Few seats were made with backs before the middle of the seventeenth century. Most people sat on stools, benches, or chests. The few chairs with backs and armrests were much like a throne. Often these chairs had a raised knob on the end of the armrest which helped give the person seated in it additional authority and power. Only the head of the household and very important guests were allowed to sit in such a chair. 

Of the three principal types of sentient century Pilgrim chair - the turned chair, paneled chair, and Cromwell chair - the most popular was the turned chair. These are now often called Carver or Brewster chairs by experts. These chairs have a double row of rails for the backrest and armrest and beneath the seat. A variant of these are the slatted back chairs brought to America from Holland and Germany

Chairs with backs became the norm during the William and Mart style era. The high backs were often upholstered with fabric, leather, or cane. The Gaines family of Portsmouth introduced their own William and Mary style design of which the five flat rails are most characteristic. Those examples of the 'banister' chairs with four rails in the back aye made by other people. The chairs got the name because the rails of the backrest resembled banister rails. Mahogany and walnut lent themselves best to the carving of minute ornamentation. 

The earliest known lounging chair was made in New York around 1708. The chair has a straight backrest with a curved top which is flattened at the top. The rungs are turned and the legs are of Spanish style. 

The best known and cheapest example of this type of seating is the 'Boston chair' with its slightly curving backrest that is sometimes known as 'crooked back'. Its frame is often painted red or black. Towards the end of the William and Mary period the Boston chair got a more oval backrest. This characteristic was carried forward into Queen Anne. 

Chippendale style chairs, which became  fashionable around 1755, introduced important changes in terms of both form and ornament. The seat was usually rectangular and well upholstered. I The straight sides of the chair back contrasted with the arched form of the Queen Anne style. Regional variations were chiefl7  the manner in which the central 51 splat and the ball and c1aw feet were made. Central splats with 'owl's eyes' originated from Massachusetts. 

The 'lolling chair' or 'Martha Washington' chair from Massachusetts combined aspects of both Chippendale and Federal styles. This type of chair had a Chippendale style upholstered back with tapering turned legs in the Federal style. These straight back at1d thin wooden armrests do not make this such a comfortable lounging chair as its name suggests.