July HistoryCAT: 1601-1700 CE: Immigration & Migration

The 17th century (1601-1700) was characterized by the Scientific Revolution and Baroque culture. It was also a period of colonization and settlement in the New World, particularly English settlement in the American colonies. Some key events of the 17th century include:
Gunpowder Plot (1605)
Founding of Jamestown, Virginia (1607)
Founding of Quebec City (1608)
King James Bible published (1611)
Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648)
Mayflower Pilgrims land in Massachusetts (1620)
Dutch found New Amsterdam (1625)
Closing of Japan to Westerners (1630s)
Tulip mania (1630s)
Irish Rebellion (1641)
English Civil War (1642-1651)
Ming dynasty ends and Qing dynasty begins (1644)
Society of Friends (i.e., Quakers) founded (1648)
English Commonwealth & Protectorate (1649-1659)
Restoration of the English monarchy (1660)
Great Fire of London (1666)
Great Turkish War (1683-1699)

Immigration & migration focus:
Human migration patterns can be attributed to causes that either push migrants away from their place of origin or attract them to their place of settlement. Both kinds of migration took place in various regions of the world in the 17th century:
Puritan migration to North America (“Great Migration”)
The “Middle Passage” and the growth of the Atlantic slave trade (begun in the 16th century)
Chinese diaspora to the Nanyang (South China Sea/Southeast Asia) with the fall of the Ming dynasty and rise of the Qing dynasty
Ulster Plantation - Protestant settlement in Northern Ireland
Dutch colonization in New Netherlands and South Africa
Morisco expulsion from Spain

Books that fit both time period and theme
Nonfiction:
The Barbarous Years by Bernard Bailyn
The Birth of Black America by Tim Hashaw
Champlain’s Dream by David Hackett Fischer
The Island at the Center of the World by Russell Shorto
A Land as God Made It: Jamestown and the Birth of America by James P. P. Horn
Making Haste from Babylon: The Mayflower Pilgrims and Their World by Nick Bunker
Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick
Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647 by William Bradford
The Peopling of British North America by Bernard Bailyn
Saltwater Slavery by Stephanie E. Smallwood
Sugar in the Blood by Andrea Stuart
The Times of Their Lives by James Deetz
Western Star by Stephen Vincent Benet (poetry)

Fiction:
The Banks of the Boyne by Donna Fletcher Crow
Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
City of Dreams by Beverly Swerling
The Coffee Trader by David Liss
The Confusion by Neal Stephenson
I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Conde
Islands by Dan Sleigh
A Mercy by Toni Morrison
Oroonoko by Aphra Benn
Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather
Silence by Shusaku Endo
Wild Seed by Octavia Butler

Books that fit the immigration and migration theme
Nonfiction
House of Stone by Anthony Shadid
I Saw Ramallah by Mourid Barghouti
The Making of African America by Ira Berlin
Omeros by Derek Walcott
Out of Place: A Memoir by Edward Said
The Slave Ship: A Human History by Marcus Rediker
Wanderings: History of the Jews by Chaim Potok
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
What Is the What by Dave Eggers

Fiction
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
A House for Mr. Biswas by V. S. Naipaul
The In-Between World of Vikram Lall by M. G. Vassanji
The Lonely Londoners by Samuel Selvon
Operation Shylock by Philip Roth
Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth

Books that fit the time period
Nonfiction
The Diary of Samuel Pepys
The Embarrassment of Riches by Simon Schama
Tulipmania by Anne Goldgar
Vermeer’s Hat by Timothy Brook

Fiction
The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent
An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears
A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe
The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco
Lorna Doone by Richard Doddridge Blackmore
Music & Silence by Rose Tremain
Peony in Love by Lisa See
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
Restoration by Rose Tremain
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

ETA: Don't forget to update the wiki with the books you read/plan to read.

