Death and Memory in Early America

Death is a historical phenomenon – although pervasive and unavoidable, it has not been understood or experienced in a uniform fashion over time. Death has visited some times and places more heavily than others; ideas about death, rites surrounding it, and the memorials and monuments commemorating it have varied over time and place. This article emphasizes the omnipresence of death in early America, an historical reality of great importance that we are peculiarly conditioned today to miss or avoid, both because of the nationalist biases of American history and because American culture is so insulated from actual physical death and mortal remains. Finally, the essay suggests why death mattered and how Americans made sense – and made use – of death and mortal remains in early America.