A Cold Welcome: The Little Ice Age and Europe’s
Encounter with North America
Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2017
Author: Sam White, Associate Professor, Department of History, Ohio
State University
LCCN 2017016539 / ISBN 9780674971929
376 pages
This new book by Sam White, details the period of the
16th and early 17th centuries during the time the
Americas were being explored and colonized. Mr. White deals with the
contemporary perceptions and science about climate change over the past several
centuries, climate reconstruction and the effects of the Little Ice Age in
North America, climate and weather-related challenges of the new colonies and
how climate affected the interaction with aboriginal societies.
The events and settlements described, with
accompanying maps include:
·
Early Spanish
explorations around the southeastern coast of North America (Florida &
South Carolina)
·
The Roanoke colony
and surrounding region (North Carolina)
·
The Frobisher,
Davis, Waymouth and Knight expeditions (Labrador Sea)
·
The Jamestown
colony and surrounding region (Virginia)
·
The Gosnold and
Waymouth expeditions (Massachusetts, New Hampshire & Maine)
·
The Popham
(Sagadahoc) colony (Maine)
·
The voyages of
Henry Hudson (North Atlantic Ocean, Barents Sea, Labrador Sea, Hudson Bay, Nova
Scotia & New England to New York coastlines)
·
Routes of the
Coronado and Onate expeditions (Mexico and the western states of Texas, Kansas,
Arizona & New Mexico)
·
Early Spanish
exploration of the California coast (Mexico & California)
·
The Cartier
expeditions (Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick & Quebec)
·
Champlain in
Canada and New England (Quebec, Nova Scotia, New York & New England
coastline)
Information was gleaned from archaeological,
historical and scientific studies, and every obtainable written record in the archives
of the nations who sponsored the expeditions.
White explains how the Europeans were unprepared for
the lands they tried to settle in, the inhabitants already there and the
difficulties in obtaining food to sustain themselves. He compares the various
colonies and exploratory ventures in many part of the continent, drawing
parallels in their common failures, largely due to the climate prevailing at
the time.
New visitors to the New World encountered very
different physical conditions and climates than they were used to at the same
latitudes, partly due to the relative position to the oceans and the size and
variability of the North American continent. The period of the Little Ice Age
was one of harsh environmental conditions worldwide, or at least in the world
these people knew. Life was no less challenging in North America, in many
instances more-so.
The book will be on interest to family historians who
are looking for answers to why their forebears left Europe for the colonies of
the promised lands of the New World and what conditions they found that
affected their new lives.
There
is also a presentation by the author on YouTube.