My shortlist for July includes:
In Search of Ulster-Scots Land by Barry Vann
City of Dreams by Beverly Swerling
Making Haste from Babylon by Nick Bunker
Penelope: The Story of the Half-Scalped Woman by Penelope Scambly Schott

I bought Witch child while I was in England, and it looks like it will fit.

I went to enter this in thw Wiki and it was already there.

I have several on the TBR but I had intended to read Caleb's Crossing this month but I'll save it for next month.

I don't think I have anything on my tbr that fits both the time period and theme, so I'll see what I have separately:

Time period:
- The Heretic's Daughter / Kathleen Kent
- Peter the Great / Robert K. Massie
- In the Devil's Snare / Mary Beth Horton

Theme:
- Middlesex / Jeffrey Eugenides
- The Warmth of Other Suns / Isabel Wilkerson
- Concubine's Children / Denise Chong
- Honolulu / Alan Brennert

I am planning on reading To Have and To Hold by Mary Johnson. This is a book that I vaguely remember reading many years ago. All I remember is that it is set in the Virginia colonies and has something to do with pirates. If the book doesn't live up to my memories, I also have Caleb's Crossing on my shelves.

>2 cbl_tn: Carrie, I am planning on reading City of Dreams in August for the Medicine and Disease theme as I believe the main character in the book is a doctor. I will look for your thoughts on this story with great interest. :)

>6 DeltaQueen50: Oops! I missed changing the default touchstone for that one. I'll be reading this City of Dreams since I had ancestors in New Amsterdam.

I am kind of looking at Silence and Islands as I have both of them on my tbr. I've read Girl With The Pearl Earring last year and really liked it. I could do Caleb's Crossing as that is available at Overdrive.

I'll be reading a really old biography of Charles II that I adopted from my grandma: Charles II: His Life and Likeness, by Hesketh Pearson.

Students in our AP American History class have to read Love and Hate in Jamestown so I'll try and take this challenge as incentive to read it myself. It's not one of my favorite time periods to spend time with but I'll take the challenge to read it.

I'm also planning to read a book about Jamestown -- either A Land as God Made It by James Horn and/or Jamestown: The Buried Truth by William M. Kelso (which is about the archaeology of Jamestown). Both of these are books recommended by an instructor I had for an OLLI course about Jamestown, probably in 2007. I have never got around to reading either book.

Thanks for the great recommendations -- I'm going to read The Miniaturist -- which is set in 17th century Amsterdam.

This looks interesting, I'll have to look at what's on my upcoming reads list to see what fits.

My possibilities are:

Pensees by Blaise Pascal
Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh

I'm reading Michael Crichton's posthumously-published work, Pirate Latitudes! Though it features Colonial life in the Spanish Main, I felt it would be pushing it to consider it under "Immigration and Migration"; so under the 17th Century heading only it goes! Taking place in 1665, it's a pirate adventure based on a true story. Though it's not particularly well-written, it does have its appeal as the perfect Summer read! :-)

From Wikipedia:

Historical basis
Alan Cheuse said, in review for NPR Books: "It builds on an actual event in maritime records, when a crew of English pirates out of the Caribbean port of Port Royal attacked a fortress on a Spanish island in order to plunder - I like that word, and it's what pirates do, they plunder - a ship filled with new world treasure."

Though reviewers have compared Crichton's novel to Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean, the Historical Novel Society notes: "Crichton’s portrayal of Port Royal and its inhabitants is far more grounded in reality than Disney’s portrayal. Crichton does not gloss over the slavery, addiction and brutality of colonial Jamaica, nor does he endow his characters with abilities beyond their training or station in life."

lkernagh reviewed it and it sounded like fun so I took the BB:-)

I finished my first book for the month - The Story of Penelope Stout, about my 9th great-grandmother who was my immigrant ancestor in her line.

I have finished To Have And To Hold by Mary Johnson and this book was a great read. Set in the colony of Jamestown, starting in 1621, this book had lots of adventure and the author was well served by the colorful history of this colony.

