Empire and The Literature of Sensation: An Anthology of Nineteenth-Century Popular Fiction

334 Pages·2007·1.15 MB·English

by  Jesse Alemßn

Empire
and the literature of sensation
multi-ethnic literatures of the americas
amritjit singh, carla l. peterson, c. lok chua, series editors
The MELA series aims to expand and deepen our sense of American literatures as multi-
cultural and multi-lingual and works to establish a broader understanding of “America”
as a complex site for the creation of national, transnational, and global narratives.
Volumes in the series focus on the recovery, consolidation, and reevaluation of literary ex-
pression in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean as shaped by the experience of
race, ethnicity, national origin, region, class, gender, and language.
Lin Yutang
chinatown family
edited and with an introduction byC. Lok Chua
Pauline E. Hopkins
daughter of the revolution:
the major nonfiction works of pauline e. hopkins
edited and with an introduction by Ira Dworkin
empire and the literature of sensation:
an anthology of nineteenth-century popular fiction
edited and with an introduction by Jesse Alemán and Shelley Streeby
Claude McKay
a long way from home
edited and with an introduction by Gene Andrew Jarrett
shadowed dreams: women’s poetry of the harlem
renaissance, 2nd edition, revised and expanded
edited and with an introduction by Maureen Honey
Empire
and
Literature
the
Sensation
of
an anthology of
nineteenth-century
Popular Fiction
edited and with an introduction by
Jesse Alemán and Shelley Streeby
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY, AND LONDON
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Empire and the literature of sensation : an anthology of nineteenth-century popular fiction / edited and with an
introduction by Jesse Alemán and Shelley Streeby.
p. cm. — (Multi-ethnic literatures of the Americas)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-8135-4075-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8135-4076-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. American fiction—19th century. 2. Popular literature—United States. 3. Imperialism—Fiction.
4. Indigenous peoples—America—Fiction. I. Alemán, Jesse, 1968– II. Streeby, Shelley, 1963–
PS653.E67 2007
813.309358—dc22
2006039168
A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British Library.
This collection copyright © 2007 by Rutgers, The State University
Introduction and scholarly apparatus copyright © 2007 by Jesse Alemán and Shelley Streeby
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, or by
any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. Please contact
Rutgers University Press, 100 Joyce Kilmer Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8099. The only exception to this
prohibition is “fair use” as defined by U.S. copyright law.
Text design by Adam B. Bohannon
Visit our Web site: http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu
Manufactured in the United States of America
To Danizete Martínez,
because your help with this book
was not thankless.

contents
Chronology ix
Introduction xiii
A Note on the Texts xxxi
The Female Warrior 1
Magdalena, The Beautiful Mexican Maid 21
ned buntline
’Bel of Prairie Eden 107
george lippard
A Thrilling and Exciting Account of the Sufferings
and Horrible Tortures Inflicted on Mortimer Bowers
and Miss Sophia Delaplain 201
The Prisoner of La Vintresse 229
mary andrews denison
Explanatory Notes 287

