Bailyn, Bernard: The Peopling Of British North America

Bailyn, Bernard. The Peopling of British North America: An Introduction. New York: Vintage Books, 1988.

Thesis: In his preface, Bailyn describes his texts as a "preliminary effort to open up the questions and identify major themes of a very large area of history which we still only vaguely understand (xii). In chapter one he goes onto define the actual idea behind the title: " It brings together the major aspects of life in the American colonies- social structure and settlement patterns, demography and politics, agriculture and religion, mobility, family organization, and ethnic relations and places the whole evolving story of American life within the broadest possible context of Western history (7)."

Themes: One of the themes of this text is class. There was a major difference in the "land spectators" of America who bought out land to rent, and from those that rented from them. There was even socio-economical differences in those who did the renting: higher-class families, lower-class families, single men. Another theme of this text is identity. Those who emigrated from Europe, no matter what their social standing was, came with a larger zeal and zest for America …show more content…
He then separates the book into three essays: "Worlds in Motion," "The Rings of Saturn," and "A Domesday Book for the Periphery." These essays are the evolution of colonizing and settling America which show the experiences of the colonists and how the colonies came to be populated the way that they were. There was also some discussion of the Native American experience as well, but only pertaining to that of the colonists. Bailyn offers no concluding chapter, but still succeeds in concluding his text in the final chapter- probably due the essays original singular-paper