Starting Pensées by Blaise Pascal (written during this period). I notice from my review last time I read it that I thought it was better suited to dipping into rather than reading straight through, so I don't know if I will finish it this month.

Hmm, just realized I have a book that could work for this CAT: The Winter Prince by Cheryl Sawyer, which is set during the English Civil War. Hopefully I'll be able to get to it this month!

Witch child didn't really do it for me.

Junípero Serra would count for theme as the Spaniards move ino California, but it is 18th century.

Fits the theme

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration / Isabel Wilkerson
4.5 stars

Primarily between 1915 and 1970, “coloured” people migrated in masses from the American South to the North. However, even the North wasn't all it was cracked up to be. This book looks at the overall migration, but it also focuses on three specific people who migrated.

Ida Mae, in the late 1930s, moved from Mississippi to Milwaukee, then Chicago; George, in the 1940s, moved from Florida to New York; Robert, in the 1950s, moved from Louisiana to California. All three moved to escape the Jim Crow laws and the treatment of coloured people in the south.

This was really good. I did find it helpful (especially towards the start of the book) that the author usually did a quick little recap for each of our main characters as she went back and forth between them. She also interspersed more general information about the mass migration, as well as adding in smaller anecdotes of other migrants and their stories. Wow, she did a lot of research for this book, not only “book” research, but lots of interviews, not only with the three main people she focused on (as well and their families, friends, and acquaintances), but also initial interviews with over 1000 people to decide who to mainly focus on. Very impressive!

I just finished The Beggar King by Oliver Potzsch which fits the time period. It's book 3 in the Hangman's Daughter series which is a German mystery series which takes place during the 1660s.

Fits the time period

The Heretic's Daughter / Kathleen Kent
3.5 stars

Martha Carrier was one of the women accused and put to death for being a “witch” in late 17th century Salem, Mass. This book is a fictional account of the happenings, as told by her daughter, Sarah, who was also imprisoned at the time.

It was good. I listened to the audio and the first 1/3 or so (mostly set-up... before the accusations started) was not enough to hold my interest, so I often lost focus. It did pick up for me once the accusations began, however. Because the rest of it was more interesting, it was enough for me to rate the book “good”. As I sometimes do, I wonder if I might have enjoyed it better in print or ebook.

>24 LibraryCin:, I read this as an e-book. I thought it was just a 3 star read, it was slow to get going and the last half was better.

I finished a couple more books since I last checked in here. Penelope: The Story of the Half-Scalped Woman: A Narrative Poem is a collection of linked poems about Penelope Stout, a 17th century immigrant to New York/New Jersey. Shortly after their arrival, she and her first husband were separated from the rest of the ship's passengers and they were attacked by Indians. Her husband died. Penelope was badly injured but survived. She went on to marry Richard Stout and had 10 children, one of whom was my ancestor.

I also read In Search of Ulster-Scots Land, about the 17th century migrations between southwestern Scotland and Northern Ireland. The last chapter connects the religious culture that formed through those migrations to the waves of Scots-Irish immigration to the American colonies and their ultimate settlement in Appalachia.

>25 Kristelh: Good to know! I guess it wasn't just the audio, then.

I was hoping from my somewhat vague memories of reading it at school that The Inheritors by William Golding would fit this theme, but having now read it again, not really.

Les lames du Cardinal is set in 1633 Paris, and though it has dragons, the rest of it is real 17th century Paris described in loving detail.

I finished The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch. It fits time period but not theme. I enjoyed the story (audio, read by Grover Gardner). The author, Oliver Pötzsch, is a German and a descendant of executioners. This work of fiction is also based on historical facts about the time period and executioners. At first I wondered whether it really was "historical fiction" but the "kind of postscript" where the author talks about the genealogical research and what he "made up" and what was historical was very interesting and led me to like the story even more. Otherwise it is a mystery, based on murder of some orphaned children in the Bavarian village. This is the first book of a series and introduces the reader to the village and how it is governed in the 1600s, the role of executioner and medicine. It also covers witchcraft fears and superstitions, is light on Christianity and heavy on superstition and fears. As far as migration and immigration, it mentions the war and soldiers but otherwise nothing there. It mentions tobacco and coffee, both products from other areas that have been brought to the area through exploration and war.

