Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America (America: a cultural history) (VOLUME I)
ISBN-13: 978-0195037944, ISBN-10: 0195037944
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Customers find the book fascinating, educational, and useful as a reference. They describe it as a worthwhile, enjoyable, and informative read. Readers praise the writing style as eloquent and detailed. They also mention the insights are eye-opening and have given them perspective on current national affairs.
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Customers find the book fascinating, well-researched, and useful as a reference. They appreciate the lessons about etymology and folkways. Readers also mention the author has made some very plausible arguments about America's origins. In addition, they say it's the best place to start learning about America and what has made us great.
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"...author uses Andrew Jackson as the archetype for this culture: proud, principled, hardworking, and physically aggressive...." Read more
"...Albion's Seed was a delight to read, filled with quaint, instructive, and amusing anecdotes that reflect folkways that endure today...." Read more
"...David Fischer's book is indeed a scholarly and masterful work on this very important subject in American History...." Read more
"...Like others here I found it most useful as a reference book...." Read more
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Customers find the book great, enjoyable, and informative. They say it's well worth the time and an expanded follow-up to American Nations. Readers also mention the book keeps them interested the entire time with constant aha moments.
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"...Albion's Seed was a delight to read, filled with quaint, instructive, and amusing anecdotes that reflect folkways that endure today...." Read more
"...and take very little away from the presentation and value of this most helpful book." Read more
"...The author has tackled his task well and the result is a very readable book...." Read more
"...aspect of the book is that though it is 900 pages of text, it never got boring to me...." Read more
49Customers mention
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Customers find the book readable, eloquent, and easy to absorb. They appreciate the detailed, well-researched, and documented social history. Readers mention the book is filled with quaint, instructive, and amusing information.
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"...It is remarkable to read just how unique each of these "great migrations" were and how they have left an indelible cultural imprint on those..." Read more
"...Albion's Seed was a delight to read, filled with quaint, instructive, and amusing anecdotes that reflect folkways that endure today...." Read more
"...David Fischer's book is indeed a scholarly and masterful work on this very important subject in American History...." Read more
"...Although it is the size of a small car, it is well written and quite engrossing. Its imposing 900+ pages should not put off the reader...." Read more
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Customers find the book fascinating, eye-opening, and full of insights. They say it provides much perspective on current national affairs. Readers also mention the book is revealing, comprehensive, and engaging.
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"...Although it is the size of a small car, it is well written and quite engrossing. Its imposing 900+ pages should not put off the reader...." Read more
"...Is fascinating in all that it teaches us about 17th and 18th century Anglo-American "popular culture", i.e. how people..." Read more
"...seem controversial but this one is well researched, apolitical and fascinating. The section on Puritans, New England I thought fascinating...." Read more
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Customers find the book's maps, illustrations, and charts to be excellent.
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"...He has filled the pages with charts and graphs and unlike many social histories I have read, filled its pages with fascinating stories of folk..." Read more
"...note I would make to those interested in it, the book contains numerous charts and maps, which are viewed best on either a large tablet or computer,..." Read more
"...On a book like this the maps and tables are important...." Read more
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Customers have mixed opinions about the pacing of the book. Some mention the effort is well-rewarded, while others say it's not as compelling as they would have hoped.
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"..."Albion's Seed" made me feel more enlightened, yes, but it was hardly invigorating in the same way as Fischer's "Washington's Crossing" or "Paul..." Read more
"...Jackson as the archetype for this culture: proud, principled, hardworking, and physically aggressive...." Read more
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Top reviews from the United States
5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Re-discovering modern America
Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2012
David Hackett Fischer's "Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America" is a stunning academic achievement. Each of the four folkways described by the author are book length and authoritative. It is remarkable to read just how unique each of these...
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David Hackett Fischer's "Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America" is a stunning academic achievement. Each of the four folkways described by the author are book length and authoritative. It is remarkable to read just how unique each of these "great migrations" were and how they have left an indelible cultural imprint on those geographic areas long after the original inhabitants faded into oblivion (when's the last time you've seen a Puritan in Boston or a Quaker in Philadelphia?). Fischer explores each migration in great detail, comparing and contrasting a variety of "ways" that defined their cultures: wealth, elites, sex, sports, architecture, religion, speech, family, aging, death, child-rearing, naming conventions, food, work, supernatural beliefs, philosophy and so on.
The author begins with the Puritans, the vast majority of whom emigrated from the East Anglia region of England, who settled New England from 1629 to 1641. The special features of the Puritan experience, according to Fischer, included a relatively salubrious climate; the immigrants tended to be older and middle class (few poor or aristocrats); wealth distribution remained even (top 10% only owned 20% of property); age was revered over material possessions or social status; literacy and education were highly prized; while "order" and "liberty" were an obsession, although not how we would think of those terms in a modern sense (mostly collective and community restraints on conduct ensuring the ability to live a truly Puritan lifestyle, a sort of fundamentalist Christian society that Al Qaeda would likely approve of).
The cavaliers who settled Virginia in the second great migration from 1642 to 1675 were quite distinct from the Puritans - and in many ways, Fischer writes. The author presents Virginia governor Sir William Berkeley, who served for 35-years, as the embodiment of the cavalier gentleman, just as Puritan leader John Winthrop represented the Puritan culture of New England. What made the Virginia cavaliers unique were that they tended to come from southern England; most were younger sons (and thus disinherited because of primogeniture) of wealthy families who hailed from a hierarchical society of "deep and pervasive inequalities"; nearly three-quarters of the immigrants were servants from the lower class while the top 10% owned 75% of the region's productive assets; they were overwhelmingly Anglican in their religion and passionately so; most lived in rural and widely distributed communities unlike the compact New England Puritan town; families were large, extended and intermingled unlike the Puritan nuclear family; it was a society that honored rank and wealth and seniority, not simply age; there was a cultural focus on "hegemonic liberty" or "dominion over oneself", an ethos that was deeply embedded in the Tidewater and produced sterling examples over the centuries, from George Washington to Robert E. Lee to George Marshall. In one of the author's many keen insights, he writes that "Slavery did not create the culture of Tidewater Virginia; that culture created slavery."