chronology
1803 The Louisiana Purchase between the United States and France creates a
boundary dispute with Spain regarding ownership of Florida and the
Spanish colony of Texas, near the Rio Grande River.
1810 The Mexican War for Independence from Spain begins.
1812 The War of 1812 between the United States and Britain begins.
1815 Treaty of Ghent ends the War of 1812.
1817–1818 First Seminole War in Florida between the United States and the Seminole
Indians.
1819 The Adams-Onís Treaty settles the boundary dispute between the United
States and Spain created by the Louisiana Purchase. The United States
gains Florida and a boundary along the Sabine River in Texas, extending
over the Rocky Mountains and to the Pacific Ocean. The treaty ends the First
Seminole War.
1821 Mexico gains its independence from Spain, and the new government agrees
to allow settlers to colonize the Texas region. Abolitionist and independ-
ence movements begin to appear in Cuba. Edward Zane Carroll Judson
(a.k.a. Ned Buntline) is born.
1822 George Lippard is born.
1823 James Monroe delivers the State of the Union address known as the Monroe
Doctrine, announcing U.S. neutrality in European affairs and Western
Hemispheric sovereignty that bars further European colonization in the
Americas.
1826 Mary A. Denison is born (dies in 1911).
1830 Mexico closes Texas to colonization and outlaws slavery in the area be-
cause Anglo settlers outnumber Mexican citizens in the region and refuse
to recognize the authority of the Mexican government.
1832 Black Hawk War between the U.S. Army and the Sauk and Fox Indians.
1833 Antonio López de Santa Anna elected as Mexico’s president. His attempt to
centralize government power incites federalist revolts across Mexico, in-
cluding in Texas.
1835 Texas revolution begins. Second Seminole War begins in Florida.
1836 Texas declares independence, and Santa Anna marches to San Antonio,
Texas, to quell the rebellion. He lays siege to the Alamo for thirteen days,
killing nearly all of the trapped Texans; he then defeats the Texan army at
the battle of Goliad and executes 445 prisoners. In April, he meets General
Sam Houston’s army at the battle of San Jacinto and is taken prisoner. He
is forced to sign the Treaties of Velasco and concede Texas’s independence.
1837 President Andrew Jackson recognizes the independent Republic of Texas,
Santa Anna is exiled to Cuba, and the closure of Philadelphia’s Second
Bank of the United States creates a financial panic.
ix
x • chronology
1842 Second Seminole War ends in Florida. The Mexican army returns to San
Antonio, Texas, and recaptures and occupies it twice during the year. In
December, a volunteer Texan army retaliates with an expedition to Mier,
Nuevo Leon, Mexico, where they are captured.
1843 The Mier Expedition prisoners face a lottery-style execution: seventeen are
shot and the rest continue to Perote Castle prison. E. E. Barclay publishes
The Female Warrior: An Interesting Narrative of the Sufferings, and Singular
and Surprising Adventures of MissLeonora Siddons.
1844 James K. Polk, a Democrat supportive of Texas annexation, is elected U.S.
president. Remaining Mier prisoners released from Perote Castle.
1845 Texas annexed into the Union. Santa Anna exiled to Havana, Cuba.
1846 United States declares war on Mexico on May 13, 1846. General Taylor wins
the battle of Palo Alto on May 8; the battle of Resaca de la Palma on May 9;
and the battle of Monterrey on September 20–24. Acting on a pact with
President Polk, Santa Anna is smuggled through the Veracruz blockade in
August, but rather than end hostilities, he takes charge of the Mexican
army.
1847 Taylor wins the battle of Buena Vista on February 22–23. General Scott’s
forces land at Collado Beach, south of Veracruz, on March 9; Scott’s forces
bombard Veracruz on March 22, and the city surrenders on March 27; Scott
wins the battle of Cerro Gordo on April 17–18 and begins the march to
Mexico City in July. He wins the battles of Contreras and Churubusco on July
20, the battle of Molino del Rey on September 8, and the battle at
Chapultepec on September 13, and occupies Mexico City on September 14.
Narciso López arrives in New York to escape punishment for his plot to over-
throw the Spanish government’s rule of Cuba. Ned Buntline’s Magdalena,
The Beautiful Mexican Maidis published [?].
1848 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the U.S.-Mexico War and cedes much
of Mexico’s far northern frontier. George Lippard’s ’Bel of Prairie Edenis
published.
1849 Zachary Taylor becomes president. Narciso López’s first expedition to in-
vade Cuba stopped by the U.S. Navy.
1850 Zachary Taylor dies. López invades Cárdenas, Cuba, but retreats to Key West
when Spanish reinforcements arrive. The Compromise of 1850 attempts to
balance the interests of free and slave states and establishes the Fugitive
Slave Law.
1851 López invades El Morro, Cuba, and battles the Spanish army. López and his
volunteer army are captured: most of the filibusterers are imprisoned, and
López is executed. Santa Anna is exiled from Mexico. E. E. Barclay publishes
A Thrilling and Exciting Account of the Sufferings and Horrible Tortures
Inflicted on Mortimer Bowers and Miss Sophia Delaplain.
1853 Santa Anna returns to power in Mexico. William Walker and a small army in-
vade Baja California and Sonora on a short-lived filibustering expedition.