Reacclimating to the Colonies: American Travelers Abroad and Their Experiences Returning to the Colonies, 1740-1776

Susan Lindsey Lively

Americans who traveled to Britain in the generation before the American Revolution found themselves to be socially isolated, professionally frustrated, and culturally alienated. In their disappointment, they fostered a sense of otherness that amplified their sense of identity as Americans. Surprisingly, the travelers had an equally hard time readjusting to the colonies when they returned home. However, it was not until they returned to the colonies that they could truly make the distinction between the utopian visions of America they fostered abroad and the admirable but myopic reality of everyday life in the colonies. [WP# 98030]