic with 19th-century racism provides the context for this account of the Connecticut-based Foreign Mission School, known locally as the Heathen School. Its core population was made up of Hawaiian men brought to America by the China trade and of Native American youths; its purpose was to educate and ‘civilize’ them so they could return to their point of origin as missionaries.
The hopes of the school’s founders were gradually eroded by the difficulties of assimilating its students into a white society ill-prepared to ascribe full manhood or citizenship to them. The culminating scandals concerned the marriages of Cherokees John Ridge and Elias Boudinot to white women, leading to a shift toward taking missionary endeavors into the field.
The Heathen School provides a good account of the evolution of thought from early American willingness to intermarry with and assimilate native populations to the outright fear and prejudice of the mid-19th century. Its quirky presentation—with travelogues and extensive chapters on background matters and later developments—and its overuse of quotation marks and parentheses hinder the story, but there are many points of interest.… (more)
The intersection of the idealism, religious fervor, and experimentation of the early American republic with 19th-century racism provides the context for this account of the Connecticut-based Foreign Mission School, known locally as the Heathen School. Its core population was made up of Hawaiian men brought to America by the China trade and of Native American youths; its purpose was to educate and ‘civilize’ them so they could return to their point of origin as missionaries.
The hopes of the school’s founders were gradually eroded by the difficulties of assimilating its students into a white society ill-prepared to ascribe full manhood or citizenship to them. The culminating scandals concerned the marriages of Cherokees John Ridge and Elias Boudinot to white women, leading to a shift toward taking missionary endeavors into the field.
The Heathen School provides a good account of the evolution of thought from early American willingness to intermarry with and assimilate native populations to the outright fear and prejudice of the mid-19th century. Its quirky presentation—with travelogues and extensive chapters on background matters and later developments—and its overuse of quotation marks and parentheses hinder the story, but there are many points of interest.… (more)
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- Works
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- Rating
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