NAAL - Volume A, Beginnings to 1820.

Preface to the Seventh Edition

"Beginnings to 1700," edited by Wayne Franklin, continues to feature narratives by a range of early European explorers of the North American continent. Along with a cluster on the much-recounted story of Hannah Dustan's captivity - which intensified European fear of Native populations and was used to rationalize stern measures against them - the section adds material from The Bay Psalm Book, Roger Williams, Edward Taylor, Robert Calef, and The New-England Primer, and retains the complete text of Mary Rowlandson's captivity narrative. The heightened attention in this section to the combined religious and territorial aspirations of the 'Anglo settlers gives students a fuller sense of the conflicts that ensued when the North American continent was perceived, by Europeans, as a "New World." We note, too, the important role of the experiences of, and narratives by, women in the early European settlement of the future United States.

In an innovation new to the Seventh Edition, each editor has gathered short texts that illuminate the cultural, historical, intellectual, and literary concerns of the period. The resulting cluster bring together markedly diverse voices - 48 new to the anthology - in selections that highlight the range of views on a key issue or topic.