Albion's Seed Four British Folkways in America

by Fischer, David Hackett

• ISBN13: 9780195069051
• ISBN10: 0195069056
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1991-03-14
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This fascinating book is the first volume in a projected cultural history of the United States, from the earliest English settlements to our own time. It is a history of American folkways as they have changed through time, and it argues a thesis about the importance for the United States ofhaving been British in its cultural origins. While most people in the United States today have no British ancestors, they have assimilated regional cultures which were created by British colonists, even while preserving ethnic identities at the same time. In this sense, nearly all Americans are "Albion's Seed," no matter what their ethnicitymay be. The concluding section of this remarkable book explores the ways that regional cultures have continued to dominate national politics from 1789 to 1988, and still help to shape attitudes toward education, government, gender, and violence, on which differences between American regions aregreater than between European nations.

Author Biography

David Hackett Fischer is Warren Professor of History at Brandeis University. He is the author of numerous books, including Paul Revere's Ride and Growing Old in America.

Table of Contents

Preface An Idea of Cultural History	vii
Illustrations Drawings, Maps and Tables	xv
Introduction The Determinants of a Voluntary Society	3	(10)
East Anglia to Massachusetts: The Exodus of the English Puritans, 1629-41	13	(194)
The South of England to Virginia: Distressed Cavaliers and Indentured Servants, 1642-75	207	(212)
North Midlands to the Delaware: The Friends' Migration, 1675-1725	419	(186)
Borderlands to the Backcountry: The Flight from North Britain, 1717-1775	605	(178)
Conclusion Four British Folkways in American History: The Origin and Persistence of Regional Cultures in the United States	783	(116)
Acknowledgments	899	(4)
Abbreviations	903	(4)
Sources for Maps	907	(4)
Index	911