Abstract

The present study began as a search for information about animal husbandry in eighteenth-century America. Much of the material relevant to poultry appeared in records associated with cock-fighting. As documentation emerged, I became increasingly interested in cock-fighting as an intersection of husbandry, sport and social relations. Nineteenth- century efforts to 'discountenance' this broadly based sport changed its nature somewhat, but did not extinguish it. In fact, cock-fighting seemed to gain new significance and strength in the face of opposition. The present essay focuses on cock-fighting in the central Atlantic states during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This period of expansion and open public display preceded the transition of cockfighting to the surreptitions activity it has been for nearly 150 years. Eaton