If the Puritans had John Winthrop and the cavaliers William Berkeley, the Quakers, representing the third great migration, who settled the mid-Atlantic region from 1675 to 1725, had William Penn as the embodiment of their migration and culture. The Quakers were generally of humble origin, hailing from the midlands of northern England, many of whom had suffered serious persecution for their beliefs and thus saw the New World in religious terms similar to the Puritans but unlike the cavaliers. The Quaker sense of family extended exclusively to all co-religionists ("Friends"), not just a nuclear or extended family; they enjoyed the closest equality between the sexes of any migration and were much more indulgent toward their children; the aged were not venerated (the Puritans) and neither were patriarchs (the cavaliers), but rather were treated as community mentors, but only if "deserving"; death was welcomed as a fulfillment of life, not something to be feared as by the Puritans and cavaliers; both black magic and higher learning were generally eschewed in Quaker society; sports were almost universally condemned, whereas the Puritans loved their ball games and the cavaliers their horse races; Quakers sought to "redeem" time, rather than "improving" it (Puritan) or "killing" it (cavalier); wealth distribution was even like the Puritans (top 10% owned 25% of productive assets) while social rank and hierarchy were abhorred; if the cavaliers adhered to "hegemonic liberty," Quakers remained faithful to the "inner light," a belief that everyone, man or woman, were capable of embracing Jesus' love and grace.
Unlike the other three great cultural migrations, the backcountry migration flowing from Scotland and Ireland (1717 to 1775) were not looking for religious freedom, although they mostly shared the Presbyterian faith. They were the first American migration focused mainly on finding a better, more prosperous life in the New World. The main theme of this culture, according to Fischer, is violence, which was a product of the British borderlands from whence they came. The author uses Andrew Jackson as the archetype for this culture: proud, principled, hardworking, and physically aggressive. These migrants, who settled the early mid-west, were overwhelmingly poor, but had their own version of the "elite," where local leaders depended on charisma, loyalty, influence, and all too often physical force. Fischer stresses the importance of the warrior culture and the centrality of violence in the backcountry folkway. His section on backcountry "sport ways" is especially fascinating. Wrestling and fistfights, for example, were main events, including "rough & tumble" brawls that allowed biting and eye-gouging. The backcountry was among the most unequal in terms of wealth distribution (top 10% held from 40-80% of productive assets), yet there was a social system that called for the equality of esteem, no matter one's wealth, a need to be recognized as an equal, which may help explain the prevailing system of lex talionis (rule of retribution). This was the culture, after all, that produced the Hatfields and the McCoys.
There are several themes that emerged from this weighty tome: America has been fundamentally shaped by the voluntary nature of the great migrations that populated her regions (unlike the compulsory and centralized migrations engineered for New France and New Spain); slavery developed very slowly in America and was generated by the unique transplanted cultures that grew there, not the other way around; the regional differences in the United States are often more dramatic than between countries in Europe (e.g. the wealth disparity between New England the South in the late 1800s was similar to the difference between Germany and Russia in the same time period); the four folkways had some things in common, but generally speaking they were all antagonistic to one another, which was all too evident from the American Revolution to the present day; these regional differences have often led to omnibus strategies for electing presidents, an attempt to find a candidate who appeals to at least two of the traditional folkways, such as Harrison (1840), Taylor (1848), Pierce (1852), Eisenhower (1952) and Bush (1988).
All told, this book is an eye-opening education. It runs nearly 1,000 pages in length and can be daunting at times; however, the insights and erudition Fischer delivers are worth the effort.
The author begins with the Puritans, the vast majority of whom emigrated from the East Anglia region of England, who settled New England from 1629 to 1641. The special features of the Puritan experience, according to Fischer, included a relatively salubrious climate; the immigrants tended to be older and middle class (few poor or aristocrats); wealth distribution remained even (top 10% only owned 20% of property); age was revered over material possessions or social status; literacy and education were highly prized; while "order" and "liberty" were an obsession, although not how we would think of those terms in a modern sense (mostly collective and community restraints on conduct ensuring the ability to live a truly Puritan lifestyle, a sort of fundamentalist Christian society that Al Qaeda would likely approve of).
The cavaliers who settled Virginia in the second great migration from 1642 to 1675 were quite distinct from the Puritans - and in many ways, Fischer writes. The author presents Virginia governor Sir William Berkeley, who served for 35-years, as the embodiment of the cavalier gentleman, just as Puritan leader John Winthrop represented the Puritan culture of New England. What made the Virginia cavaliers unique were that they tended to come from southern England; most were younger sons (and thus disinherited because of primogeniture) of wealthy families who hailed from a hierarchical society of "deep and pervasive inequalities"; nearly three-quarters of the immigrants were servants from the lower class while the top 10% owned 75% of the region's productive assets; they were overwhelmingly Anglican in their religion and passionately so; most lived in rural and widely distributed communities unlike the compact New England Puritan town; families were large, extended and intermingled unlike the Puritan nuclear family; it was a society that honored rank and wealth and seniority, not simply age; there was a cultural focus on "hegemonic liberty" or "dominion over oneself", an ethos that was deeply embedded in the Tidewater and produced sterling examples over the centuries, from George Washington to Robert E. Lee to George Marshall. In one of the author's many keen insights, he writes that "Slavery did not create the culture of Tidewater Virginia; that culture created slavery."
