The Center of a Great Empire: The Ohio Country in the Early American Republic

This research explores the feminist dimensions of Rowson's play, Slaves in Algiers or, a struggle for freedom (1794), from historicist and dialogical perspectives. More particularly, it looks at the play within the context of the politics of the early American republic to uncover how Rowson deploys the captivity of American sailors in Algiers (1785-1796) as a pretext to deconstrust the established gender power relations without hurting the sensibilities of her audience in its reference to the issue of black slavery. The research also unveils the many intertextual relationships that the play holds with the prevalent captivity culture of the day, sentimental literature, and more specifically with Cervantes’s Don Quixote.

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Hail Columbia!

10.1093/oso/9780190930615.001.0001 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Laura Lohman

Keyword(s):

Political Development ◽

Political Legitimacy ◽

War Of 1812 ◽

Early American Republic ◽

Revolutionary Era ◽

Early American ◽

Political Beliefs ◽

Political Debates ◽

Political Dominance ◽

The Government

This book examines music as political expression in the early American republic from the post-revolutionary era through the aftermath of the War of 1812. Americans used music as a discursive tool during every major political development. The nation’s leaders faced challenges ranging from threats to the structure of the government to impressment, all amid the nearly constant threat of embroilment in European war and insecurity about the republic’s viability. Americans responded by using music to protest, stifle protest, propagandize, and vie for political dominance. Through music they persuaded, intimidated, lauded, legitimated, and demonized their fellow Americans based on their political beliefs and actions. In music they debated crucial questions about the roles and rights of citizens, the structure of government, and the pursuit of peace and prosperity. They used music to construct powerful narratives about the nation’s history, values, and institutions; to celebrate the accomplishments of country, community, and individual; and to reinforce a sense of identity in national and partisan terms. Organized chronologically, chapters address musical forms of propaganda during ratification of the Constitution, musical expression of transnational revolutionary aspirations, Federalist and Republican narratives of political legitimacy in music, political debates in music during the embargo years, and musical myth-making during the War of 1812. The conclusion summarizes this music’s reception through the remainder of the nineteenth century.

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History Has Begun

10.1093/oso/9780197528341.001.0001 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Bruno Maçães

Keyword(s):

Foreign Policy ◽

Cold War ◽

American Culture ◽

Static Model ◽

Early American Republic ◽

Us History ◽

New Model ◽

Early American ◽

Slow Decline ◽

The Us

Popular consensus says that the US rose over two centuries to Cold War victory and world domination, and is now in slow decline. But is this right? History's great civilizations have always lasted much longer, and for all its colossal power, American culture was overshadowed by Europe until recently. What if this isn't the end? This book offers a compelling vision of America's future, both fascinating and unnerving. From the early American Republic, it takes us to the turbulent present, when, it argues, America is finally forging its own path. We can see the birth pangs of this new civilization in today's debates on guns, religion, foreign policy, and the significance of Trump. Should the coronavirus pandemic be regarded as an opportunity to build a new kind of society? What will its values be, and what will this new America look like? The book traces the long arc of US history to argue that in contrast to those who see the US on the cusp of decline, it may well be simply shifting to a new model, one equally powerful but no longer liberal. Consequently, it is no longer enough to analyze America's current trajectory through the simple prism of decline vs. progress, which assumes a static model—America as liberal leviathan. Rather, the book argues that America may be casting off the liberalism that has defined the country since its founding for a new model, one more appropriate to succeeding in a transformed world.

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