The Involuntary American: A Scottish Prisoner's Journey to the New World

· Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Susan Hanfield
Audiobook
7 hr 9 min
Unabridged
Eligible
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About this audiobook

In the winter of 1650-51, 150 ragged Scottish prisoners of war arrived at Massachusetts Bay Colony, where they were sold as indentured laborers for twenty to thirty pounds each. Among them was Thomas Doughty, a common foot soldier who had survived the Battle of Dunbar. Doughty was among some 420 Scottish soldiers who were captured during the War of the Three Kingdoms, transported to America, and sold between 1650 and 1651. Their experiences offer a fresh perspective on seventeenth-­century life. The Involuntary American: A Scottish Prisoner's Journey to the New World describes Doughty's life as a soldier, prisoner of war, exile, servant, lumberman, miller, and ultimately free landowner. It follows him and his peers through critical events: the apex of the Little Ice Age, the War of the Three Kingdoms, the colonization of New England, the burgeoning transatlantic trade in servants and slaves, King Philip's and King William's wars, and the Salem witch crisis. The Involuntary American demonstrates how even indi­viduals of humble circumstances were swept into the mael­strom of the First Global Age. It expands our understanding of immigration to the colonies, colonial servitude, the link­ages and tensions between Europe, Massachusetts Bay, and America's northeastern frontier, and of New England socie­ty in the early colonial period.

About the author

A writer and journalist, Carol Gardner has published pieces in a wide variety of books and periodicals, including the World of Baseball series, BluePlanet Quarterly, the Women's Review of Books, Portland Press Herald, and the Washington Post. She is a past winner of a Maryland Individual Artists award.

Along with a diverse career on stage and screen, Susan Hanfield is a prolific audiobook narrator with hundreds of titles to her credit. Known for her ability to bring the written story to life, Susan is an AudioFile Earphones Award winner, three-time Audie Award finalist, and a Voice Arts Awards nominee.

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