Discoveries of America: Personal Accounts of British Emigrants to North America during the Revolutionary Era [Paperback]

Barbara DeWolfe (Editor), Bernard Bailyn (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 13, 1997

Discoveries of America is a collection of personal letters written by eighteen of the thousands of British emigrants who came to North America in the fifteen years preceding the onset of the American Revolution. These accounts are rare: few letters sent by emigrants during the colonial period exist. The letters reveal the motivations, experiences, characteristics, and emotions of these people, who populated America at a crucial time in its history, and provide new insights into the mechanisms of the British-American migration, especially the organization of personal networks of family and friends.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Discoveries of America is a welcomed, meticulously researched addition to the study of the eighteenth-century North Atlantic world." The North Carolina Historical Review

"...this book...will fascinate readers with an interest in the complexities of migration of British emigrants who dared to cross the Atlantic and write home about their experience in the New World in order to invite others to follow their example." Marianne S. Wokeck, Michigan Historical Review

Book Description

Discoveries of America is a collection of personal letters written by eighteen of the thousands of British emigrants who came to North America in the fifteen years preceding the onset of the American Revolution. These accounts are rare: few letters sent by emigrants during the colonial period exist. The letters reveal the motivations, experiences, characteristics, and emotions of these people, who populated America at a crucial time in its history, and provide new insights into the mechanisms of the British-American migration, especially the organization of personal networks of family and friends.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (September 13, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521386942
• ISBN-13: 978-0521386944
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,008,225 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)