The horizontal lines in this background make the text look blurry. When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. There is a reason why most books are printed on white paper with black ink. It is simply the easiest combination to read. On screen some people prefer a light colored background to reduce eyestrain.
People like to use a lot of color on their web sites.
Color can give your page a dramatic look, but be sure that the text contrasts well with your background color. Here is another note on background colors. Not all browsers default to a white background. One version if Internet Explorer defaults to a gray background. You should always specify a background color in your body tag or style sheet, even if it is white, so that all browsers will use the same color.