If the Puritans had John Winthrop and the cavaliers William Berkeley, the Quakers, representing the third great migration, who settled the mid-Atlantic region from 1675 to 1725, had William Penn as the embodiment of their migration and culture. The Quakers were generally of humble origin, hailing from the midlands of northern England, many of whom had suffered serious persecution for their beliefs and thus saw the New World in religious terms similar to the Puritans but unlike the cavaliers. The Quaker sense of family extended exclusively to all co-religionists ("Friends"), not just a nuclear or extended family; they enjoyed the closest equality between the sexes of any migration and were much more indulgent toward their children; the aged were not venerated (the Puritans) and neither were patriarchs (the cavaliers), but rather were treated as community mentors, but only if "deserving"; death was welcomed as a fulfillment of life, not something to be feared as by the Puritans and cavaliers; both black magic and higher learning were generally eschewed in Quaker society; sports were almost universally condemned, whereas the Puritans loved their ball games and the cavaliers their horse races; Quakers sought to "redeem" time, rather than "improving" it (Puritan) or "killing" it (cavalier); wealth distribution was even like the Puritans (top 10% owned 25% of productive assets) while social rank and hierarchy were abhorred; if the cavaliers adhered to "hegemonic liberty," Quakers remained faithful to the "inner light," a belief that everyone, man or woman, were capable of embracing Jesus' love and grace.
Unlike the other three great cultural migrations, the backcountry migration flowing from Scotland and Ireland (1717 to 1775) were not looking for religious freedom, although they mostly shared the Presbyterian faith. They were the first American migration focused mainly on finding a better, more prosperous life in the New World. The main theme of this culture, according to Fischer, is violence, which was a product of the British borderlands from whence they came. The author uses Andrew Jackson as the archetype for this culture: proud, principled, hardworking, and physically aggressive. These migrants, who settled the early mid-west, were overwhelmingly poor, but had their own version of the "elite," where local leaders depended on charisma, loyalty, influence, and all too often physical force. Fischer stresses the importance of the warrior culture and the centrality of violence in the backcountry folkway. His section on backcountry "sport ways" is especially fascinating. Wrestling and fistfights, for example, were main events, including "rough & tumble" brawls that allowed biting and eye-gouging. The backcountry was among the most unequal in terms of wealth distribution (top 10% held from 40-80% of productive assets), yet there was a social system that called for the equality of esteem, no matter one's wealth, a need to be recognized as an equal, which may help explain the prevailing system of lex talionis (rule of retribution). This was the culture, after all, that produced the Hatfields and the McCoys.
There are several themes that emerged from this weighty tome: America has been fundamentally shaped by the voluntary nature of the great migrations that populated her regions (unlike the compulsory and centralized migrations engineered for New France and New Spain); slavery developed very slowly in America and was generated by the unique transplanted cultures that grew there, not the other way around; the regional differences in the United States are often more dramatic than between countries in Europe (e.g. the wealth disparity between New England the South in the late 1800s was similar to the difference between Germany and Russia in the same time period); the four folkways had some things in common, but generally speaking they were all antagonistic to one another, which was all too evident from the American Revolution to the present day; these regional differences have often led to omnibus strategies for electing presidents, an attempt to find a candidate who appeals to at least two of the traditional folkways, such as Harrison (1840), Taylor (1848), Pierce (1852), Eisenhower (1952) and Bush (1988).
All told, this book is an eye-opening education. It runs nearly 1,000 pages in length and can be daunting at times; however, the insights and erudition Fischer delivers are worth the effort.
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5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Four Themes in Anglo-American Culture
Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2005
Albion's Seed by Brandeis University History Professor David Hackett Fischer is the history of the four main regional migrations from Britain to North America in the 17th and 18th centuries. Professor Fischer examines each of these four migrations in great detail,...
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Albion's Seed by Brandeis University History Professor David Hackett Fischer is the history of the four main regional migrations from Britain to North America in the 17th and 18th centuries. Professor Fischer examines each of these four migrations in great detail, describing the origin, motivations, religion, timing, and numerous cultural attitudes or folkways for dealing with everyday life, including birth, child rearing, marriage, age, death, order, speech, architecture, dress, food, wealth, and time, to cite only a few. He devotes special attention to the different concepts of liberty and freedom held by each of these four British cultural groups.
The first major wave consisted predominantly of the Puritans from East Anglia who settled in New England between 1629 and 1640, the years immediately preceding the English Civil War in which Oliver Cromwell and the Puritan army defeated and beheaded King Charles I.
The second wave consisted of defeated (or soon to be defeated) supporters of the king and the Established (Anglican) Church of England, primarily from the south and west of England, who settled in the Chesapeake Bay regions of Virginia and Maryland between 1642 and 1675.
The third wave was the migration of Quakers from the English midlands (and their religious kin from various German sects) who settled in the Delaware Valley (southeast Pennsylvania, west New Jersey, north Delaware) between 1675 and 1715.
Finally, the "Scotch-Irish", referring collectively to immigrants from the north of England, lowland Scotland, and Ulster, settled the Appalachian backcountry from Pennsylvania southwest through Virginia, the Carolinas, and into Tennessee and Kentucky from 1717 to 1775. Less homogenous in religion than the prior waves, the Scotch-Irish were a mixture of Presbyterians, the dominant group, and Anglicans, a significant minority.
Each of these four folk established an amazingly enduring culture in their region, a culture that successfully incorporated later immigrants from other origins who shared little or none of the dominant folkway that had become established in their new home. Their contrasting concepts of liberty are among the most visible today. The Puritan concept of liberty, "ordered liberty" in Fischer's terminology, focused on the "freedom" to conform to the policies of the Puritan Church and local government. The Virginia concept of liberty, "hegemonic liberty", was hierarchical in nature, ranging from the great freedom of those in positions of power and wealth down to the total lack of freedom accorded to slaves. The Quaker concept of liberty, "reciprocal liberty", focused on the aspects of freedom that were held equally by all people as opposed to the unequal and asymmetric freedoms of the Puritans and Virginians. Finally, the Scotch-Irish concept of liberty, "natural liberty", focused on the natural rights of the individual and his freedom from government coercion.
