Discoveries of America
Personal Accounts of British Emigrants to North America during the Revolutionary Era

A rare collection of letters written by British emigrants who came to North America shortly before the onset of the Revolutionary War.

Barbara DeWolfe (Edited by), Bernard Bailyn (Foreword by)

9780521386944, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 September 1997

256 pages
22.9 x 15 x 1.7 cm, 0.3 kg

"...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

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 insights into the mechanisms of the British-American migration, especially the organisation of personal networks of family and friends.

Editor's Preface
Preface
Introduction
Note on Selection
Editorial Procedures
Part I. Nova Scotia: Narratives of Charles Dixon
Letter of James Metcalf
Letter of Luke Harrison
John Robinson and Thomas Rispin, 'Journey through Nova Scotia'
Part II. Middle Colonies: Letters of James Whitelaw
Alexander Thomson, 'News from America
' Letters of Hugh Simm
Part IV. Chesapeake: Letter of John Campbell
Letters of David Duff
Letter of Thomas Feilde
Part V. North Carolina: Letters of Alexander McAllister
Letter of Alexander Campbell of Ballole
Part VI. South Carolina and Georgia: Letters of Alexander Cumine
Letters of George Ogilvie
Letter of Thomas Taylor
Letter of Baikia Harvey
Letter of Hester Wylly.

Subject Areas: Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], History of the Americas [HBJK]