The Anglo-American Paper War: Debates about the New Republic, 1800–1825

243 Pages·2012·1.33 MB·English

by  Joseph Eaton (auth.)

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The Anglo-American Paper War
BRITAIN AND THE WORLD
Edited by The British Scholar Society
Editors:
James Onley, University of Exeter, UK
A. G. Hopkins, University of Texas at Austin, USA
Gregory Barton, The Australian National University, Australia
Bryan Glass, Texas State University, USA
Other titles in the Britain and the World series include:
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SCIENCE AND EMPIRE:
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Brett Bennett and Joseph M. Hodge (eds)
BRITISH DIPLOMACY AND THE DESCENT INTO CHAOS
The Career of Jack Garnett, 1902–1919
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ORDERING INDEPENDENCE:
The End of Empire in the Anglophone Caribbean 1947– 1967
Spencer Mawby
BRITISH IMAGES OF GERMANY:
Admiration, Antagonism and Ambivalence, 1860– 1914
Richard Scully
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BRITAIN’S IMPERIAL MUSE:
The Classics and Britain’s Indian Empire, 1784–1914
Christopher Hagerman
THE BRITISH ABROAD SINCE THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
Vol. 1: Travellers and Tourists
Vol. 2: Experiencing Imperialism
Martin Farr and Xavier Guégan (editors)
THE SOUL OF THE EMPIRE:
Australian and New Zealand Cities in the British World c.1880– 1939
John Griffiths
THE PAX BRITANNICA:
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Britain and the World
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The Anglo-American
Paper War
Debates about the New Republic,
1800–1825
Joseph Eaton
Assistant Professor of History,
National Chengchi University, Taipei
Palgrave
macmillan
© Joseph Eaton 2012
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2012 978-0-230-29432-5
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
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permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.
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may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
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in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2012 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
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registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
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175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
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Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
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ISBN 978-1-349-33336-3 ISBN 978-1-137-28396-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137283962
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12
Contents
Series Editors’ Preface vi
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction 1
1 Travelers, Reviewers, and Jeffersonian-era
America 8
2 Inchiquin’s Letters and Anglo-American
Nationalism 52
3 A Blessing to the Whole Earth: Birkbeck’s
English Prairie 93
4 The End of Anglo-mania 127
Conclusion: Heroes, But No Victors 166
Notes 171
Select Bibliography 221
Index 229
v
Series Editors’ Preface
The Anglo-American Paper War: Debates about the New Republic, 1800–1825
is the sixth book in the Britain and the World series, edited by The
British Scholar Society and published by Palgrave Macmillan. From the
sixteenth century onward, Britain’s influence on the world became pro-
gressively profound and far-reaching, in time touching every continent
and subject, from Africa to South America and archaeology to zoology.
Although the histories of Britain and the world became increasingly
intertwined, mainstream British history still neglects the world’s influ-
ence upon domestic developments and British overseas history remains
largely confined to the study of the British Empire. This series takes a
broader approach to British history, seeking to investigate the full extent
of the world’s influence on Britain and Britain’s influence on the world.
Joseph Eaton’s innovative book examines how Britons and Americans
fought not one, but two wars in the early years of the American republic.
The second, now forgotten, was an undeclared literary war, a ‘Paper War’,
fought by renowned British and American writers, filling the pages of
prominent periodicals on both sides of the Atlantic. British criticism of the
United States was often self-referential, reflecting the fears and aspirations
of Britain itself. Despite their sometimes Anglophobic proclamations,
Americans continued to be culturally dependent upon Britain, judging
American achievements by British standards. The Anglo-American Paper
War is the first book to examine this lively trans-Atlantic war of words over
the fledgling republic – one that shaped American self-understanding –
casting new light on the evolution of British and American identity and
nationalism, the slavery debate, and the early history of anti-Americanism
in Britain. It is a fascinating bi-national story.
Editors, Britain and the World:
James Onley, University of Exeter
A. G. Hopkins, University of Texas at Austin
Gregory Barton, Australian National University
Bryan Glass, Texas State University
vi
Acknowledgements
Although all of the faults within this book are my own, I am indebted
to a host of people and institutions – on three continents – for their
encouragement, expertise, and support during the long process of doing
research and writing this book.
I began this book while I was Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the
Tamkang University Graduate Institute of American Studies. I am grate-
ful to my former colleagues at GIAS – particularly Alexander Huang,
Tai Wan-chin, and my graduate students – for my making my Fulbright
experience a positive one and always making me feel welcome. I did
most of my research and writing after joining the Department of
History at National Chengchi University. NCCU has been a superb place