Albion's Seed was a delight to read, filled with quaint, instructive, and amusing anecdotes that reflect folkways that endure today. It should be equally appealing to those interested in defining and contrasting the cultural histories of different groups, the process and cultural impact of human migrations, the foundations of the Anglo-American world, and the different roots of the concept of liberty.
The first major wave consisted predominantly of the Puritans from East Anglia who settled in New England between 1629 and 1640, the years immediately preceding the English Civil War in which Oliver Cromwell and the Puritan army defeated and beheaded King Charles I.
The second wave consisted of defeated (or soon to be defeated) supporters of the king and the Established (Anglican) Church of England, primarily from the south and west of England, who settled in the Chesapeake Bay regions of Virginia and Maryland between 1642 and 1675.
The third wave was the migration of Quakers from the English midlands (and their religious kin from various German sects) who settled in the Delaware Valley (southeast Pennsylvania, west New Jersey, north Delaware) between 1675 and 1715.
Finally, the "Scotch-Irish", referring collectively to immigrants from the north of England, lowland Scotland, and Ulster, settled the Appalachian backcountry from Pennsylvania southwest through Virginia, the Carolinas, and into Tennessee and Kentucky from 1717 to 1775. Less homogenous in religion than the prior waves, the Scotch-Irish were a mixture of Presbyterians, the dominant group, and Anglicans, a significant minority.
Each of these four folk established an amazingly enduring culture in their region, a culture that successfully incorporated later immigrants from other origins who shared little or none of the dominant folkway that had become established in their new home. Their contrasting concepts of liberty are among the most visible today. The Puritan concept of liberty, "ordered liberty" in Fischer's terminology, focused on the "freedom" to conform to the policies of the Puritan Church and local government. The Virginia concept of liberty, "hegemonic liberty", was hierarchical in nature, ranging from the great freedom of those in positions of power and wealth down to the total lack of freedom accorded to slaves. The Quaker concept of liberty, "reciprocal liberty", focused on the aspects of freedom that were held equally by all people as opposed to the unequal and asymmetric freedoms of the Puritans and Virginians. Finally, the Scotch-Irish concept of liberty, "natural liberty", focused on the natural rights of the individual and his freedom from government coercion.
Albion's Seed was a delight to read, filled with quaint, instructive, and amusing anecdotes that reflect folkways that endure today. It should be equally appealing to those interested in defining and contrasting the cultural histories of different groups, the process and cultural impact of human migrations, the foundations of the Anglo-American world, and the different roots of the concept of liberty.
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5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
British Folkways and migration
Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2008
This book looks at the ethnic origins, customs and traditions of America's British immigrants to North America from the early 17th Century to the late 18th Century. The author breaks down this migration in a set of four major immigrations and four different ethnic and...
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This book looks at the ethnic origins, customs and traditions of America's British immigrants to North America from the early 17th Century to the late 18th Century. The author breaks down this migration in a set of four major immigrations and four different ethnic and social cultures. The four being; 1. East Anglia to Massachusetts: The exodus of the English Puritans, 2. The South of England to Virginia: Cavaliers and Indentured Servants, 3. North Midlands to the Delaware: The Friends Migration, and 4. Borderlands to the Backcountry: The flight from North Britain. While all of these immigrants came from Great Britain they were socially and culturally distant.
When I began reading this book, I thought that I might just skim through it as I do with many of my books of the same subject, picking through it to find the meaty substance of which I deemed of importance or interest. The book itself being 900 pages I thought it too Herculean a task with my limited time and extensive schedule, only to soon realize that I had a work of art in my hands. The author has taken great pains to put into this book such details and facts into the immigration of British peoples to this country that I do think it the definite work on this subject. He has filled the pages with charts and graphs and unlike many social histories I have read, filled its pages with fascinating stories of folk ways.
I can truly identify with this book as it outlines the major differences in these remarkable peoples ways. He includes each chapter with such mini-chapter subjects as: Speech ways, Family ways, Child rearing ways, Naming ways, Religious ways, Learning ways,
Dress ways, Social ways, Wealth ways, Rank ways etc. etc. giving the reader a way to compare the contrast between, New England, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the backcountry settlements of North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
The author takes special notice to outline the differences between the Puritans, Quakers, Anglicans and Presbyterians if one wishes to put a religious label on the settlers from New England to the Carolina's and their speech patterns or linguistics leaving nothing untouched. Mr. Fischer takes note of the difference in dress, and sexual practices as well. I praise the author for his deep look at the Social rank status structures of the four groups and his continued comparison of their differences, from Puritan & Quaker attempted equality to Virginia's major contrast between the wealthy members of the gentry and its oligarchy structure to its impoverished indentured servants and finally the equally poor across the board North Britons.
I conclude by saying that I truly can find no shortcomings whatsoever in this book. Whenever I read a book on a history topic I normally need to buy two or three of a similar or more in depth study of the subject. For this book there is no need to purchase any more detailed studies on these various cultures. David Fischer's book is indeed a scholarly and masterful work on this very important subject in American History. I would truly recommend this book to anyone interested in American History for this is the definite work on this topic.
