American colonists knew just two types of public buildings,churches and taverns-and drinking houses far outnumbered places of worship. At a time when drinking water supposedly endangered one's health, colonists of every rank, age, race, and gender drank often and in quantity. Sharon V. Salinger's Taverns and Drinking in Early America supplies the first study of public houses and drinking throughout the mainland British colonies. Salinger explores the obvious and obscure ends that alcohol met in colonial society. Tavern patrons might engage in a heated argument about the price of wheat, debate the inspirational quality of the minister's sermon, plot political action, exchange news, offer countless toasts, or share a convivial pint with friends. Salinger also looks at the similarities and differences in the roles of drinking and tavern sociability in New England, the mid-Atlantic, the Chesapeake, and the South; in small towns, cities, and the countryside; and in Anglican, Quaker, and Puritan communities. Her findings challenge the prevailing view that taverns tended to break down class and gender differences.

Instead, she argues they did not signal social change so much as buttress custom and encourage exclusion.