Representative Americans: The Colonists / Edition 2

by Norman K. Risjord

Overview

This updated volume of Representative Americans highlights three generations of colonial Americans—men and women who founded, shaped, and coined traditions of this country. This is a glimpse into a time of empire and frontier, religion, and science. The breadth of this experience is represented in the book's three sections. "Pathmarkers of the Empire" are represented in the first section. Captain John Smith and Nathaniel Bacon, though living half a century apart, were frontier soldiers shaping relations between Native and European cultures. William Bradford and William Penn came to America, also half a century apart, hoping to found a community of the righteous. In the book's second section, "Swords of Empire," the imperial, triangular contest among Britian, France, and Spain for supremacy in the New World is explored. "In the vanguard of the empire were the fortune hunters," Risjord writes. Among these "Caesars of the Forest" were Pierre Esprit Radisson and his merchant brother-in-law Medard Chouart who traversed the wilds of Canada in search of the elusive Northwest Passage. The book's final section, "Bridges of Empire," presents, among others, Cotton Mather and James Logan, who stood poised between an older order of religious humility and a newer one of political will which would later blossom into national identity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742520738
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	05/30/2001
Series:	Representative Americans
Edition description:	2ND
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	8.98(w) x 5.98(h) x 0.84(d)

About the Author

Norman K. Risjord is emeritus professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he taught for over three decades. He is the author of Chesapeake Politics, 1781-1800 and Jefferson's America, 1760-1815. He is general editor of the American Profiles series for Madison House.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Preface to the Second Edition Chapter 2 Introduction Part 3 Pathmakers of Empire Chapter 4 Captain John Smith and Pocahontas: The Meeting of Cultures Chapter 5 William Bradford: Pilgrim Chapter 6 Anne Hutchinson: The Saint as Critic Chapter 7 Nathaniel Bacon: Empire and Frontier, the Clash of Cultures Chapter 8 William Penn: The Aristocrat as Democrat Part 9 Swords of Empire Chapter 10 Pierre Esprit Radisson: The Pathfinder Chapter 11 The Brothers LeMoyne: Maccabees of New France Chapter 12 Edward Teach: The Story of Blackbeard the Pirate Chapter 13 James Oglethorpe: Soldier Visionary Part 14 Bridges of Empire Chapter 15 Cotton Mather: The Mystic as Scientist Chapter 16 William Byrd II: Virginia Gentleman Chapter 17 Eliza Lucas Pickney: The West Indies Connection Chapter 18 James Logan: The American Enlightenment Chapter 19 Epilogue Chapter 20 Index

Editorial Reviews

Taking a biographical approach to the colonial period of American history, Risjord (University of Wisconsin-Madison) sketches fifteen figures at once sympathetic to modern readers and in some sense exemplary of their own time. These include John Smith and Pocahontas, William Bradford, Ann Hutchinson, Nathaniel Bacon, William Penn, Pierre Radisson, the LeMoyne brothers, Edward Teach, James Oglethorpe, Cotton Mather, William Byrd II, Eliza Pinckney, and James Logan. He describes their roles establishing the colonies, fighting for supremacy on the continent, shaping an American character and society, and continuing the progress of the Enlightenment. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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