Evan Ellis
When I began reading this book, I thought that I might just skim through it as I do with many of my books of the same subject, picking through it to find the meaty substance of which I deemed of importance or interest. The book itself being 900 pages I thought it too Herculean a task with my limited time and extensive schedule, only to soon realize that I had a work of art in my hands. The author has taken great pains to put into this book such details and facts into the immigration of British peoples to this country that I do think it the definite work on this subject. He has filled the pages with charts and graphs and unlike many social histories I have read, filled its pages with fascinating stories of folk ways.
I can truly identify with this book as it outlines the major differences in these remarkable peoples ways. He includes each chapter with such mini-chapter subjects as: Speech ways, Family ways, Child rearing ways, Naming ways, Religious ways, Learning ways,
Dress ways, Social ways, Wealth ways, Rank ways etc. etc. giving the reader a way to compare the contrast between, New England, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the backcountry settlements of North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
The author takes special notice to outline the differences between the Puritans, Quakers, Anglicans and Presbyterians if one wishes to put a religious label on the settlers from New England to the Carolina's and their speech patterns or linguistics leaving nothing untouched. Mr. Fischer takes note of the difference in dress, and sexual practices as well. I praise the author for his deep look at the Social rank status structures of the four groups and his continued comparison of their differences, from Puritan & Quaker attempted equality to Virginia's major contrast between the wealthy members of the gentry and its oligarchy structure to its impoverished indentured servants and finally the equally poor across the board North Britons.
I conclude by saying that I truly can find no shortcomings whatsoever in this book. Whenever I read a book on a history topic I normally need to buy two or three of a similar or more in depth study of the subject. For this book there is no need to purchase any more detailed studies on these various cultures. David Fischer's book is indeed a scholarly and masterful work on this very important subject in American History. I would truly recommend this book to anyone interested in American History for this is the definite work on this topic.
Evan Ellis
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4.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Like others here I found it most useful as a ...
Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2015
Fischer's book is a mile stone in understanding the history of the English, and surrounding cultures, settlement in America. Although it is the size of a small car, it is well written and quite engrossing. Its imposing 900+ pages should not put off the reader. Like...
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Fischer's book is a mile stone in understanding the history of the English, and surrounding cultures, settlement in America. Although it is the size of a small car, it is well written and quite engrossing. Its imposing 900+ pages should not put off the reader. Like others here I found it most useful as a reference book. Pick an area or subject and you can zero in on exactly what piqued your interest that day. Of course you can start at page one and carry on, but then you would be superman. Like all his work, well research and well presented. Anyone interested in the differing attitudes and personalities that created our country should find this a valuable tool. Combined with Colin Woodard's book, American Nations, it is perhaps the best explanation of who we were and how we became who we are today.
However, it is not without an issue or two, as noted by other reviewers.
My specific issue is within the section "Borderlands to the Backcountry" and the authors continued references to the "Scotch -Irish" . Fischer makes it clear the settlers of the American "Backcountry", in this case, Appalachia, were residents and descendants of the North England Borderlands. These people, known for their massive brutality and religious fervor, held the territory between England and Scotland for hundreds of years creating a society based on theft, war and murder.
Long a law unto themselves, they were constantly at odds with both Scotish and English rule, although happy enough to join one or the other for battle if the price were right. When James I came to power, he moved to "pacify" the area with all the brutality that describes. He succeeded and the result was, many, many thousands of these people were transported to Ireland to become the "Planters" of Ireland. All this is well laid out in Fischer's book as well as others. Fischer continues the saga with the "Scots and "Ulster Scots" moving on to America in the 18th century and tells the story of the many, famous, descendants of those people.
The problem occurs when he falls into the popular vernacular of referring to these people as "Scotch-Irish" and even referring to some of the early 18th century immigrants from these clans as "Irish". Unfortunately, history has shown us the people moved from the Scotish Lowlands to become Planters in Ireland truly hated the Irish to their core. There was virtually zero mixing of the two peoples. When the descendant of those original Planters came to America, they considered themselves Scots or English, but never the hated Irish. The Irish, at that time, were forbidden from emigrating anywhere and when they finally did, it was more into the New England areas. Their religion, Catholicism, limited the areas they could settle and they certainly were not welcome in the militant Presbyterians of the Backcounty Lowland Scots.
So, gentle reader, when studying this excellent work, please note the authors reference to to Scots-Irish has little to nothing to do with the Irish and everything to do with Lowland Scots, also known as Border Reiviers, perhaps the most violent and fundamentalist of the groups settling our country.
But not Irish.
However, it is not without an issue or two, as noted by other reviewers.
My specific issue is within the section "Borderlands to the Backcountry" and the authors continued references to the "Scotch -Irish" . Fischer makes it clear the settlers of the American "Backcountry", in this case, Appalachia, were residents and descendants of the North England Borderlands. These people, known for their massive brutality and religious fervor, held the territory between England and Scotland for hundreds of years creating a society based on theft, war and murder.
Long a law unto themselves, they were constantly at odds with both Scotish and English rule, although happy enough to join one or the other for battle if the price were right. When James I came to power, he moved to "pacify" the area with all the brutality that describes. He succeeded and the result was, many, many thousands of these people were transported to Ireland to become the "Planters" of Ireland. All this is well laid out in Fischer's book as well as others. Fischer continues the saga with the "Scots and "Ulster Scots" moving on to America in the 18th century and tells the story of the many, famous, descendants of those people.
The problem occurs when he falls into the popular vernacular of referring to these people as "Scotch-Irish" and even referring to some of the early 18th century immigrants from these clans as "Irish". Unfortunately, history has shown us the people moved from the Scotish Lowlands to become Planters in Ireland truly hated the Irish to their core. There was virtually zero mixing of the two peoples. When the descendant of those original Planters came to America, they considered themselves Scots or English, but never the hated Irish. The Irish, at that time, were forbidden from emigrating anywhere and when they finally did, it was more into the New England areas. Their religion, Catholicism, limited the areas they could settle and they certainly were not welcome in the militant Presbyterians of the Backcounty Lowland Scots.
