Bound for America: The Transportation of British Convicts to the Colonies, 1718-1775

by A. Roger Ekirch

From 1718 to 1775, British courts banished 50,000 convicts to America--the largest body of immigrants, aside from African slaves, ever sent across the Atlantic--in hopes of restoring social peace at home without posing the threat to traditional freedoms raised by the death penalty or a harsh corrective system. Drawing upon archives in Britain and the United States, Bound for America examines the critical role this punishment played in Britain's criminal justice system. It also assesses the nature of the convict trade, the social origins of the transported felons, and the impact such a large criminal influx had on colonial society.

Genres: History, American History

277 pages, Paperback

First published December 10, 1987

Reviews

[Kathleen Fulton · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this subject has recently become popular this book was written a few decades ago and includes detailed research. I had previously read Robert Hughes' The Fatal Shore and it seems transports to America fared better than those sent to Australia.

[Ishbel]

read for HIST301 Historian's Craft research Fall 2022

[Devon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book primarily to aid in my research for the U.S. History Term Paper I'm writing on convicts being used and sold as indentured servants in Colonial America.

So far, I found this book to be an excellent research tool. Not only does Ekirch go into tales of different convicts, he studies Britain's reasoning for starting this practice (which is something I had no luck researching online), social implications of convicts as freemen in the new world, how they were treated in Britain and here, what convicts did in the America, he even included rebellions and stories of them running away. Oh, yeah, the gangs of Britain from the 18th century was also very interesting to read about and Ekirch suggestions on why he thinks that gangs didn't really take to the new world. Also, the end of convicts as indentured servants.

I found this to be a great and useful read. I would recommend this book for anyone who is curious about learning about some more of U.S. history that's not really taught or perhaps looking into their family history (no, Ekirch does not list all of convicts who were sold or brought over to colonial america, but he does an awesome job of writing about what it was like for them.)

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very scholarly, focusing on evidence gleaned from primary documents- which, as the author notes, means the experience of Irish transports (which the authorities tended to hide by reclassifying them as 'indentures') and Scottish transports is largely overshadowed by those from England and Wales. Tended slightly to dry, but still an interesting read for anyone interested in the subject. I found the bits dealing with what for lack of a better term would be called 'recidivism' most interesting- it never occurred to me that people would be transported twice, much less that some gangs took transportation into account as part and parcel of 'doing business'.

[Fred Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Valuable research revealing a little know episode of American history. It is generally know that Australia was founded as a convict colony (and remained primarily so for almost 100 years); Ekirch's research indicates that some 50,000 convicts were transpported to the Americas (including West Indies) which is not insignificant relative to the 150,000 convicts transported to Australia.