Chesapeake is a novel by James A. Michener , published by Random House in The story deals with several families living in the Chesapeake Bay area around Virginia and Maryland , from to The story-line, like much of Michener's work, depicts a number of characters within family groups over a long time period, richly illustrating the history of the area through these families' timelines.
It starts in with American Indian tribes warring, moves with English settlers through the 17th century land appropriation, tobacco farming, indentured servitude, religious persecution, etc. The last voyage, a funeral, is in The book is divided into 14 separate chapters with two sections each. The first part provides a key date and describes the background behind the arrival of a person or thing i. Most of the events of the novel take place on the Eastern Shore of Maryland , and, more specifically, on and around the Choptank River.
Michener lived near there, in St. Michaels , while he worked on the book. All of these locations were placed by the open water of the Choptank. The location of Devon Island would be immediately north of Todds Point, approximately 3 miles southeast of the southern tip of Tilghman Island. The novel has a number of central themes, such as religion, slavery, poverty, and industry, each personified by a particular family that settles on the Bay, and in some cases, by several families.
The religious element of the novel applies to the Steeds, who are Roman Catholic and the Paxmores who are Quakers Michener himself was raised a Quaker by his adopted mother. At several points the novel takes the form of debate with religious themes or overtones, beginning with a doctrinal discussion about the religious role of women between Ralph Steed, a Catholic priest, and Ruth Brinton, a matriarch of the Paxmore family.
Each such debate always involves one of the Paxmores, with the source of disagreement being rooted in that individual Quaker's beliefs. Slavery is an overriding theme of the entire book. The Steeds are great landowners and one of the greatest holders of slaves in the colonies , whereas the Paxmores, through Ruth Brinton, are the first proponents of emancipation.
