A Diary in America
With Remarks on its Institutions

In 1839, naval officer and novelist Frederick Marryat (1792–1848) published his impressions of North America in six volumes.

Frederick Marryat (Author)

9781108032452, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 June 2011

322 pages, 2 maps
21.6 x 14 x 1.8 cm, 0.41 kg

Captain Frederick Marryat (1792–1848) was a distinguished naval officer, today best remembered as a novelist (particularly of stories for children), often drawing on his own experiences. He also edited a radical journal, and wrote non-fiction, including an attack on press-gangs, which damaged his career. He spent 1837 and 1838 travelling in North America, publishing his impressions in this unstructured six-volume 'diary' in 1839. He states that the number of contradictory and often trivial accounts of American life being published made him want to see the New World for himself. He found it impossible to make generalisations, given the size of the country and the different origins of new arrivals, and did not believe America would become a nation for many years. Volume 5 discusses the role of women in American society, American patriotism, and the constitution and government.

Society - women
Public opinion, or the majority
Patriotism
England and the United States
Society - general character, etc.
Aristocracy
Government
Constitution of the United States.

Subject Areas: History of the Americas [HBJK]