Wales, the Welsh and the Making of America

Vivienne Sanders author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:University of Wales Press

Published:15th Jul '21

Should be back in stock very soon

Wales, the Welsh and the Making of America cover

• The work is written in an accessible fashion. • It uses biographies to give readers an interesting and useful overview of the history and development of the United States. • It could give Welsh readers a sense of pride in the achievements of Welsh people and their descendants • It clarifies for American readers the motivation and achievements of those of their ancestors who came from Wales, and demonstrates how valuable immigrants can be. • It synthesises and connects the history and development of the United States with interesting biographies of individuals of Welsh ancestry • It emphasises the importance that individuals of Welsh ancestry played in the development of the United States • It explains the impact of immigration upon the United States

The exciting story of the Welsh immigrants and their descendants who made a disproportionate contribution to the creation and growth of the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth.In 1971, Californian congressman Thomas M. Rees told the US House of Representatives that ‘very little has been written of what the Welsh have contributed in all walks of life in the shaping of American history’. This book is the first systematic attempt to both recount and evaluate the considerable yet undervalued contribution made by Welsh immigrants and their immediate descendants to the development of the United States. Their lives and achievements are set within a narrative outline of American history that emphasises the Welsh influence upon the colonists’ rejection of British rule, and upon the establishment, expansion and industrialisation of the new American nation. This book covers both the famous and the unsung who worked and fought to acquire greater prosperity and freedom for themselves and for their nation.

"A comprehensive cultural history of the United States of America and Wales, written in a lively accessible style with a cast of heroes of Welsh ancestry such as tough miners’ union boss John Llewelyn Lewis and America’s greatest architect Frank Lloyd Wright ..."      
--Elis-Thomas

-- Lord Elis-Thomas

"There is no better overview of the Welsh in America. The scope is wide, the scholarship impressive. Welsh racism and anti-Irish prejudice co-existed with Welsh achievement and overestimated achievement. Those new to the subject and established scholars will enjoy and learn from this book."
--Hywel Davies, author of Transatlantic Brethren

-- Hywel Davies, author of Transatlantic Brethren

"From Madoc to the early Quaker migrations – then on through revolution and civil war to industrial and modern times – the good, the bad and the ugly are all represented in this wonderfully readable book. A must for anyone interested in Welsh history and our often overlooked place in the wider Atlantic world."
--Paul Frame, Honorary Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies

-- Paul Frame, Honorary Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies
"This is a scholarly, revisionist account of the contribution of Wales and the Welsh to the making of modern America. Based on thorough academic research, and exceptionally well written and readable, it provides a scholarly overview of the key themes of the part played by the Welsh in the colonization of North America, the role of the philosopher Richard Price, and the relationship of Welsh settlers and their direct descendants in both the American War of Independence and the American Civil War. Long-term patterns of assimilation and the contribution of the Welsh to the industrialization of North America are also considered here at some length. The volume is supported by a most helpful bibliographical essay on the most useful published sources in the field."
--J. Graham Jones, Former Head of the Welsh Political Archive, National Library of Wales 
  -- J. Graham Jones, Former Head of the Welsh Political Archive, National Library of W

ISBN: 9781786837905

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

288 pages