So, gentle reader, when studying this excellent work, please note the authors reference to to Scots-Irish has little to nothing to do with the Irish and everything to do with Lowland Scots, also known as Border Reiviers, perhaps the most violent and fundamentalist of the groups settling our country.
But not Irish.
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5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
What makes America great?
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2010
I'm not a history major - I'm just a seasoned business manager confused and frustrated by the evident and 'in-your-face' social and governmental destruction of our American culture and our historically successful way of life. We have become so conflicted as...
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I'm not a history major - I'm just a seasoned business manager confused and frustrated by the evident and 'in-your-face' social and governmental destruction of our American culture and our historically successful way of life. We have become so conflicted as a people in recent years - we have become so divided in our politics and in our views of government. On the one hand we have the traditionalists (that would include me) who were raised with Christian and traditional American philosophies and principles, and on the other hand we have the lawless progressives and socialists in our society who rely on unmitigated power and control of people.
In 2010 we find ourselves immersed in a great cultural and legal war that will decide whether the America of our Founding Fathers will succeed, or whether we will become just another failed socialist state. A lot of how this is decided will depend on we the people, and on how we respond to the corruption and destruction that is occurring from within our own country. Our enemy today is from within.
We have by now had several generations of progressive and socialist government schooling in America which has very effectively dumbed us down and has successfully destroyed the real America in many of our young people. How do we combat this destruction from within? We go back to school, only this time we go to our own school.
"Albion's Seed," as an important history of our American cultural roots, should be a required part of our re-schooling in the truth about America. I believe America is different from other countries in the world. I believe America has done more to promote individual freedom and opportunities for ourselves and other nations than any other country on the face of the planet. But why are we different, and why are we this way?
Albion's Seed includes our beginning story in great detail and with great insight. We are a funky country, developed later in colonization of the new world. Our people were influenced by the 'Great Awakening' and the 'Age of Enlightenment' and we fled the oppression of Europe. We were a religious people and we were an industrious people. As colonists, we were governed by England in a manner of benign neglect, and we learned self sufficiency and self government. Some of us came as craftsmen, some as indentured servants, some as slaves. We all came expecting that we could become land owners and free people - we were rejecting the social, religious, and economic limitations of Europe. Our early immigrant fathers were primarily English, Irish, and Scots, but later included German, French, Dutch, Africans, and more. We all became Americans.
This book is the first of a series of three by David Hackett Fischer, and is the best place to start learning about America and what has made us great as a people. If you know our roots, you will know what we stand for and what we believe in, and in light of this knowledge, the socialists and progressives won't have a chance at ruining us as a people. We will survive and thrive once again. As Americans.
Buy the book. Learn from it. Grow out of our government schooling dumbed down education and be alive once again.
In 2010 we find ourselves immersed in a great cultural and legal war that will decide whether the America of our Founding Fathers will succeed, or whether we will become just another failed socialist state. A lot of how this is decided will depend on we the people, and on how we respond to the corruption and destruction that is occurring from within our own country. Our enemy today is from within.
We have by now had several generations of progressive and socialist government schooling in America which has very effectively dumbed us down and has successfully destroyed the real America in many of our young people. How do we combat this destruction from within? We go back to school, only this time we go to our own school.
"Albion's Seed," as an important history of our American cultural roots, should be a required part of our re-schooling in the truth about America. I believe America is different from other countries in the world. I believe America has done more to promote individual freedom and opportunities for ourselves and other nations than any other country on the face of the planet. But why are we different, and why are we this way?
Albion's Seed includes our beginning story in great detail and with great insight. We are a funky country, developed later in colonization of the new world. Our people were influenced by the 'Great Awakening' and the 'Age of Enlightenment' and we fled the oppression of Europe. We were a religious people and we were an industrious people. As colonists, we were governed by England in a manner of benign neglect, and we learned self sufficiency and self government. Some of us came as craftsmen, some as indentured servants, some as slaves. We all came expecting that we could become land owners and free people - we were rejecting the social, religious, and economic limitations of Europe. Our early immigrant fathers were primarily English, Irish, and Scots, but later included German, French, Dutch, Africans, and more. We all became Americans.
This book is the first of a series of three by David Hackett Fischer, and is the best place to start learning about America and what has made us great as a people. If you know our roots, you will know what we stand for and what we believe in, and in light of this knowledge, the socialists and progressives won't have a chance at ruining us as a people. We will survive and thrive once again. As Americans.
Buy the book. Learn from it. Grow out of our government schooling dumbed down education and be alive once again.
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5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Cultural history says it all
Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2006
First, let it be said that I am not American, but European (Belgian in fact) and that I never lived in the US, but visited places like Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and California and already read many books on American history before this one. But " Albion's...
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First, let it be said that I am not American, but European (Belgian in fact) and that I never lived in the US, but visited places like Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and California and already read many books on American history before this one. But " Albion's seed" was a revelation to me. This book:
1) Is fascinating in all that it teaches us about 17th and 18th century Anglo-American "popular culture", i.e. how people thought and led their spiritual, social and material lives, as well as the roots of this culture in the Middle Ages.
2) Answered all of my basic questions on the continuity between America and its English past.
3) Throws a very interesting light on American history and culture up to this day.
The argument developed in "Albion's seed" is that American culture is based on four strands of English regional cultures that pursued a life of their own once they found a home across the Atlantic.
It is also that their interactions explain most major events of US history since the revolution. These cultures are still very much alive in the United States, according to David Hackett Fischer, although they did not remain static and were nourished by the subsequent waves of migration from Europe and elsewhere.
The coexistence of those four cultures explains the main regional differences in the US including voting patterns in presidential elections.
