The Times of Their Lives: Life, Love, and Death in Plymouth Colony

by James Deetz and Patricia Scott Deetz

A Book Review by E. Michael Cahill

March 2009

The Times of Their Lives: Life, Love, and Death in Plymouth Colony by James Deetz and Patricia Scott Deetz is an academic examination of Plymouth Colony starting with a debunking of our standard view of Thanksgiving. Insights are provided into a number of aspects of the lives of the early colonists including, but not limited to the occult, drug use, gender issues, crime, sexual mores, housing, and the legal system. The Deetzes do a great job of showing how historical myths have perpetuated a less than accurate picture of actual life in Plymouth, as in the case of a primary source letter detailing the reality of Thanksgiving. Where the Deetzes fall short is on other subjects - a sizeable portion of the book is devoted to providing detailed information relative to topics such as archaeological excavations and the design of houses, that make for a difficult read being very academic in nature and not for your general reader.

Opening with a letter written by a Mayflower passenger the Deetzes immediately begin to dispel the many myths and images associated with the Pilgrims, in particular Thanksgiving.

We are all familiar with paintings, prints, and other graphic depictions of the first Thanksgiving, and without exception, they portray a group of English settlers, many with their eyes turned toward heaven in a most devout manner, and scattered among them, a smaller number of Indians. One watercolor… depicts eight Englishmen seated at a table with an Indian at either end and several women standing behind them in a clearly subservient role. (p. 4)

As the Deetzes point out, “the reality could not be more different.” In fact, we learn that there was more than likely a ratio of two Indians to each of the English settlers, seated not at a table but on chests, logs or stones while drinking copious amounts of beer and smoking tobacco (both men and women). The menu for this first Thanksgiving feast also differed greatly from the pictures we have seen; both cranberries and pumpkin pie were not a part of the dining experience. The authors also include several graphic representations of the thanksgiving festivities that we have all seen at one time or another, one depicting a log cabin and a Native American with a “Peace pipe”; neither of which would have existed at Plymouth.

Debunking the myths does not stop with Thanksgiving but continues on to the Pilgrims themselves who have been pictured in an almost saintly manner, devout hard working individuals responsible for founding our country. Once again we are shown how actual life differed greatly from our images. In fact what we find is a community not unlike today, with crime, sexual misconduct, drug use, neighborly squabbles, and behavior reminiscent of something one might find in a quasi Big Brother type society. People appointed to many positions in the community, in addition to their regular duties, were required to monitor the behavior of their neighbors. Everyone it seemed kept a very close eye on what the other person was up to and given the close proximity to one another had an intimate knowledge of each others personal business. This was clearly evident when reviewing the court documents of the period. The Deetzes include court records that tell of incidents of adultery, homosexuality, and pre-martial sex. One record tells of a 16 or 17 year old convicted of bestiality (buggery) as witnessed by someone in the community.

He was this detected of buggery, and indicted for the same, with a mare, a cow, goats, five sheep, two calves and a turkey. Horrible it is to mention, but truth of the history requires it. (p. 136)

We are even told of cases involving incest and child abuse resulting in death. Not exactly how one pictures life in Plymouth. What was particularly interesting in the court records was the probate inventories of various individuals material possessions. These inventories provided a wonderful insight into the daily lives of the Pilgrims, for example the types and amounts of clothing the person owned.

The very notion that the Pilgrims came to this country to find religious freedom is another factor that was less than accurate, in so far as a number of the Mayflower passengers were only interested in financial opportunities. There were simply not enough people leaving Europe for spiritual reasons to establish a colony in Massachusetts. It became a matter of economics, and the voyage required additional capital in order to finance the trip. All very interesting and quite illuminating given the stereotypical image most of us have of the early settlers.

Where the Deetzes begin to lose this reviewer and where it becomes a real chore to read starts with Chapter 6 of the book. This chapter is 60 plus pages of information painfully detailing archaeological excavations along with the construction of houses at that time.

The cellar was fully excavated during the 1998 and 1999 field seasons. It measured six by seventeen feet with a single row of stones along its top, and was two and a half feet in depth. Seventeen feet is an unusually long dimension for a cellar of the period, and raises problems of access. (p. 242)

This type of information is somewhat superfluous for your average reader and unfortunately represented almost a quarter of the text. I’m not sure why the authors felt the need to include such a volume of material that would seem to have limited appeal being of such an academic nature. Additionally, in similar fashion the final chapter went off on yet another academic tangent in describing the history and development of Plimoth Plantation.

The Times of Their Lives: Life, Love, and Death in Plymouth Colony is obviously a well-researched study of early life in Plymouth. Using a number of primary source documents the text serves as an excellent resource for bringing to light a more accurate picture of what life was like in Plymouth and the surrounding communities. The Deetzes research clearly documents the numerous misconceptions associated with the establishment of Plymouth in the 1600’s. Yes, some of the information discussed was not all that surprising, e.g., the many myths associated with Thanksgiving, however it did provide a great deal of information that differed greatly from what most of us have been taught over the years (the early settlers drank heavily and were far from always being law abiding citizens). My sole reservation, and what prevents me from giving this text a “ 5 star” recommendation, is directed primarily at the last two chapters, both of which were better suited for academia.