Colonials Abroad [NY Times Book Review]

[wlotus]

A review of a book slave2tehtink and anyone else interested in early American history may find fascinating.

In the decades before the Declaration of Independence, thousands of American colonists visited London. Wealthy Southern plantation owners and New England merchants, husbands and wives, children and slaves all arrived in what was thought to be the most exciting city in the world. Some went shopping for exquisite silver, fashionable furniture and the latest books; others traded their goods and engaged in political arguments in noisy coffee houses. A sojourn in London was part of the education of the sons (and sometimes daughters) of wealthy colonial families because, as one contemporary observed, “more is learnt of mankind here in a month than can be in a year in any other part of the world.”

~ From a NY Times Book Review by Andrea Wulf. When London was Capital of America, by Julie Favell.

Read the rest on the NY Times website.

I particularly like the tale of the slave who got himself arrested (deliberately?) just before his master was set to return to America, served his time, and was released a free man who remained in Britain.

Comments

[mallorys-camera.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Although being fascinated by history and having read a lot about this period, I think Paris was every bit as popular as London as an international finishing school.

the slave who got himself arrested (deliberately?) just before his master was set to return to America, served his time, and was released a free man who remained in Britain

Sally Hemmings who accompanied Jefferson to Paris thought long and hard about going back to the States. She was free in Paris; she was a slave in Virginia. I am still boggled that she went back with Jefferson -- what a choice, eh? One of her brothers remained in Paris, a free man.