From the Editor

Readers will note that this issue of Early American Studies has a new look, a stylistic turn that corresponds with a change in editorship. The thoughtful, cutting-edge scholarship will be familiar, but the addition of historical fiction will, undoubtedly, surprise those who take their history without sugar. Since I look forward to publishing historical fiction, poetry, and drama along with traditional scholarship—in short, to expanding the boundaries of historical thinking—I am hoping that the surprise is a pleasant one. The Early American Studies Editorial Board has weighed in with excellent proposals, some of which are reflected here, others that will be visible in forthcoming issues.

The journal welcomes submissions with an early American content from every discipline: history and English to be sure, but also art, music, and the sciences. We would like to hear from colleagues distant from the United States, those who write in languages other than English, and those who have found documents relating to early America in foreign archives. And to paraphrase an advertisement from another time: we're looking for a few good writers. More than a few would be even better.

The traditional, albeit innovative, articles in Early American Studies are meant to start (or continue) a dialogue on a particular subject. The essays may be the latest word, but they are not intended to be the last word on any topic; rather, they are part of an ongoing historical conversation that considers what has been written in the past and what might be discovered in the future. And we have no doubt that such discoveries will be made by senior and junior scholars—both of whom are represented in this issue—as well as by those whose interest in early America is nonprofessional, but just as thoughtful and insightful. Letters to the Editor will be warmly received as well.

For reasons that have as much to do with timing, current interests, or just good fortune, this issue is interestingly cohesive. Half the articles deal with events in the Caribbean (Clavin, Hodson, and Koot). Bond's essay concerns both race and labor, ingredients integral to two of the Caribbean articles as well. And if Bond's emphasis is on the testimony of African Americans, Rouleau reminds us that the words of seafaring men have communal meaning as well.

This issue of Early American Studies introduces two new departments. The first, "Consider the Source," is designed to highlight primary documents, and Klepp does this admirably with her analysis of an obscure satire written by our old friend William Moraley. Historical fiction, poetry, and drama will be included as opportunity presents itself in the section "Imagine the Past." In this issue Downs's short story positions fiction as an alternative way of thinking about political history. Although this particular piece has been penned by a modern author, it is likely that fiction writers from the past will find their way to the pages of Early American Studies as well. Indeed, the line between historical fact and historical fiction was no less blurred then than it is now.