Civilized America

Laudatory and disparaging, detailed and usefully general, of political centers and societal margins, these volumes vividly illustrate antebellum America.

Thomas Colley Grattan (Author)

9781108033244, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 September 2011

532 pages
21.6 x 14 x 3 cm, 0.67 kg

Published in 1859, Thomas Colley Grattan's work illustrates ante-bellum America through anecdote and reflection. Dublin-born Grattan (1791/2–1864) became a journalist and novelist after abandoning a potential military career in favour of settled life in France. In Paris Grattan contributed to literary magazines and became acquainted with various writers, including Washington Irving, to whom he dedicated his celebrated Highways and Byways (1823). After living in the Netherlands and Belgium, Grattan was made - with the support of King Leopold - British Consul in Boston, where he began these two volumes. Determined to tell 'the truth of the New World' so that Europe may understand it, Grattan asks serious questions about American life. Volume 2 discusses the Irish, women, and Native Americans, and it criticizes the South's slave-based economy and society even though racism colors its reflections. Anyone interested in nineteenth-century America will find this work relevant and fascinating.

1. The Irish in America
2. The women of America
3. Comparison and contrasts between England and America
4. The fine arts in America
5. Extremes of savage and civilized life. The Indian tribes
6. European travellers and visitors
7. The Southern States
8. The Southern States continued
9. The annexation of Texas
10. Annexation of Texas continued
11. Are the Americans a happy people?
12. Religious sects
13. Speculative philosophy
14. Education. Literature. The drama
15. Henry Clay
16. Slavery
17. Miscellaneous subjects
18. Miscellaneous subjects continued
Appendix.

Subject Areas: History of the Americas [HBJK]