Sent to the Wilderness: Mission Literature in Colonial America

The New World was certainly that. No books, no civilisation, no acceptable religion: merely idolatry and superstition. So, at least, was the common perception. ¹ The result was that much of the early print arriving in the Americas, other than that actually ordered and paid for by the colonists, was shipped across the Atlantic for two related reasons. First, the exported print was sent to proselytise. It was conversion propaganda for barbarian people and a tool in the battle for souls (and often a battle as much against rival crusaders as against the common, ignorant foe). Second, print was sent to shore up morale and offer guidance on practical matters. It was designed to reinforce friendships, extend links between common sectarian communities, remind the religious troops of the war aims and battle plan, and reassure both missionaries and their more retiring brethren that they were not forgotten.