First published 1989
Fischer traces how four distinct migrations of English-speaking peoples between 1629 and 1775 shaped American culture. Puritans from eastern England settled Massachusetts from 1629 to 1640. A Royalist elite with indentured servants moved from southern England to Virginia around 1649 to 1675. Quakers migrated from the North Midlands and Wales to the Delaware Valley between 1675 and 1725. Finally, people from the borderlands of North Britain and northern Ireland fled to the American backcountry from 1717 to 1775. Each group brought different folkways covering religion, family structures, child-rearing practices, attitudes toward death and sexuality, worship rituals, work customs, food traditions, and concepts of freedom and order. Fischer demonstrates how these British folk traditions created regional cultures that persist today. Even though over 80 percent of Americans now lack British ancestry, they have absorbed these transplanted regional folkways. The book shows how these four cultural streams produced a pluralistic society more libertarian than any single culture could achieve alone.
Genres: history, sociology, non-fiction, academic, cultural-studies, american-history
Vibes: intimate, scholarly, thought-provoking
Tropes: cultural-analysis, historical-perspective
Setting: America, Britain, Delaware Valley, England, Ireland, Massachusetts, North Britain, Virginia, Wales
Period: 1629-1640, 1649-1675, 1675-1725, 1717-1775
946 pages · Paperback · Oxford University Press