In Public Houses: Drink and the Revolution of Authority in Colonial Massachusetts (Published by the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and ... and the University of North Carolina Press)

In this study of the role of taverns in the development of Massachusetts society, David Conroy brings into focus a vital and controversial, but little-understood facet of public life during the colonial era. Concentrating on the Boston area, he reveals a popular culture at odds with Puritan social ideals, one that contributed to the transformation of Massachusetts into a republican society. Public houses were an integral part of colonial community life and hosted a variety of official functions, including meetings of the courts. They also filled a special economic niche, for women and the poor, many of whom turned to tavern-keeping to earn a living. But taverns were also the subject of much critical commentary by the clergy and increasingly restrictive regulations.