The Pilgrims And Pocahontas Rival Myths Of American Origin

by Uhry Abrams, Ann

• ISBN13: 9780813334974
• ISBN10: 0813334977
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-06-18
• Publisher: Basic Books

Summary

Following the American Revolution, citizens of the United States began to write a history of their new nation starting with the first English settlements, Jamestown and Plymouth. Virginians embellished the saga of Jamestown and Pocahontas, the Indian woman who, by popular accounts, saved the colony. Similarly, New Englanders sanctified the Pilgrims and their mythical first step on Plymouth Rock.By comparing these two origin myths, investigating them in art, literature, and popular memory, Ann Uhry Abrams uncovers surprising similarities in traditions of remembrance as well as striking differences in the character of the myths and the messages they convey. During these heated debates of antebellum America, the escalating rivalry between North and South prompted an array of artists, authors, and politicians to refashion the legends to their needs, with Massachusetts turning the settlers of Plymouth into pious and industrious saints, Virginians portraying Pocahontas as the savior of English civilization in North America. As these images were codified, tales of Jamestown and Plymouth bolstered debates over immigration, women's rights, abolition, Indian removal, and a host of other issues of national import. And when sectional rifts exploded into the Civil War, the stories fueled the flames that pitted North against South.

Author Biography

Ann Uhry Abrams taught art history at Pelman College, Georgia State University, Agnes Scott College and Emory University and is the author of The Valiant Hero: Benjamin West and Grand-Style History Painting.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	ix
Preface: Finding the Myths	xiii
Part 1 Exploring the Myths
Invented Traditions	3	(12)
Myths and History	15	(20)
Ancestors and Commemoration	35	(16)
Part 2 Articulating the Myths
Lady Rebecca or the Forest Siren?	51	(22)
The Landing of the Forefathers	73	(36)
Vanishing Indians and Noble Women	109	(30)
Compact with Destiny	139	(26)
Part 3 Combating the Myths
Saints and Sinners	165	(28)
Prelude to Battle	193	(28)
The Pilgrims Versus Pocahontas	221	(24)
Part 4 Transforming the Myths
The Pilgrims Triumphant	245	(16)
The Myths Triumphant	261	(22)
Notes	283	(64)
Selected Bibliography	347	(16)
Index	363