Bøger af Nian-Sheng Huang

An exploration of Benjamin Franklin's diverse legacies in American life from 1790, the year of his death, to 1990. This book also focuses on the intricate relations between the functions of images and perceptions in society on the one hand and the changing social and cultural conditions that have constantly affected the alterations of those images and perceptions on the other. Includes a Selected Bibliography. Illustrations.

2nd Printing. "[T]hese are the Conveniences and ornaments of a Life of Poverty. These the Comforts of the Poor. This is Want. This is Poverty!" Braintree selectman John Adams wrote down these words soon after he visited the neighbor Robert Peacock, his wife, and family in March 1767. If Adams knew the poor all too well from his personal encounters, eighteenth-century poverty could be elusive for later generations to comprehend. Perhaps, rarely was Massachusetts ever free from poverty throughout this period, nor did that poverty always remain undivided, monolithic, static, or one dimensional. By bringing together the individual stories of several thousand people and their experiences, this book (Floating Poverty, 2nd printing) recaptures the difficult lives of the poor and explores the floating characteristics of poverty.

Josiah Franklin, a tallow chandler and soapmaker, remains a marginal figure in most biographies of his well-known son, Benjamin Franklin, due largely to a lack of written documentation. Biographers of Franklin included him mainly from a genealogical viewpoint, and few of them gave him further attention. Here, Huang has reconstructed Josiah Franklin's life based on fragmented yet valuable manuscripts in several archival sites in the Boston area, such as his bills, letters, subscriptions, participation in petitions, and court warrants for his legal disputes. She has also drawn info. from newspapers, diaries, business accounts, inventories, deeds, and probate records which were useful to assess his trade and financial circumstances. Illus.

"[T]hese are the Conveniences and ornaments of a Life of Poverty. These the Comforts of the Poor. This is Want. This is Poverty!" Braintree selectman John Adams wrote down these words soon after he visited the neighbor Robert Peacock and family in March 1767. If Adams knew the poor all too well from his personal encounters, eighteenth-century poverty could be elusive for later generations to comprehend. Perhaps, rarely was Massachusetts ever free from poverty throughout this period, nor did that poverty always remain undivided, monolithic, static, or one dimensional. By bringing together the individual stories of several thousand people and their experiences, this book recaptures the difficult lives of the poor and explores the floating characteristics of poverty.