The Accidental American is a look at the underside of 17th century America, the adventure tale of a British lad who is rescued at sea by Captain Kidd, jumps ship in Charleston and makes his precarious way to New York, where he is reclaimed by Captain Kidd; falls in love with Kidd's young wife, Sarah, who instructs him in the myriad ways of love, short of sinful fornication. When Kidd goes back to privateering he, knowing of his young wife's feeling for Christopher, insists that he come along. As history tells us, the expedition ends badly for Kidd, but not for Christopher, who is freed from prison by his father and introduced to the son he did not know he had. Returning to New York with his son, he marries Sarah and they retire to a peaceful life in New Jersey.