Eighty percent of Americans have no British ancestors. According to David Hackett Fischer, however, their day-to-day lives are profoundly influenced by folkways transplanted from Britain to the New World with the first settlers. Residual, yet persistent, aspects of these 17th Century folkways are indentifiable, Fischer argues, in areas as divers as politics, education, and attitudes towards gender, sexuality, age, and child-raising. Making use of both traditional and revisionist scholarship, this ground-breaking work documents how each successive wave of early emigration--Puritans to the North-East; Royalist aristocrats to the South; the Friends to the Delaware Valley; Irish and North Britons to the American backcountry--contributed to, and continue to affect, ingrained cultural differences between various regions in the United States.

About the Author
Author of Growing Old in America (OUP/USA 1977)

Reviews
Professor Fischer has written a major book, which cannot be ignored. * Jonathan Clark, The Times *
Fischer's is a striking and distinctive vision. * Journal of American Studies *
The author undoubtedly develops his theme with vigour and enthusiasm. ... he has ransacked all sorts of interesting sources ... historians will find much useful material in Albion's Seed"Social History



Book Information
ISBN 9780195069051
Author David Hackett Fischer
Format Paperback
Page Count 984
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 155mm * 234mm * 48mm