Six months in America, vol. 2 (of 2)

In Short

Godfrey Thomas Vigne’s travelogue chronicles his journey through the United States and Canada during the early nineteenth century. Moving from Washington and Harper’s Ferry northward to the Great Lakes, down through the Canadas, and back into New England and New York, the book records observations on local manners, public works, natural wonders, and distinct social experiments. Vigne observes the contrasting aesthetic preferences of Americans and Englishmen, investigates communal settlements, evaluates the economic realities of slavery, and details the diverse fauna and geography of the frontier. It has lasted as a sharp, contemporary window into the social and physical fabric of North America during a period of rapid expansion.

The Story

The narrative begins as the author leaves Washington to travel toward Harper’s Ferry, noting the American preference for practical improvements like canals and railroads over untamed wilderness. He visits the Great Falls of the Potomac and experiences a slight disappointment at Harper’s Ferry where the rivers glide quietly through the Blue Mountains. Journeying onward, he visits Braddock’s field near Pittsburgh, reflecting on historical conflicts, before inspecting Economy, a German communal settlement led by Mr. Rapp that operates on shared property and celibacy.

Shifting focus to the agricultural and social realities of the South, Vigne examines the institution of slavery, detailing the economic drawbacks of forced labor, the slovenly appearance of slave-operated farms, and the constant anxieties surrounding a potential uneducated uprising. Moving underground, he explores the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, correcting common myths about its fossilized monsters and identifying the human remains of an ancient, unrecorded nation buried within.

The journey then takes him through Detroit and into the lakes and rivers of the Canadian frontier, passing the historic sites of the War of 1812 and observing indigenous communities near Michilimackinac. At Niagara, he ventures behind the roaring sheet of water under a heavy oilskin dress. Reaching Quebec and Montreal, Vigne details the rich cultivation of the St. Lawrence valley, the legislative structure of Lower Canada, and the economic viability of emigration. He catalogs local game birds, including American woodcocks and various species of grouse. Returning to the United States, he admires the civic neatness and intellectual society of Boston, visits Faneuil Hall, and concludes his American tour in New York with a curious observation of the Shakers worshipping in Lebanon.

How It Unfolds

• The journey begins: The author departs Washington for Harper’s Ferry, contrasting English romantic notions of wild scenery with American enthusiasm for canals and practical infrastructure.
• Communal experiments: He visits Economy, a German settlement near Pittsburgh governed by Mr. Rapp, where property is shared and celibacy is strictly enforced among the members.
• Southern realities: Traveling through slave districts, he evaluates the heavy economic and moral toll of slavery, noting its impact on agricultural productivity and the rigid control required to maintain it.
• Underground exploration: He descends into the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, finding ancient human skeletons rather than the mythical monster bones he had anticipated.
• Northern waters: Moving through Detroit, Lake St. Clair, and Michilimackinac, he records encounters with native wigwams and observes the stark differences between American and Canadian settlements.
• Under the falls: He dons an oilskin suit and creeps along the hazardous path behind the roaring waters of Niagara at the Termination Rock.
• Canadian vistas: He surveys the agricultural landscape of Quebec from the ramparts, recalling the history of General Wolfe on the plains of Abraham.
• New England society: He arrives in Boston, praising its refined society, historic Faneuil Hall, and the orderly atmosphere of the city streets.
• Shaker worship: The narrative concludes near Albany with a visit to a Shaker community, where he observes their unique devotional dances and peculiar rhythmic hymns.

The People

• Mr. Rapp: A Lutheran clergyman and superintendent of the German settlement at Economy who preaches brotherly love, enforces celibacy, and governs his followers with patriarchal confidence.
• Colonel By: The brilliant engineer responsible for the magnificent design and construction of the locks along the Rideau canal.
• General Hull and General Brock: Historical commanders whose maneuvers at Detroit during the late war are recalled by the author while exploring the frontier.
• Tecumseh: The celebrated Indian chief whose death during the battle of the Thames led directly to the dissolution of the hostile Indian confederacy.
• General Harrison: The American commander who secured a decisive victory over British forces at the river Thames.
• General Wolfe: The gallant British commander whose nighttime approach and victory on the plains of Abraham secured Quebec at the cost of his life.

In Its Own Voice

The Englishman, who sees enough of cultivation in his own country, travels to other lands in search of wilder scenery, and gazes with delight on the immense forests of America.

Vigne contrasts the aesthetic desires of British travelers with the pragmatic inclinations of Americans toward cultivated land.

If they could write, they would forge their pass-papers, and run away; and those who can, are always ready to do this for those who cannot.

The author explains the strict denial of literacy to enslaved populations as a measure to prevent escapes.

A bluff, sir! don’t you know what a bluff is?

A local resident offers a stubbornly circular definition when pressed by the author to explain a common American geographical term.

What It's Really About

The book explores the contrasting identities, cultures, and values of the Old World and the New, examining how physical environments shape national character. It investigates the consequences of rapid industrial and agricultural expansion, the uneasy realities of human bondage in agrarian economies, and the viability of utopian social experiments. Vigne questions how language, governance, and social etiquette diverge when transplanted across the Atlantic, analyzing whether American republicanism and frontier pragmatism represent a superior evolution or a departure from civilized refinement. Beneath the travelogue lies an inquiry into how a vast, untamed continent alters the ambitions of the people who clear its forests and build its canals.

Why Read It Today

Modern readers interested in nineteenth-century history will find immense value in this direct, unvarnished look at North America during its formative decades of expansion. Vigne writes with a sharp eye for social detail, recording everything from the cost of mutton and servant wages to the specific linguistic quirks that signaled an emerging American dialect. While contemporary readers must navigate period attitudes regarding race and class, as well as occasional dense descriptive passages, the book rewards patience with vivid, firsthand vignettes of life on the frontier. It feels like walking alongside a deeply curious, highly articulate companion who is entirely honest about what he admires and what he finds baffling. The reading experience offers a rare, grounded intimacy with landscapes and cities long before modern development transformed them, leaving you with lasting mental images of silent rivers, bustling timber trade, and the thundering mist of Niagara.