Through analyses of the process of migration and settlement and of the symbolic meaning that participants attached to their experiences, the book tells the story of New England's origins as one of dynamism and change. Focusing on the lives of nearly 700 emigrants, the narrative examines such topics as the settlers' motives for leaving England, their experience of the voyage, their patterns of settlement in the New World, and their search for economic security in a new land. The descendants of the founders erected the story of their "great" migration into early British America's only effective foundation myth--a record of achievement that succeeding generations could never match. Rich in detail and insight, this exploration of New England's founding examines both the lives of ordinary people and the transcendent meanings that those lives ultimately acquired.

Two men from Connecticut, each embarked on a dangerous mission, slipped onto Long Island in September 1776. Only a few weeks earlier, British forces had routed the Continental Army and taken control of New York City. The future of the infant American republic, barely two months old, looked bleak. One of the men, a soldier disguised as a schoolmaster, made his way to the British fortifications on Manhattan and began furtively taking notes and making sketches to bring back to the beleaguered American general, George Washington. The second visitor had quite different plans. He had come to Long Island to accept a captain's commission in a loyalist regiment, an undertaking that obligated him to return to Connecticut and recruit more farmers to join the King's forces. As events turned out, neither man completed his mission. Instead, each met his death at the end of a hangman's rope, one executed as a spy for the American cause and the other as a traitor to it. In this book, Virginia Anderson traces the lives of these two men, Nathan Hale and Moses Dunbar, to explore how middle-class men made decisions on a daily basis amidst the uncertainties of war that determined not just their own fates but also the ways in which they have been remembered or forgotten in history. Hale uttered a line that has become famous ("I only regret, that I have but one life to lose for my country") and, after being captured and executed as a spy by the British, and the Americans winning the war, has been memorialized as a martyr to the Revolutionary cause. His life is neatly contrasted with Dunbar, a Loyalist who was captured and sentenced to death by the Connecticut Assembly. This braided narrative, intertwining the lives of Hale and Dunbar, offers a poignant snapshot of the political loyalties men forge in momentous times, how their families shaped and reacted to those decisions, and how difficult it is to judge individuals' decisionmaking in wartime without the benefit of hindsight, when the outcome is dependent on complex factors. This book bridges"great man" biographies about the American Revolution and the "bottom up" social histories of common men, and the histories of patriots and loyalists. Its accessible style makes it appropriate for anyone interested in Revolutionary America.

In September 1776, two men from Connecticut each embarked on a dangerous mission. One of the men, a soldier disguised as a schoolmaster, made his way to British-controlled Manhattan and began furtively making notes and sketches to bring back to the beleaguered Continental Army general, George Washington. The other man traveled to New York to accept a captain's commission in a loyalist regiment before returning home to recruit others to join British forces. Neither man completed his mission. Both met their deaths at the end of a hangman's rope, one executed as a spy for the American cause and the other as a traitor to it. Neither Nathan Hale nor Moses Dunbar deliberately set out to be a revolutionary or a loyalist, yet both suffered the same fate. They died when there was every indication that Britain would win the American Revolution. Had that been the outcome, Dunbar, convicted of treason and since forgotten, might well be celebrated as a martyr. And Hale, caught spying on the British, would likely be remembered as a traitor, rather than a Revolutionary hero. In The Martyr and the Traitor, Virginia DeJohn Anderson offers an intertwined narrative of men from very similar backgrounds and reveals how their relationships within their families and communities became politicized as the imperial crisis with Britain erupted. She explores how these men forged their loyalties in perilous times and believed the causes for which they died to be honorable. Through their experiences, The Martyr and the Traitor illuminates the impact of the Revolution on ordinary lives and how the stories of patriots and loyalists were remembered and forgotten after independence.

When we think of the key figures of early American history, we think of explorers, or pilgrims, or Native Americans-not cattle, or goats, or swine. But as Virginia DeJohn Anderson reveals in this brilliantly original account of colonists in New England and the Chesapeake region, livestock played a vitally important role in the settling of the New World. Livestock, Anderson writes, were a central factor in the cultural clash between colonists and Indians as well as a driving force in the expansion west. By bringing livestock across the Atlantic, colonists believed that they provided the means to realize America's potential. It was thought that if the Native Americans learned to keep livestock as well, they would be that much closer to assimilating the colonist's culture, especially their Christian faith. But colonists failed to anticipate the problems that would arise as Indians began encountering free-ranging livestock at almost every turn, often trespassing in their cornfields. Moreover, when growing populations and an expansive style of husbandry required far more space than they had expected, colonists could see no alternative but to appropriate Indian land. This created tensions that reached the boiling point with King Philip's War and Bacon's Rebellion. And it established a pattern that would repeat time and again over the next two centuries. A stunning account that presents our history in a truly new light, Creatures of Empire restores a vital element of our past, illuminating one of the great forces of colonization and the expansion westward.

This highly visual survey of American history introduces students to the key features of American political, social, and economic history in an exciting format designed to ignite students passion to know history. "The American Journey, ""Brief Edition "provides students with the most help available in reading, thinking, and applying the material they are learning in the text and in lecture. A series of pedagogical aids, in text and out of class study companions, as well as complete instructor presentational and assessment support make this text the perfect choice for those looking to make history come alive for their students. The path that led the authors to "The American Journey "began in the classroom with their students. The goal of this text is to make American history accessible to students. The key to that goal--the core of the book--is a strong, clear narrative and a positive theme of The American "Journey." American history is a compelling story that the authors tell in an engaging, forthright way, while providing students with an abundance of tools to help them absorb that story and put it into context. This text combines political and social history, to fit the experience of particular groups into the broader perspective of the American past, to give voice to minor and major players alike, because the history of America is in the stories of its people.

This highly visual survey of American history introduces students to the key features of American political, social, and economic history in an exciting format designed to ignite students passion to know history. "The American Journey, ""Brief Edition "provides students with the most support available in reading, thinking, and applying the material they are learning in the text and in lecture. A series of pedagogical aids, in text and out of class study companions, as well as complete instructor presentational and assessment support make this text the perfect choice for those looking to make history come alive for their students. The path that led the authors to "The American Journey "began in the classroom with their students. The goal of this text is to make American history accessible to students. The key to that goal--the core of the book--is a strong, clear narrative and a positive theme of The American "Journey." American history is a compelling story that the authors tell in an engaging, forthright way, while providing students with an abundance of tools to help them absorb that story and put it into context. This text combines political and social history, to fit the experience of particular groups into the broader perspective of the American past, to give voice to minor and major players alike, because the history of America is in the stories of its people.