The developments from 1776 to 1989 (publication date of "Albion's seed") are the subject of the last 100 pages of this huge book. But the first 800 are devoted to present one by one, these very important " four British folkways" in all their aspects, with an immense wealth of detail.
The main themes developed by the author are as follows:
a) First of all the four migrations were regional both in their origin and destinations:
1) East Anglia to Massachusetts
2) Southwest England to Virginia
3) The English North Midlands to Pennsylvania
4) The English-Scottish border area to the Appalachia and the Southern Backcountry
b) The movements happened at different times. The first two occurred before 1688 and the last two after that date, up to the 1770's. They were each the product of periods of economic, political or religious troubles in England that convinced their "victims" to leave the Mother Country in large numbers and seek a better life elsewhere.
c) Their religion and social origins were also very distinct.
A propertied Puritan middle class from East Anglia settled in Massachusetts to escape the poor and the Nobility. Anglican second sons of the Gentry went from Southwest England to Virginia and recreated large estates to be worked by a proletarian underclass (who, because of the climate, they imported mostly from Africa). Northern Quaker Artisans and Shopkeepers tried to create an egalitarian utopia in Pennsylvania and Delaware. The poor border farmers, who moved to the Backcountry, professed an evangelical religion and were simply looking to escape starvation.
d) As a consequence of a, b and c, these people carried with them whole sets of very distinct social values that reflected their origins. They spoke different dialects of English and had their own views on all aspects of life, i.e. local political institutions, ideals of liberty, hierarchy, work, marriage, gender relations, child naming and raising, ways to structure and exploit the land, build houses, cook, clothe, practice sports, etc.
David Hackett Fischer has managed to find compelling historical evidence that all these values were all very characteristic of immigrants' regions of origins.
And today, now that, according to US census statistics, less than 20% of Americans have any English ancestry at all, it is precisely those social values that are the more lasting legacy of the first migrants to America. They make Americans in a very real sense "children" of 17th and 18th century England.
1) Is fascinating in all that it teaches us about 17th and 18th century Anglo-American "popular culture", i.e. how people thought and led their spiritual, social and material lives, as well as the roots of this culture in the Middle Ages.
2) Answered all of my basic questions on the continuity between America and its English past.
3) Throws a very interesting light on American history and culture up to this day.
The argument developed in "Albion's seed" is that American culture is based on four strands of English regional cultures that pursued a life of their own once they found a home across the Atlantic.
It is also that their interactions explain most major events of US history since the revolution. These cultures are still very much alive in the United States, according to David Hackett Fischer, although they did not remain static and were nourished by the subsequent waves of migration from Europe and elsewhere.
The coexistence of those four cultures explains the main regional differences in the US including voting patterns in presidential elections.
The developments from 1776 to 1989 (publication date of "Albion's seed") are the subject of the last 100 pages of this huge book. But the first 800 are devoted to present one by one, these very important " four British folkways" in all their aspects, with an immense wealth of detail.
The main themes developed by the author are as follows:
a) First of all the four migrations were regional both in their origin and destinations:
1) East Anglia to Massachusetts
2) Southwest England to Virginia
3) The English North Midlands to Pennsylvania
4) The English-Scottish border area to the Appalachia and the Southern Backcountry
b) The movements happened at different times. The first two occurred before 1688 and the last two after that date, up to the 1770's. They were each the product of periods of economic, political or religious troubles in England that convinced their "victims" to leave the Mother Country in large numbers and seek a better life elsewhere.
c) Their religion and social origins were also very distinct.
A propertied Puritan middle class from East Anglia settled in Massachusetts to escape the poor and the Nobility. Anglican second sons of the Gentry went from Southwest England to Virginia and recreated large estates to be worked by a proletarian underclass (who, because of the climate, they imported mostly from Africa). Northern Quaker Artisans and Shopkeepers tried to create an egalitarian utopia in Pennsylvania and Delaware. The poor border farmers, who moved to the Backcountry, professed an evangelical religion and were simply looking to escape starvation.
d) As a consequence of a, b and c, these people carried with them whole sets of very distinct social values that reflected their origins. They spoke different dialects of English and had their own views on all aspects of life, i.e. local political institutions, ideals of liberty, hierarchy, work, marriage, gender relations, child naming and raising, ways to structure and exploit the land, build houses, cook, clothe, practice sports, etc.
David Hackett Fischer has managed to find compelling historical evidence that all these values were all very characteristic of immigrants' regions of origins.
And today, now that, according to US census statistics, less than 20% of Americans have any English ancestry at all, it is precisely those social values that are the more lasting legacy of the first migrants to America. They make Americans in a very real sense "children" of 17th and 18th century England.
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5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Great Book!!
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2022
Anyone and everyone with deep Southern roots should have a copy of Albion's Seed and Bound Away: Virginia and the Westward Movement. There's alot I love about Albion's Seed but one thing in particular is how it really shows the historical roots of the...
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Anyone and everyone with deep Southern roots should have a copy of Albion's Seed and Bound Away: Virginia and the Westward Movement.
There's alot I love about Albion's Seed but one thing in particular is how it really shows the historical roots of the cultural, political, and social differences between the North and South, in the U.S. as well as the mixture of influences in both mega regions too.
It course, Prof. David Hackett Fischer has other great books that every American should read too, including one titled Liberty and Freedom, about how our view of western democracy has historical roots in the melting and intertwining concepts of Roman government privileges (such as the right to vote) and naturalistic (freeborn) Germanic tribal law, essentially.
There's alot I love about Albion's Seed but one thing in particular is how it really shows the historical roots of the cultural, political, and social differences between the North and South, in the U.S. as well as the mixture of influences in both mega regions too.