to work, as I have enjoyed the benefit of friendly and professional col-
leagues, helpful department chairs, Tang Chi-hua and Lu Shao-li, and
students curious to learn more of the history of Mei Guo.
Although trans-Atlantic in content, my book cannot help but show
a trans-Pacific dimension. Living and teaching in Taiwan has provided
an opportune lens for the study of the history of images of America in
the world. Taiwan, geographically small, is so rich with identities and
historical global connections – I could think of no better place to con-
template the position of the early American republic and its economic
and cultural connections.
The Taiwan, ROC National Science Council has been extremely
generous in their research support (grants 100-2410-H-004-118 and
98-2410-H-004-144-MY2). Without research trips to American libraries
and financial support for travel to conferences in the United States and
England, this book never would have been completed. In addition, the
NSC’s American history book buying program (97-2400-H-004-162-2E3)
for the National Chengchi University Library was vital to my research.
I owe my gratitude to the following libraries for access to their col-
lections and the help of library staff: The New York City Public Library,
New-York Historical Society, The Library Company of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania Historical Society, the library of the Institute of European
and American Studies at the Academia Sinica and libraries at the
University of Chicago, Chicago History Museum, The Newberry Library,
Northwestern University, University of Illinois-Chicago, University of
Pennsylvania, Columbia University, National Chengchi University,
vii
viii Acknowledgements
National Taiwan University, University of Central Oklahoma, Oklahoma
State University, and University of Oklahoma.
My gratitude goes out to historical societies that have given the
opportunity for me to receive beneficial feedback on sections of my
writing. The annual meetings of the Society for the Historians of the
Early American Republic, Organization of American History, and Society
for Historians of American Foreign Relations have been especially valu-
able venues as was the March 31–April 1, 2011 ‘Warring for America,
1803–1818’ conference sponsored by the Omohundro Institute of Early
American History and Culture, Huntington Library, Department of
History at New York University, John W. Kluge Center, and Library of
Congress. I thank Lee Yu-cheng and Shan Te-Hsing of Academia Sinica’s
Institute of European and American Studies for the opportunity to speak
at their institute in June 2009. I am especially grateful for the help of
the British Scholar Society, particularly Bryan Glass, who suggested the
Britain and the World series, and James Onley, Britain and the World
series co-editor.
I owe a large debt to my former professors at Columbia University –
Richard Bushman, Elizabeth Blackmar, Simon Schama, Lisa Tiersten,
David Cannadine, and David Armitage. I wish to thank a long list of
historian friends who have provided encouragement, and sometimes
feedback, on conference papers and in discussion. In no particular order
and with apologies for those I have neglected – Tom Bender, Alessandro
Brogi, John Harley Warner, Steve Rodenborn, Katherine O’Donnell,
Fredrika Teute, Rob Parkinson, John Belohlavek, Sam Haynes, Anthony
Brundage, Joanne Melish, Mark Stegmaier, Larry Tise, and James Green.
At Palgrave, History Publisher Jenny McCall, Copy-editor Rick Bouwman
and Editorial Assistant Clare Mence have been a great help with this, my
first book. The comments given by anonymous readers of my book pro-
posal and of an earlier version of the book manuscript were especially
constructive.
My friends in Taiwan have been encouraging, particularly Sandy
Chen, Sydney Chu, Huang Yu-Shen, Tim Lane, Nate Yang, and Giging
Chuang. Special appreciation goes to the crew of my favorite Taipei
cafes for the coffee and patience at closing time.
My family has been supportive of my academic career, a path that
must seem very different from the norm. With love, I dedicate this book
to my mother.
Joseph Eaton
June 2012
Introduction
Great Britain and United States fought two wars during the American
republic’s first forty years of existence. The Anglo-American Paper War:
Debates about the New Republic, 1800–1825 tells the story of a third
conflict, the Paper War.1 This Anglo-American contest over images of
the United States filled the pages of numerous books and prominent
periodicals. When seen alongside the results of the clumsy diplomacy
of the late Georgian-Jeffersonian era, the poisoned pens of the Paper
War had dreadful consequences. As Bradford Perkins explained, diplo-
matic historians ‘have given too little heed to such things as national
pride, sensitivity, and frustration’. All these factors were in abundance
in Anglo-American polemics of the era.2 The shared respect necessary
for a lasting reconciliation was lacking in newspapers and periodicals on
both sides of the Atlantic. The Paper War showed tragic qualities based
in the mutual incomprehension of the a dversaries – the British inability
to comprehend the emerging dynamism of the United States in these
years before what Winston Churchill christened the special relationship
and the American failure to realize that Americanism did not mean
a denial of things English.
Despite these myopic characteristics, one also finds substantive
ideas within Anglo-American debates over the early republic, impor-
tant signposts in the development of Anglo-American nationalisms,
the building blocks of national identity. While recent scholarship has
expanded our understanding of the period as a time of evolving nation-
alism, more work needs to be done to contextualize the development
of American and British nationalisms within trans-Atlantic literary
quarrels.3 Although the first quarter of the nineteenth century has not
received adequate attention from historians looking for significant
trans-Atlantic moments, early nineteenth-century ideas of Americanism
1