American Roots

“Diversity” is not a new, foreign element in American life. It goes back to the earliest roots of the nation, when five distinct regions emerged along the Atlantic shore in the 17th century. This book explains how and why that happened, and with what consequences. Each region was marked by a different geography and economy, a different mix of people, and different sets of social expectations. Religion and politics varied sharply from one area to another. In each case the blend of ingredients also bore lines of tension that built up to a point of crisis: the Salem witch-craze in New England, for instance, or the Stono Rebellion of enslaved Africans in the Lower South. Out of these crises came reforms that set the five regions on their course to converge, eventually, in a new nation. But many of the old differences came along, making the young United States a rambunctious, often uneasy place, filled with quarrels and culture wars. That is, the United States today shows some remarkable similarities to times far away and forgotten. This book brings those times back to life in the hope that clearer memories might help us live better today.