Philhellenes Clash with American Commerce

This chapter examines the internal conflict that emerged over popular support for the Greek cause. In 1815, after the War of 1812 and the Barbary Wars ended, American merchants hoped they had finally secured the ability to freely conduct business abroad. The goal had always been to advance an American perspective of commerce. National intervention had indeed secured a treaty, but popular intervention on the part of the philhellenes as well as European politics had prolonged the process. American officials not only had to navigate a geopolitical landscape, then dominated by less-than-friendly empires and monarchies, but they also struggled to explain to their Ottoman counterparts the nature of a republican society: some members of the American public may have supported Greek independence, but the United States government desired a friendly and lucrative relationship with the Sublime Porte. By the end of negotiations, the Greek Revolution had served as the backdrop for early American efforts at communicating their political identities to a larger world.

Abolitionism, Reform, and Philhellenic Rhetoric

This chapter discusses the masterpiece of the American sculptor Hiram Powers, The Greek Slave, which addresses the way popular support for the Greeks changed political rhetoric in America, specifically in antislavery and women's rights circles. Even though Americans characterized Ottoman slavery as a mark of despotism, before 1821 few Americans connected Ottoman slavery with American slavery. Slavery inflicted on Americans taken captive by North African states, which were loosely connected with the Ottoman Empire, dominated anti-Ottoman discussion throughout the Barbary Wars and was an important way the American public identified the Turks as tyrannical and despotic. By the close of the Greek Revolution, abolitionist authors, however, began to read philhellenic rhetoric against the grain, calling upon antebellum American audiences to do the same. Many Americans came to realize the contradiction in supporting reform on the other side of the world while similar problems existed at home, particularly with regard to slavery and women's rights.

Bravais Lattices

Most solid materials are crystalline, with their component atoms and molecules arranged in regular arrays throughout space. The French scientist Auguste Bravais showed that there are only 14 different ways of doing this, called the Bravais lattices, each with different symmetry. In other words, there is a Bravais equation for the number of different lattices: N L = 14. This chapter examines the relationship between Bravais lattices, crystal systems and symmetry groups, the use of Miller indices to describe crystal planes and directions, and the use of stereograms to describe crystal orientations. Bravais’ early life in the Ardèche in France is described, along with his exciting career during and after the French Revolution: as an officer in the French navy during the Barbary wars; as an explorer in North Africa, the Arctic and the Alps, notably leading the second scientific ascent of Mont Blanc; and as an environmental, geophysical and crystallographic scientist.

American Naval History: A Very Short Introduction

American Naval History: A Very Short Introduction charts the history of the United States Navy from its birth during the American Revolution, through its emergence as a global power amid the world wars of the twentieth century, and to its current role as a superpower in the twenty-first century. It highlights iconic moments of great drama pivotal to the nation’s fortunes: John Paul Jones’ attacks on the British during the Revolution, the Barbary Wars, and the arduous conquest of Iwo Jima. It also illuminates the technological, institutional, and functional changes of the U.S. Navy and captures its evolving culture and the debates between policymakers about what role the institution should play in world affairs.