History

Before the Melting Pot: Society and Culture in Colonial New York City, 1664-1730

Paperback

Price:
$64.00/£50.00
ISBN:
Published:
Oct 9, 1994
1991
Pages:
320
Size:
7.75 x 10 in.
Illus:
18 halftones 31 tables
Main_subject:
History
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From its earliest days under English rule, New York City had an unusually diverse ethnic makeup, with substantial numbers of Dutch, English, Scottish, Irish, French, German, and Jewish immigrants, as well as a large African-American population. Joyce Goodfriend paints a vivid portrait of this society, exploring the meaning of ethnicity in early America and showing how colonial settlers of varying backgrounds worked out a basis for coexistence. She argues that, contrary to the prevalent notion of rapid Anglicization, ethnicity proved an enduring force in this small urban society well into the eighteenth century.


Awards and Recognition

  • Winner of the 1991 Henricks Manuscript Award, Friends of the New Netherland Project