The Minutemen and Their World

Robert Gross identifies his book as an example of the “new social history.” This reflects a focus on social trends and other developments that are often overlooked in history books that focus on the lives and actions of the most prominent members of society. As Gross explains, it also means that he had to use methods that allowed him to access information about the lives of people who may not have left any record of their lives. To understand the everyday lives of the citizens of Concord, Gross accessed numerous types of vital records, then applied methods of statistical analysis with the help of a computer—difficult work today that would have been much more so in the mid-1970s, when Gross was conducting his research. 

The book’s prologue opens in early 1775, on the eve of the Revolutionary War, when “[the] light snows of January and February scarcely muffled the sounds of Minutemen at drill.” (3) From this vantage point, the narrative takes a look backward at the century-and-a-half of history that had already passed since the town was founded in 1635. The opening sentence also reflects the Prologue’s focus on environmental and geographic elements of the Concord area as a force that shaped its history.