I also finished a "proper" history book: The Prince and the Infanta. Charles Stuart and Buckingham travel to Madrid to expedite his marriage to a Spanish princess. Rather dry monograph about a subject matter I knew nothing about.

I found a book on my Kindle that fits the time period called The Coffee Trader and found that it covers the theme as well since the Jews in the story had to move to Amsterdam from Portugal to escape the Inquisition. A third of the way through and I'm loving it.

I read a book that fit both the time period and the theme Jamestown and the Founding of the Nation by Warren M. Billings. This book provides an overview of the history of Jamestown which was only in existence as a town during the 17th century. The book gives both the political and social (i.e. discovery and way of life) history of Jamestown, and shows how its history was both similar to and different from 17th century England. The final chapter covers various celebrations every 50 years up through 1957. The book's weakness in its final chapter is that it talks about celebrations and research which have occurred until the present without clearly stating the date the book was written which was around 1990. Considerable research has been done since then, described in Jamestown, the Buried Truth by William M. Kelso, head archaeologist of the Jamestown Rediscovery Project, published in 2006.
Mr. Billings' book contains a useful chronology and lists of chief executives (1607-1699) and Speakers of the House of Burgesses (1643-1699).

My HistoryCAT reads were:

Bride of New France, Suzanne Desrochers (Time & Theme)
Here at the End of the World We Learn to Dance, Lloyd Jones (Theme)

I hope everyone has enjoyed their 17th century and/or immigration theme reads this month! I ended up reading four books that fit both the theme and the time period. In Search of Ulster-Scots Land was a little disappointing, but I did learn some things from it. The Story of Penelope Stout and Penelope: The Story of the Half-Scalped Woman: A Narrative Poem are both about a distant ancestor who immigrated to North America in the first half of the 17th century. I'm certain that Making Haste from Babylon: The Mayflower Pilgrims and Their World: A New History will be among my top 5 reads of the year.

I finished Silence by Endo.

I read about 3/4 of this in July, so I'm going to count it.

Rebellion: The History of England from James I to the Glorious Revolution / Peter Ackroyd
2 stars

This is a political history of England in the 17th century.

I hadn't realized it was going to be all politics. There was a lot of conflict between the monarchy and the Parliament. It probably didn't help that it was on audio, which is always trickier to hold my attention. I guess, in addition to the politics, there was some religion, but that doesn't make it much (any?) better for me, either. My attention focused in brief intervals, but it wasn't enough to enjoy it or even rate it “ok” for me. I had hoped to learn about a new group of people, but it just wasn't interesting enough for me.

I read Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel for the time period and was really impressed with how Sobel gave new life to Galileo's story through the letters his eldest daughter, Suor Maria Celeste, sent to him.

All I manged for July was The Girl With the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier, which fit the time period, but not the theme.

I finished The Coffee Trader on Aug. 1st but I'm sneaking it in here. It took place in the time period and featured Jews who were displaced from their original homes in Spain and Portugal by the Inquisition. As I recommended in my thread, it was interesting for the topic but I lost no love for the characters.

Still working on my July pick... should have started it earlier last month before the heat wave began! But I hope to finish it this week.

I finished Three Restoration Comedies, which included plays by Etherege, Wycherley and Congreve. The plays were just OK but I enjoyed the editor's introduction. In it, he mentions another critic's comment about Restoration comedies, which I couldn't help agreeing with: "How could an audience both be clever enough to understand the story and stupid enough to be interested by it when they did?"

I also finished Eric Flint's alternate history fantasy, 1632, though I'm not sure this really counts for the challenge, as it's such a distorted view of the time period. It was fun if not very believable and I did learn something about the 30 years war.