European imperialists began to dream of other kinds of wealth besides gold in the New World

The Colonial Search for a Southern Eden compiles three insightful lectures delivered by renowned historian Louis B. Wright at the Dancy Foundation in 1951. Wright explores the 17th‑century English colonial vision for the American South—not as a gold rush, but as a fertile terrain primed for economic prosperity through well‑planned plantations and commercial crops. 

Across its concise 75 pages, Wright charts the transformation of settlers’ aspirations—from hopes of quick wealth to cultivated visions of tobacco, silk, sugar, and cotton plantations meant to create a utopian "Southern Eden". These were carefully cultivated not just for their profitability but to establish structured, enduring societies complementary to English economic goals. 

Wright—a Guggenheim Fellow, Benjamin Franklin Medalist, and former director of the Folger Shakespeare Library—brings scholarly precision and elegant prose to this study, making it accessible to both historians and general readers. Publishers and reviewers have praised it as “extremely interesting and well written,” highlighting its focused yet comprehensive interpretation of colonial Southern motivations and their long-term implications. This work stands as a pivotal contribution to early American economic and colonial history—offering a nuanced understanding of how idealistic and ideological goals shaped plantation culture and southern development in the Atlantic colonies. 

With its concise structure and authoritative voice, The Colonial Search for a Southern Eden is ideal for historians, students, and enthusiasts seeking to understand the ideological underpinnings of colonial Southern society.