British Visions of America, 1775-1820: Republican Realities

by Macleod,Emma

• ISBN13: 9781851966509
• ISBN10: 1851966501
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2015-07-15
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries Britain's perception of America varied between a set of colonies, a utopia, a market, and an experiment. Macleod examines changing British conceptions of America across the political spectrum during a period of political, cultural and intellectual upheaval. These shifting perceptions are in evidence in the writings of political commentators including Samuel Johnson, Thomas Paine, John Gifford, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Such figures helped to form the ideological foundations which both led to and reflected changing opinions among the populace. Split into two parts, covering the years 1775-1783 and 1783-1820, Macleod incorporates British writers of conservative, liberal and radical views. A further chapter is dedicated entirely to the writings of William Cobbett, who famously changed his political ideas from conservative to radical. It is this focus on the ideological spectrum within Britain during this time, rather than on the official political position, that makes this study such a valuable contribution to the literature on Enlightenment history.