Share This Page
Immigrant and Entrepreneur
The Atlantic World of Caspar Wistar, 1650–1750
224 pages | 14 illustrations/8 maps | 6 x 9 | 2008
ISBN 978-0-271-03372-3 | cloth: $55.00 sh
Paperback edition is not available
“This book has been much anticipated by scholars familiar with the author’s work and this field. It will be the prime exhibit for the growing community of Atlantic historians, teaching early American or Atlantic history, who are anxious to broaden the context of colonial America beyond the British and African connections.”—Ian Steele, University of Western Ontario
Immigrant and Entrepreneur examines the life of German immigrant and successful businessman Caspar Wistar. Wistar arrived in Philadelphia in 1717 with nearly no money; at the time of his death in 1750, his wealth outstripped that of the contemporary elite more than threefold. Through this in-depth look at an immigrant’s path to achieving the American Dream, Beiler reevaluates the modern understanding of the entrepreneurial ideal and the immigrant experience in the colonial era.
The book follows Wistar’s life from his family’s German influences to the reasons behind his desire to emigrate and the networks he used to establish himself as a wealthy entrepreneur once he reached his adopted home. Beiler draws from Wistar’s compelling story to examine the greater processes at work in the Atlantic world of the eighteenth century. Wistar’s success exemplifies how European influence, acculturation patterns, and an innovative cultivation of networks helped immigrants broaden colonial American influence in the Atlantic world.
Rosalind Beiler is Associate Professor of History at the University of Central Florida.
Contents
List of Maps and Illustrations
List of Tables
Preface and Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction
Part I: Wistar's Palatine World
1 Men in the Middle: Foresters and Hunters in the Early Modern Palatinate
2 Individual Pursuits Versus the Common Good: The Constraints of Village Life in Waldhilsbach
3 Contested Identities: Religious Affiliation and Diversity in the Palatinate
4 Leaving Home: The Decision to Emigrate
Part II: Wistar's American World
5 Establishing Professional and Family Connections: New Beginnings in Pennsylvania6 Securing a Legacy: Wistar's Pennsylvania Land Speculation
7 Webs of Influence: Transatlantic Trade and Patronage
8 Creative Adaptations: The United Glass Company and Wistarburg, New Jersey
Conclusion
Appendixes
1. Genealogy of Andreas Wüster
2. Genealogy of Hans Caspar Wüster
3. Genealogy of Caspar Wistar
Selected Bibliography
Index