cover image Obedient Sons

Obedient Sons

Glenn Wallach. University of Massachusetts Press, $40 (0pp) ISBN 978-1-55849-057-4

The media of contemporary America is notorious for using the term generation to distinguish the young from the old and thereby creating a daunting rift. Wallach, dean of Morse College, wants to show that although the terms youth and generation date back to the early colonial period, their meanings were different then. This well-researched work of cultural history shows that to foster obedience and insure a historical legacy in the new settlements, Puritan ministers emphasized how vital it was for youth to follow in the founding fathers' footsteps. ""Being dead, they yet speak,"" Cotton Mather said. Old and young were not at odds, but, rather, part of a continuum. As New England society changed, youth and generation became integral to the public vocabulary used to explain the changes. The sentiment moved from the biblical to the secular arena and persisted through the Great Awakening and the American Revolution by way of oration and print media. It put the responsibility for building and maintaining a vibrant, cohesive society on the young. For their part, the younger generation met the challenge by creating young men's voluntary associations and others based on work, art and literature that snowballed into the ""Young America"" of the mid-1800s. For students of American history, both in and out of the classroom, Wallach's intense and readable study of the origins of generational language in America and how it was used to link the past and the future is a stimulating and thought-provoking historical journey. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Jan.)