★★★★★ 4
Interesting, but a little scattershot (3.75*s)
Format: Paperback
One thing is for certain, in this highly detailed work by the author, there is no attempt to sugarcoat the European experience in emigrating to America in the 17th century. He examines Virginia, the Chesapeake area, New York, and New England. In the initial stages merely surviving was an accomplishment. Most of the early settlers were clueless about overcoming the harsh conditions that they found, not to mention the savagery that the natives unleashed upon them without warning. A large supply of the weak and vulnerable facilitated this peopling of America, despite the dreadful conditions.
In addition, as the author shows in great detail, are the conflicts among the settlers. America was settled during a time of great political and religious clashes in England. Most of the settlers were Protestants, but held widely differing, contentious views about religious practice. Much of the governance of the colonies was autocratic, inept, and harsh. A good many of the settlers were indentured by contract for years and thereby were practically slaves, in contrast to the well connected who were granted huge estates. But even then, the author points out that the living standards for even the rich were terrible by European standards.
The book is definitely more sociology than historical. One learns about the origins of the settlers across America and the implications for the possibility of robust communities. The author definitely does not hold back on naming thousands of settlers across the colonies; it is difficult to slog through all of that. The book does seem a little scattershot in its organization and subject matter.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2017
