American Colonies: The Settling of North America
By Alan Taylor
A Book Review by Krista Kincaid
March 2009
Alan Taylor is a professor of history at the University of California at Davis and an
accomplished and successful writer. In a previous book, William Cooper’s Town: Power
and Persuasion on the frontier of the Early American Republic, he won the 1996 Bancroft
and Pulitzer prizes for history.
In American Colonies: The Settling of North America, Alan Taylor takes a fresh and
unique historical perspective by concentrating on the contributions, travails and
interrelationships of the Native American peoples and enslaved Africans in the
colonization of North America. He views the historical context of the period through the
eyes of not only the European immigrant, but also those of native peoples and slaves,
providing a level of balance in the colonial story that has not heretofore been achieved.
His review goes on to further dissect this perspective by a regional analysis, highlighting
the differences, for each of these groups, within the unique and diverse geographical
areas of the colonies. While concentrating on the relationships of the indigenous peoples
with English immigrants, he provides another level of balance by reviewing the Spanish,
French, Dutch, Russian and even Swedish contributions. The author deftly uses a variety
of historical records to debunk commonly held myths associated with the Anglo-centric
view of the relationship between European immigrants, the native peoples they displaced,
and the native and African peoples they enslaved.
From the perspective of an educator, Taylor’s work is a valuable contribution
because of the balance it provides to students in the telling of the colonial story. The
preponderance of historical reviews of this period have, of course, viewed the colonial
history of the Americas through the spectacles of the English immigrant. This has
unfortunately led to stereotypical treatment in our history classes. In reviewing the value of
Taylor’s narrative, it is helpful to review his insight as it relates to overcoming a variety of
myths associated with popular and conventional history. For example, a common myth is
that Puritan settlers encountered a vast and unbroken expanse of wild and untamed land
upon their arrival in America…the “starving time” was a direct result of having to hack their
fields out of the wilderness. Mr. Taylor is effectively able to debunk this myth. In point of
fact, the local tribes of the Massachusetts Bay area had a highly productive horticultural
system with a large expanse of cleared fields in the vicinity of the colony. The advent of
European diseases such as smallpox (from previous visitors along the coast), in the year
prior to the arrival of the colonists, decimated Indian populations. As a result, the
Plymouth colonists were able to take over vacant villages and conveniently cleared fields
immediately (p.165).
Another myth, often perpetuated to our younger students, is that of the “Happy
Thanksgiving,” where natives and Pilgrims join together in an atmosphere of trust and
mutual respect. Taylor is effectively able to demonstrate that the Plymouth colonists,
without previous pretext, viewed the Indians from a perspective of cultural superiority, as
“savage people, who are cruel, barbarous, and most treacherous.” The colonists
concluded that their survival depended upon practicing premeditated violence against the
Indians. This resulted in a variety of unscrupulous and genocidal attacks upon several
Indian tribes, often displaying heads upon their fort as a warning to others (p. 194).
Taylor addresses, in a very colorful manner, the myth that has long been
perpetuated that the colonies were founded and established to be a bastion of religious
tolerance and freedom for the oppressed religious minorities in Europe such as the
Puritans, Huguenots and Calvinists. While religious tolerance was indeed desired by each
minority sect, they sought such freedom for their group only, and vigorously denied it to all
others within the reach of their authority. In fact, few colonists wanted religious freedom,
feeling that plurality of religions was a dangerous notion. With the possible exception of
the Quakers in Pennsylvania, this was universally true throughout the colonies. The
Catholics in French Canada, the Puritans of New England and the Anglicans within the
Chesapeake and Virginia colonies, all denied religious freedom to those not of their sect.
As Taylor puts it “at the end of the seventeenth century, most colonies offered less
religious toleration than did the mother country”(p.339).
Another commonly accepted myth was that black Africans were the first slaves in
America. The first slaves of the European immigrants were the Indians that they found
upon the shores of the new world. Indeed, slavery was almost as effective as epidemics of
European diseases, in decimating Indian populations. As the victors and writers of
American history, the English have often overlooked the more “uncomfortable” issues of
their past. Taylor brings a number of these events to light. Slavery has had some
surprising bedfellows. In 1636, the self-righteous Puritans destroyed most of the Pequot
nation because they refused to pay tribute. Those who were not killed were kept by the
Puritans as personal slaves or sold into the West Indies slave trade. According to Taylor
“…the Puritans interpreted their especially bloody victory as compelling proof that God
had found them worthy” (p.196). In early Virginia and the Carolinas, colonists recruited
some Indians as slave catchers to prey on other tribes. In order for Indians to obtain guns
and other trade goods, the only currency the colonists accepted was slaves or deerskins.
In 1708, one-third of slaves on plantations in South Carolina were Indians (p.231). Slavery
had reduced the Indian population of North Carolina from 15,000 in 1700, to less than
4,000 in 1730 (p.235). Taylor points out that it was the decline of the Indian populations
that led directly to the increase in importation of African slaves to support the burgeoning
tobacco, rice and indigo plantations.
A final eradicated myth is useful in illustrating Taylor’s approach toward expanding
the “value” of the non-English contribution to the settling of North America. This oftperpetuated myth suggests that most of the immigration to America during the colonial
period was by English settlers in search of freedom, who, whether in New England,
Virginia or the Carolinas, established the bulk of the population. This notion could not be
further from the truth. Most immigrants in the 18th century came not seeking freedom, nor
did they come of their own free will. The 1.5 million enslaved Africans who immigrated to
America in the 18th century outnumbered European immigrants by more than three to one
(p.314, 323).
The author has provided the reader an extensive bibliography, relying upon the
work of a wide array of contemporary authors for support of his thesis. His work is an
effective synthesis of ideas and information, delving into topics that have not received a
great deal of attention. The greatest attribute of his work is that he challenges long-held
beliefs and offers a fresh perspective. While he does not use historical accounts,
documents, or manuscripts and as such, his work cannot be considered scholarly, it is not
presented as such. The book is broken into three parts: Encounters, Colonies and
Empires. These three parts relate chronologically to pre- and early history, the early
colonization period, and finally to the events leading to dissolution of the colonies. Each of
these parts is subdivided into chapters that present the unique geographical character of
each of the regions within the colonies. The climates, motivations, outlook, environments,
and particularly politics were dramatically different in different regions of the
colonies…there was almost no homogeneity between New England and Virginia, less
than 300 miles to the south. Taylor’s approach toward evaluating the dynamics on a
regional basis is one of the strong points of the book.
This book has undoubtedly enriched my understanding of Massachusetts’s history,
particularly in the area of the interplay between the New English and the indigenous native
peoples. I admit to a preconceived notion of the “Pilgrims” as a relatively strict, but benign,
religious sect who came to America seeking freedom and religious tolerance. Taylor’s
excellent analysis of the complex underpinnings in the relationship between the Puritans
and the Indians, has given me a valuable new insight into the history of this area. I found
the Puritan’s decided lack of tolerance, as well as their enslavement of Indians, to be eye
opening. The history of the Massachusetts Bay area, as it relates to the relationship
between these diametrically different societies on an inevitable collision course, is clearly
one of opportunity and loss, misunderstanding and mistrust, and lost chances. I am
greatly looking forward to the opportunity of expanding my understanding of this area by
viewing the historical juxtaposition first-hand.
American Colonies: The settling of North America has a valuable place in any high
school classroom. I enjoyed reading it and I would highly recommend it as a resource for
history teachers to add color and perspective to their lectures. Taylor’s destruction of a
number of preconceived colonial myths, many of which may still be propagated in largely
Anglo-centric American History textbooks, make it a valuable read for any history teacher,
or ardent student of history.