New England's generation : the great migration and the formation of society and culture in the seventeenth century

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. Through analyses of the process of migration and settlement and of the symbolic meaning that participants attached to their experiences, this book tells the story of New England's origins as one of dynamism and change. Focusing on the lives of nearly seven-hundred 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 Even though New England attracted fewer emigrants from England than any other major region in colonial British America, New Englanders insisted that the origins of their society lay in a "Great Migration." Why they should have made such a paradoxical -- yet, for American culture, portentous -- claim is the concern of New England's Generation. 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. - Back cover. Frontmatter (page N/A) Acknowledgments (page ix) Introduction (page 1) 1 Decision (page 12) 2 Passage (page 47) 3 Transplantation (page 89) 4 Competency (page 131) 5 Legacy (page 177) Appendix (page 222) Index (page 227) Virginia Dejohn Anderson. Based On The Author's Dissertation (ph. D., Harvard University) Includes Bibliographical References And Index.