(SpringerBriefs in Well-Being and Quality of Life Research) 1st ed. 2020 edition
by Thomas Jordan (Author)
This book discusses the quality of life of early modern Britons
emigrating to the New World, which became possible with advances in
shipbuilding and long-distance sailing. It examines the status and
quality of life of those crossing the Atlantic Ocean under legal
contract, the indenture – largely to the Carolinas and the communities
adjoining Chesapeake Bay in the USA in the 17th century, and also
describes and numerically estimates the quality of life among Britons
sentenced to “transportation beyond the seas,” who were transported to
Australia in the mid-19th century. The author examines the experience of
migrants, both adults and children, traveling to the New World and
their fate, drawing on documentary sources like state historical records
as well as self-documentation from the few surviving diaries. The book
also creates profiles of the quality of life of emigrants by gender and
age and places the processes of emigration in the social–political
contexts of the 17th and 19th centuries.
By considering ways in
which aspects of social life were organized in eras before structural
inquiry into the quality of life, the book provides interesting
historical perspectives as well as methodological insights. It appeals
to researchers and students interested in the quality of life and
wellbeing, and in the history of modern Europe, particularly of the
British Empire.
