Pre-eighteenth century America was a uniquely pragmatic, utopian
society-a new world in which the expectations of a new beginning brought
by explorers, traders, and settlers often conflicted violently the
Native Americans they encountered. In Era of Persuasion: American
Thought and Culture 1521-1680, E. Brooks Holifield identifies the act of
persuasion as the common ground on which these disparate groups stood.
As he clearly documents and persuasively interprets an America that some
readers may not recognize, Holifield includes compelling insights into
the social expressions of Native Americans and Africans as well as
Europeans. His view extends from the pueblos of New Mexico and the
missions of France to the plantations of Virginia and the towns of New
England. Era of Persuasion portrays an early American society populated
by passionate visionaries with urgently persuasive purposes who lived by
applied philosophy and inspired action, and will be appreciated by the
curious reader and avid historian alike.