England in America, 1580-1652

The American Nation Series, Book 4

By: Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Albert Bushnell Hart

Narrated by: Joseph Tabler

A Dusty Tomes Audiobook

In Cooperation with Spoken Realms

England in America, 1580-1652 by Lyon Gardiner Tyler, President of William and Mary College

Narrated by Joseph Tabler

Volume 4 of 27 in The American Nation: A History published by Harper Brothers (1904-1918). Edited by Albert Bushnell Hart, Professor of History at Harvard University.

Editor’s Introduction to the Series

That a new history of the United States is needed, extending from the discovery down to the present time, hardly needs a statement. No such comprehensive work by a competent writer is now in existence. Individual writers have treated only limited chronological fields. Meantime there, is a rapid increase of published sources and of serviceable monographs based on material hitherto unused. On the one side there is a necessity for an intelligent summarizing of the present knowledge of American history by trained specialists; on the other hand there is need of a complete work, written in untechnical style, which shall serve for the instruction and the entertainment of the general reader.

Editor’s Introduction to Volume Four

This volume begins a detailed story of the English settlement, and its title indicates the conception of the author that during the first half-century the American colonies were simply outlying portions of the English nation, but that owing to disturbances culminating in civil war, they had the opportunity to develop on lines not suggested by the home government.

AUTHOR’S PREFACE

This book covers a period of a little more than three-quarters of a century. It begins with the first attempt at English colonization in America, in 1576, and ends with the year 1652, when the supremacy of Parliament was recognized throughout the English colonies. The most interesting period in the history of any country is the formative period; and through the mass of recently published original material on America the opportunity to tell its story well has been of late years greatly increased. In the preparation of this work I have endeavored to consult the original sources, and to admit secondary testimony only in matters of detail.

I. Genesis of English Colonization (1492–1579)
II. Gilbert and Raleigh Colonies (1583–1602)
III. Founding of Virginia (1602–1608)
IV. Gloom in Virginia (1608–1617)
V. Transition of Virginia (1617–1640)
VI. Social and Economic Conditions of Virginia (1634–1652)
VII. Founding of Maryland (1632–1650)
VIII. Contentions in Maryland (1633–1652)
IX. Founding of Plymouth (1608–1630)
X. Development of New Plymouth (1621–1643)
XI. Genesis of Massachusetts (1628–1630)
XII. Founding of Massachusetts (1630–1642)
XIII. Religion and Government in Massachusetts (1631–1638)
XIV. Narragansett and Connecticut Settlements (1635–1637)
XV. Founding of Connecticut and New Haven (1637–1652)
XVI. New Hampshire and Maine (1653–1658)
XVII. Colonial Neighbors (1643–1652)
XVIII. The New England Confederation (1643–1654)
XIX. Early New England Life (1624–1652)

Public Domain (P)2022 Joseph Tabler, in cooperation with Spoken Realms

Early English-American History, from history.

This book is going to be a bit different from what most people would expect: Lyon Gardiner Tyler, the author, was the grandson of US President Tyler, and thus, the book is practically history itself. That also means it has some good and bad elements: the good being that events and people are shown in a different light than offered by modern historians, while the bad is that the actual research is not as advanced, or perhaps even correct, as more recent research. It's not necessarily wrong, mind, but can be misleading.

The performance is, well, mostly bad: the narrator sounds like he's about to fall asleep at any moment, and reciting survey reports that will mean absolutely nothing to anyone without a map to look at is basically pure agony.


Even so, it's worth a listen to anyone interested in an otherwise neglected part of American history.