James I, the King of England, had been prescient when he affirmed that the religious separatism advocated by the Puritans would lead to the end of the monarchy: "No Bishop, no King". As a result, the roots of America overlap with those of the Reformation that started in Europe in the sixteenth century.

Contrary to a rewriting of history on the basis of the ongoing ideological debates and interrogations of our times, Philippe Rouen invites us to discover the evolution of the modern man who shakes off the obligations of European tradition. He rehabilitates the private sphere as well as the individual in the face of the determinism of political or diplomatic structures.

The author accomplishes this through the prosopography of an American family group, the Pintards, whose members knew how to adapt themselves constantly to the consequences of this evolution, to the point of often becoming its historical actors.

All these characters, who had really existed, are brought together in a collection comprising four volumes, constructed like an American epic divided into twelve songs, which offers a partial explanation and illustration of the old but also contemporary separatist trends which mark the history of the United States.

The Plowmen of America is the first volume translated into English.