This book is about the travels and observations of a Swedish parliamentarian and business man in the West Indies, America and Canada, and the fascinating people he met. Olof Wijk was a Swedish parliamentarian and business man who visited America, Canada and the West Indies from February to October 1829. He was an astute observer of factories, canals, archives, prisons (in the Swedish Parliament he was active on prison reform), utopian settlements and many other aspects of American society at that time. During his extensive journey in North America he met many interesting people, such as President Andrew Jackson; former president John Quincy Adams; Joseph Bonaparte, elder brother of Napoleon; Mr Murat, son of the former King of Naples; Robert Owen, the Scottish utopian; Martin van Buren, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and later president; Henry Clay, “The Great Pacificator”; and many others.
The distinguished Swedish-American historian and genealogist Nils William Olsson prepared the Notes, and published this valuable document on 19th century North America. The book has been translated from Swedish by Mikael Grut.
