Fear of Hot Climates in the Anglo-American Colonial Experience

Abstract

English people contemplating transplantation to the southern parts of North America and to the West Indies in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries expressed profound anxiety over the effect hot climates would have on them. The conventional wisdom about the effect of hot climates on English constitutions is illustrated by the story of Nicholas Leverton and Hope Sherrard. Fear of hot climates was balanced by the belief that the sun was the source of riches. Despite the widespread conviction that English people would sicken and possibly die in hot climates, the majority of those interested in America went or were sent to the southern regions instead of New England or Newfoundland. As early as the late sixteenth century, English colonial promoters were aware that house styles could contribute greatly to health and comfort in very hot climates. Clothing was the most easily manipulated element of the personal environment.

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