New Worlds for All: Indians, Europeans, and the Remaking of Early America (American Moment) [Paperback]

Colin G. Calloway (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 080185959X | ISBN-13: 978-0801859595 | Publication Date: February 18, 1998

Although many Americans consider the establishment of the colonies as the birth of this country, in fact Early America already existed long before the arrival of the Europeans. From coast to coast, Native Americans had created enduring cultures, and the subsequent European invasion remade much of the existing land and culture. In New Worlds for All, Colin Calloway explores the unique and vibrant new cultures that Indians and Europeans forged together in early America. The journey toward this hybrid society kept Europeans' and Indians' lives tightly entwined: living, working, worshiping, traveling, and trading together—as well as fearing, avoiding, despising, and killing one another. In the West, settlers lived in Indian towns, eating Indian food. In Mohawk Valley, New York, Europeans tattooed their faces; Indians drank tea. And, a unique American identity emerged.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

American history has often been influenced by ethnic conflicts, but what we sometimes forget is how central the meetings between various ethnic groups were to the formation of what would become the United States. In New Worlds for All Colin Calloway offers a readable, fascinating account of how the English, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Native Americans came together in a wilderness and went through tumultuous conflicts that eventually created a hybrid society. This conglomerate, which was different from any other on earth, eventually led to the creation of the United States. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

A highly readable if not highly original history of the early interaction between Europeans and Native Americans. Recent history generally casts the European conquest of North America as a thoughtless or malicious genocide of the indigenous population. And while this is in some ways correct, the stress on American Indians' victimization at the hands of the invaders results in ignoring the Indians' contribution to the resulting American culture. While Calloway (History and Native American Studies/Dartmouth Coll.; The American Revolution in Indian Country, 1995, not reviewed) acknowledges that the European effect on Indian life was larger, and more devastating, than the other way around, he contends that Indian culture contributed in many significant ways to what would eventually become a distinctly American way of life. The author supports his thesis with many oft-cited facts about early colonial times. Few readers will be surprised when Calloway reports that Europeans settled in deserted Indian towns, looked to Indians to show them how to cultivate indigenous crops, or that not just corn and tobacco but also potatoes and tomatoes were discovered in the New World and introduced to Europeans as exports from the colonies. Not as well known is the respect many Europeans felt for Indian medicine, or that so-called ``Indian-style'' warfare--guerrilla tactics that the colonists were said to have adopted in their successful fight against the British army during the American Revolution--was in fact only invented by Indians a hundred years before to counter the unfamiliar tactics of European interlopers. Although much of the information here is well known, this is a fine primer on the cross-cultural influence of the Europeans and Indians in early American life. (21 illustrations, not seen) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press (February 18, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080185959X
• ISBN-13: 978-0801859595
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #100,102 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A summary of recent historiography of the American Indian., April 5, 2000

By 

Damon Jasperson - See all my reviews

This review is from: New Worlds for All: Indians, Europeans, and the Remaking of Early America (American Moment) (Paperback)

In this book Colin Calloway sums up another cycle in the historiography of the American Indian. The book is arranged topically, and is really more a series of essays than a single narrative. Calloway is even-handed in his approach, avoiding the demonization of both settlers and Indians that have been features of other works on the same topic. Calloway tries to cut through the mythology that has encrusted much of American Indian history and get at the way things really were--cultural give and take, misunderstandings, and accomodations. Overall, an excellent book and a necessary antidote to wrong-headed notions about cultural interactions in early America.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazingly researched and balanced, June 10, 2004

By 

"jcbondservant" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: New Worlds for All: Indians, Europeans, and the Remaking of Early America (The American Moment) (Hardcover)

I recently graduated with my B.A. in History and am about to start my M.A. in United States History, and I have never read such a well-balanced and amply researched book, not to mention thoroughly enjoyable to read. Neither colonist nor Native American is deified nor demonized.

I loved how the book was divided by subject rather than chronologically. One is able to read about everything from both peoples' interaction with the beaver population to their views on religion and politics. I highly recommend this book.

5.0 out of 5 stars New Worlds for All book, September 22, 2011

By 

doodlebug - See all my reviews

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This review is from: New Worlds for All: Indians, Europeans, and the Remaking of Early America (The American Moment) (Hardcover)

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