a must read for anyone interested in american history ( )

"Albion 19s Seed" by David Hackett Fischer is a terrific history of the various groups of British people who settled in the colonies that later became the United States. Fischer writes clearly, interestingly and with a balance between three elements of historical analysis: blending the stories of the famous with those of the obscure and with a use of statistics that is unexpectedly lively 14a feat in itself. (Too many historians see these three elements as being in competition and use them singly or with overemphasis on one of them over the others.)

Fischer 19s thesis is this: each colony that made up British America was settled by people who tended to come from particular regions of Britain. For example, the characteristically 1Cr 1D dropping New Englanders from whom I myself spring, tended to come from the counties in the eastern part of England where, to this day, people tend to drop their 1Cr 1Ds in much the same way. This is not to say that there were not exceptions to this narrow origin. The area around Rowley, Massachusetts, was settled by people whose origins in England were a bit further north from those of the people who tended to settle the rest of Massachusetts. Indeed, while the majority of those who initially settled the colony were either clergymen, craftsmen, farmers, or fishermen according to their trades in eastern England, the people who settled in Rowley had been millers and, unsurprisingly, given that fact, built the first mills in New England.

My own ancestry reflects further exceptions: one of my ancestors was from southeastern England, a little further south of the majority of Massachusetts Bay colonists, and another direct ancestor came from a suburb of London. However, religion, more than geography, united the colonists of Massachusetts. Most of them were Puritans, and even the settlers of Rowley had been members of a Puritan church in a part of England where Puritans had been less common than in the part of East Anglia where most of the New England colonists came from. Similarly, my own ancestors, though not from the expected region of England, show up in colonial records as members in good standing of the Congregational church that developed out of the Puritan rule. (Although one of my second generation New England ancestors was punished for 1Cconsorting with Baptists. 1D)

Similarly, each other colony 19s history is that of people whose majority tended to come from certain counties in Britain, certain classes of the social order, and certain religions. Virginia, where I now dwell, was settled by people from the southwestern counties of England, both gentlemen (or cavaliers, as they were called) and, eventually, the less than desirable class, including pickpockets and prostitutes. Most of the gentlemen were second sons who did not expect to inherit anything from their wealthy fathers who were entitled and expected under British law to leave their estates entirety to their eldest sons. Nominally adherents of the Church of England (nowadays called Episcopal in the United States), the settlers of Virginia tended to be far less religious than the colonists in Massachusetts who arrived with the intention of establishing a spiritual utopia. However, to all of these people, the New World promised great danger but also a chance of success and relative liberty that was almost impossible back in England.

In each colony, different groups of people arrived in successive waves, each with a different point of arrival in terms both of geography and calendar date. The older settlers often looked down on the newcomers but to varying degrees, and newcomers who had to pass through the cities and towns of earlier settlers tended to continue on to new territories that were as yet less settled. So it was that the last group of settlers to arrive before the American Revolution 14the people from northern England, southern Scotland, and northern Ireland, whom Fischer calls 1CBorderers 1D because they came from border areas within the British Isles 14were regarded as very low indeed by the established American colonists. These newcomers pushed west to the frontiers of several states, including Pennsylvania, where they later participated in the Whiskey Rebellion that President George Washington personally put down at the head of the nation 19s newly minted professional army. Of course, Washington had a personal bone to pick with Borderers because they often squatted on lands that were already legally claimed by wealthy landowners including Washington himself.

This is a very long book. It might please most American readers to read those chapters that deal with their own ancestors, if they are of English or Scots ancestry, or with the region where they happen to live if they are Easterners. But other readers might enjoy this book, too, if they are interested enough in the nitty-gritty of American history to enjoy a well written account of how colonial America was settled by different groups with different backgrounds and intentions, and how these differences determined the various characters of the colonies and perhaps contributed to the diversity of temperament and ethos enjoyed today by the different states that these colonies became. ( )

I had been meaning to read this through for years and I finally made it. Nearly 1000 pages of detailed, documented and entertaining history. Surprisingly easy to read, and exceptionally eye opening. If you want to understand the United States today, read this book about it's beginnings. My only minor ding is that the conclusion got a bit redundant, I have a feeling the author wrote it that way because he felt lots of folks would skip to it rather than wade into the depths. Take the wade - it's worth it. ( )

Longer review coming. Capsule review right now since I'm about 3 steps from the door.

As other mentions, a lack of a narrative makes this more a reference than a book to be read straight through, but worth doing just that so you know what's in it. And the richness and breadth of that information does not disappoint. Worth read for the fascinating analysis of US presidential elections at the end viewed through the regional cultural lens alone.

If you like history or culture or want to understand the roots of todays political landscape -- both literal and figurative -- read this.

If this book had any sort of narrative I would have given it a 5. ( )

A couple years ago I read "American Nations" by Colin Woodard, about eleven persistent cultural blocks that constitute the United States of America. I loved it! There was an earlier work that informed Woodard's research and narrative—this book! Fischer's book is more targeted than Woodards; as the subtitle articulates, Fischer describes the ways in which the Puritans, the Cavaliers, the Quakers, and the Borderlanders each traveled from England to popularize iconic "American" (Brittish) cultures.

The book is a fascinating and thorough anthropological review, spanning speech, building, family, marriage, gender, sex, children, naming, age, death, religion, magic, learning, food, dress, sport, work, time, wealth, rank, social, order, power, and freedom.

There were a number of notable customs:

Puritans had a tradition, during courtship, of the "bundling sock" (a wrapping for the woman's lower half) which would allow a couple to sleep together, while ensuring their chastity.

For the Cavaliers, class was of utmost importance. There was zero social mobility, to the degree that government was composed of exclusively aristocracy for hundreds of years after the establishment of the Virginia Colony and surrounding areas.

In Quaker communities, during the two weeks following marriage, a couple received visitors. In the period which followed, they could either return the visit, confirming the relationship, or not return the visit, annulling the relationship.

In Borderlander country, there were two ways of getting married—either the woman was stolen by the man with her consent (but without the consent of her family), or without her consent (or the consent of the families). Many marriage games of this region play with this dynamic.

It is also fascinating to hear that so many words which we think of as iconically American are actually 17th Century Brittish.

The book also speaks about the influence of these cultures on politics. Almost every American president has descended from one of these four cultural blocks.

In summary, if you're interested in learning more about one reason why there is so much cultural heterogeneity in the United States, and more about the historic influence of the United Kingdom on these cultures, you will find this book a rewarding read. If you're looking for something a little shorter, broader, and more approachable, you might try Woodard's "American Nations" instead. ( )