Melissa Erman
Dr. Coronado
English 327
3/29/16
Robert Hornes Description of the
Providence of Carolina
When the new world was discovered there was an offering
of happiness, freedom, and new beginnings for a lot of people. Some people didn’t
need convincing to colonize America, while others did. There are not many
letters or articles where the main purpose is to convince people to colonize
America. Robert Horne’s text “Brief Description of the Providence of Carolina” which
was written in 1664 was written to promote more people to travel and colonize
America. This text is very positive, and mentions nothing of hardship. His
writing is so crisp that when he speaks of the fruits, seeds, and the air it’s
as if one can taste and feel these luxuries just through reading. Horne does an
excellent job at convincing people when it comes to living in the providence of
Carolina. This text is important because it allows scholars to discover why
people were so eager to colonize a strange land they knew nothing about. These
people spent weeks on ships, became ill, and many died just to see and
experience America. Was it texts like these that convinced people that America
was like an Eden? Once they arrived to America it wasn’t all rainbows and
butterflies. Colonists were at fighting with Native Americans, there were food
shortages, and many succumbed to a climate they weren’t used to. By reading
Hornes text, his purpose for the description of Carolina was to convince people
to settle in Carolina, and boost the economic state, and land value of the
Province of Carolina.
According to the website Early Narratives of Carolina the text “Brief Description of the
Providence of Carolina” was published in London in 1666, was one of several pamphlets,
and was supposed to increase land value. It was actually printed for Robert
Horne, but it is not certain if he wrote it himself. It describes the climate,
the food, and other natural conditions that was meant to aid people to travel
to Carolina. In securing settlers, the economy would boost, and land would
become more valuable. In other words this text was a marketing tool to get
people to colonize America, Carolina specifically. This is the reason why there
isn’t any negative subjects in this document. Whether or not Horne wrote this
himself, the text does a thorough job in describing all of the positive aspects
of Carolina.
Horne opens up his text by reassuring settlers that
Carolina is a safe place to live.. He says
There
is a Colony of English seated, who landed there the 29 of May, Anno1664.
and are in all about 800 persons, who have overcome all the difficulties that
attend the first attempts, and have cleered the way for those that come after,
who will find good houses to be in whilst their own are in building; good forts
to secure them from their enemies (Horne para 1)
By opening up the
pamphlet in this way, Horne is reassuring future travelers that the area is
safe, which was a main concern. Settlers constantly died of disease,
starvation, and were killed by Native Americans. In relation to Jamestown “The
Lost Colony gained its fame from its disappearance” (Langbauer 3). The colonists
of Jamestown died from numerous causes, which frightened some people and
prevented them from wanting to colonize America. Horne says that not only did
the original colonists survive, but they are going to welcome new comers with
open arms with houses for them to reside in while there’s is being built, and
forts that will protect them. With safety out of the way Horne dives into the
delights of the food in Carolina.
When Horne is describing the food that Carolina has to
offer settlers, there is a crispness to it. Not only is he saying there is
enough food for everyone, but he makes it desirable and exciting. Here he describes
some of the benefits of the fruit;
There are many sorts of fruit Trees, as Vines,
Medlars, Peach, Wild Cherries, Mulbury-Trees, and the Silk-worm breeding
naturally on them, with many other Trees for Fruit and for Building, for
Perfume and for Medicine, for which the English have no name; also several
sorts of Dying Stuff, which may prove of great advantage (Horne Para 4)
Not only does Horne name
the fruits individually, but he adds that silk worms that breed on the fruit, which
can be used to make silk. Not only are the fruit tress producing food, but
perfume and medicine that the English don’t have. New medicine can be very
appealing to settlers because disease was a major problem in this time. Some of
these colonists lived in cities, and did not see fruit trees around their home
and they didn’t have silk worms that they could utilize. Everything about this
excerpt says Carolina has new things to offer, and these new things are highly
beneficial. Carolina not only has desirable produce, but desirable animals as
well; “Cattle both great and small, which live well all the Winter, and keep
their fat without Fodder; Hogs find so much Mast and other Food in the Woods,
that they want no other care than a Swine-herd to keep them from running wild”
(Para 4). Plentiful animals that are healthy, and don’t require a lot of maintenance
is a dream come true. Here Horne is trying to appeal to farmers. Nowhere in
this text does he mention animals being sick, or people going through food
shortages. Not only are the farm animals perfect in Carolina, but so are the
animals that can be hunted according to the text;
The
Woods are stored with Deer and Wild Turkeys, of a great magnitude, weighing
many times above 50l. a piece, and of a more pleasant tast than in England,
being in their proper climate; other sorts of Beasts in the Woods that are good
for food; and also Fowls, whose names are not known to them (para 4)
Horne is very specific
here in describing the animals that can be hunted. He says that not only can
colonists survive off the land, but can also make good money doing it. He
describes the taste of the meat to England and says it’s a “more pleasant taste”
and it’s because they are in their proper climate. The entire excerpt on the
food and the resources available in this text is relatable to the Garden of
Eden. Horne paints a very pretty picture and if I was living in the 1600’s this
would sound very appealing to me. But he leaves out the gritty details because
the main purpose of the pamphlet was to promote Carolina.
Life then was hard, and by leaving illness,
and hardship out of the pamphlet, Horne is able to create a paradise and
convince people to Colonize America. But in reality, life was not that easy in
Carolina. In fact “poor white North Carolinians at the winding up of the year
scarcely have bread to eat despite the fertility of their environment” (Hubbs
3). Horne leaves class and economic growth out in his pamphlet. Colonists who
suffered financially didn’t have the money of grow crops or raise animals. He never mentions what becomes of people who
are suffering financially. While he describes the exotic fruits, and the
animals of plenty he leaves out that the “poor southerners have consumed clay
to ease hunger pains” (Hubbs 3). Unfortunately the colonists who read pamphlets
such as this and took the chance to colonize America had to take the risk of
dying of starvation, or from Native Americans, or from illness.
While
this text is very biased, it is very important when studying early colonialism.
Perhaps scholars can understand why settlers decided to leave England and other
country’s to pursue America. This text is a marketing strategy, and its job was
to make Carolina sound like an Eden. The fruits, the animals, the protection,
and the welcoming inhabitants is everything a settler could ask for. Perhaps documents
like this I what led to the idea of the American Dream. Because this pamphlet,
whose author is pretty unknown, has put a dream into writing. This small excerpt
might just be enough to inspire others to dream of a different life and embark
on the journey to America. Without documents such as these, America might not
be the country it is today.
Works Cited Page
Horne,
Robert. A Brief Description of the Province of Carolina. Narratives of Early
Carolina, 1650-1708.Early America’s Digital Archive. Ed. Alexander Salley, Jr.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1911. Web.
Hubbs,
Jolene. "Documenting Hunger: Famineways in Contemporary Southern Women’s writing." The
Southern Literary Journal 47.2 (2015): 1-19. Web.
Langbauer,
Laurie. "Early British Travelers to the U. S. South." The
Southern Literary Journal 40.1 (2008): 1-18. Web.
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