Coming Over: Migration and Communication Between England and New England in the Seventeenth Century

Coming Over discusses the 17th century English migration to New England & shows the importance of English connections in the lives of colonists. Cressy reviews the information available to prospective migrants, the decisions they had to reach & the actions necessary before they could migrate. Englishmen & women moved with a variety of motives, a multitude of circumstances. Puritanism, involving religious harassment in England & the desire to follow God's ordinances, was only one of many factors impelling people to move. Rather than developing in wilderness isolation, the society & culture of 17th-century New England were shaped by their English roots. A two-way flow of correspondence, messages & information linked colonists to the homeland. Family duties, political sympathies, friendships, business & legal obligations all led to a continuing attachment across the Atlantic. In treating early America from a British perspective, as a part of English history, Prof. Cressy provides insight into the 17th century.
Preface
List of Figures & Tables
List of Abbreviations
The excellency of the place: English impressions of New England
A mixed multitude: the peopling of early New England
Reasons moving this people to transplant themselves: migrant motives & decisions
Needful provisions: the cost of emigration
Promiscuous & disorderly departing out of the realm: the control of emigration
The vast & furious ocean: shipboard socialization & the Atlantic passage
Occasions in England: debts, obligations & inheritances across the ocean
A hankering desire for old England: homesickenss, return visits & back migration
A constant intercourse of letters: the transatlantic flow of information
Dangerous & unsettled times: English news in New England
The part of a kinsman: separation, reunion & the wide circle of kin
Epilogue
Bibliography
Index