It course, Prof. David Hackett Fischer has other great books that every American should read too, including one titled Liberty and Freedom, about how our view of western democracy has historical roots in the melting and intertwining concepts of Roman government privileges (such as the right to vote) and naturalistic (freeborn) Germanic tribal law, essentially.
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5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Albion's Seed is a Classic!
Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2013
Do branches of your family tree include British (English, Welsh, Scots, Irish) colonials? What were they like as flesh-and-blood people? Perhaps you are a history buff who would like to know more than the cursory---sometimes just a few pages in length---overview you...
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Do branches of your family tree include British (English, Welsh, Scots, Irish) colonials? What were they like as flesh-and-blood people? Perhaps you are a history buff who would like to know more than the cursory---sometimes just a few pages in length---overview you received in school. Possibly you're a foreign national living and working as an expatriate in the United States and want to better understand Americans. Why do Americans have "culture wars" (they are by no means a recent development) and why, especially during election years, do Americans appear to really dislike one another? What makes this country---frequently contrary, contradictory, and fractious---tick, anyway? Read this book and be prepared to gain insight into America's cultural psyche lacking in other "popular" histories. Shakespeare declared "the past is prologue," and David Hackett Fischer proves it in his masterpiece, "Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America". He begins at the beginning with the founding of each of the four major British colonies: the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay, the "Distressed Cavaliers" (and their indentured servants) of Chesapeake Bay, the Friends of Delaware Bay, and the Borderlands people of the "backcountry". With meticulous research and painstaking detail, Fischer brings these people---all British, but very different to one another---to life and follows them and their descendants through the centuries up to the last 20 years of the twentieth century. My advice is exercise patience---and pay attention---as he places each British colonial group under the historian's microscope and examines everything about them. From the food they ate and the clothes they wore to their religious beliefs and notions of liberty, no detail is too small to escape his scrutiny, and he explains to readers why each is important to the narrative. Along the way, Fischer explodes several myths many of us were taught to believe were facts. The reader is rewarded in the final chapters as he deftly weaves together the various threads of America's British roots to reveal the United States of America we recognize today. The astonishing fact that "Albion's Seed" is still relevant today, 24 years after publication, is a testament to the superb scholarship that went into it. I found myself wanting more as I read the last page. One final note I would make to those interested in it, the book contains numerous charts and maps, which are viewed best on either a large tablet or computer, if they are considering the Kindle edition. I purchased the Kindle edition and will definitely buy the traditional book, too, for the charts and maps, etc. I highly recommend this classic!
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5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Fascinating
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 26, 2021
Bought this after reading the rather long but well worth reading review on Slaterstarcodex.com. Four truly fascinating stories which give real insight into the history of America as well as part of the backstory to what is going on today. It's the sort of book which...See more
Bought this after reading the rather long but well worth reading review on Slaterstarcodex.com. Four truly fascinating stories which give real insight into the history of America as well as part of the backstory to what is going on today. It's the sort of book which makes you appreciate diversity - even if its just the incredible diversity of four threads of white Brits in America! There should be more works like this for eg I would expect Native Americans to have their own stories of how different their tribes are from one another. It's also interesting because it helps to understand how long term interaction with a particular geography and set of social circumstances can set up what may become entrenched patterns. It reminds me that it is easier to retain bad rather than good patterns of behaviour. I particularly liked that the author identifies the four groups differing characteristics according to food, sex, architecture, colours, sex, politics and liberty. On Local Polity and liberty he ascribes: Town Meeting and Ordered Liberty to the Puritans of Massachusetts Parish & Court and Hegemonic Liberty to the distressed Cavaliers of Virginia Commission and Reciprocal Liberty to the Pilgrims of Pennsylvania, and Court and Natural Liberty to the Border Reivers of the Appalachian Mountains. It left me contemplating whether the Republican descendants of those distressed cavaliers and border reivers are perhaps truer to their (not so idealistic) roots than the descendants of New England are to their ideals, and it left me hoping that the local press and town meetings of New England will long prosper.
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Patrick Sullivan
5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
The Root Core Of American Regionalism
Reviewed in Canada on February 24, 2016
Fischer identifies four distinct cultural regions, within the United States. These are; the New England Puritans, the Cavaliers of Virginia, the Midlands Quakers, and the Scotch-Irish located in the back country.These four groups orginated from different regions of the...See more
Fischer identifies four distinct cultural regions, within the United States. These are; the New England Puritans, the Cavaliers of Virginia, the Midlands Quakers, and the Scotch-Irish located in the back country.These four groups orginated from different regions of the British Isles. They each had a very distinct culture. These groups settled in different parts of the American frontier. Fisher outlines all the different customs and folkways, these people practiced in their new settlements. They also established the various institutions of government, laws, and religion, in their regions. These institutions, enabled many of the cultural traditions, to be passed down through the centuries. The reader will find many of the traditional folkways, are still practiced in the modern USA. Fischer enables the reader to understand, where all these differences orginated from. This was a fasinating history book. I hope this approach to history, is taken up by other writers. In particular, I would to love to read about, the different cultural memes within Canada. This book is highly recommended.
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Joseph Myren
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AWESOME
Reviewed in Canada on June 13, 2022
AWESOME
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David F.Gladwin
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Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 28, 2014
Excellant book, sent very quickly and really well packed. Thanks
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Sturdy Shoes
5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
A great read about the origins of the first waves of ...
Reviewed in Canada on July 20, 2014
A great read about the origins of the first waves of British immigration to what became the Untied States of America. Fischer presents a fascinating explanation of how the regional lifeways of people from different parts of Britain were actually transmitted to regions of...See more
A great read about the origins of the first waves of British immigration to what became the Untied States of America. Fischer presents a fascinating explanation of how the regional lifeways of people from different parts of Britain were actually transmitted to regions of the United States and how those influences can be seen in American society today.
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