1.

Record Nr.

UNISA996247921903316

Autore

Shields David S. <1951->

Titolo

Oracles of Empire : Poetry, Politics, and Commerce in British America, 1690-1750 / / David S. Shields

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Chicago : , : University of Chicago Press, , [2010]

©1990

ISBN

0-226-75299-2

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xiv, 295 p. ) : ill. ;

Disciplina

811/.109358

Soggetti

American poetry - Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 - History and criticism

Political poetry, American - History and criticism

Imperialism in literature

Commerce in literature

Colonies in literature

United States Intellectual life 18th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction. The Issue of Empire in the Literary Self-Understanding of British Americans -- 1 . The Literary Topology of Mercantilism -- 2. The Tide of Empire -- 3. The Material Redeemers -- 4. Staples -- 5. The Problem of the Prerogative -- 6. The Paper Wars in Massachusetts -- 7. The Spread of Boston Principles -- 8. Empire of Evil -- 9. Gallic Perfidy -- 10. The Tenuousness of Imperial Identity -- Notes -- Bibliography of Primary Sources -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

This innovative look at previously neglected poetry in British America represents a major contribution to our understanding of early American culture. Spanning the period from the Glorious Revolution (1690) to the end of King George's War (1750), this study critically reconstitutes the literature of empire in the thirteen colonies, Canada, and the West Indies by investigating over 300 texts in mixed print and manuscript sources, including poems in pamphlets and newspapers. British America's poetry of empire was dominated by three issues:



mercantilism's promise that civilization and wealth would be transmitted from London to the provinces; the debate over the extent of metropolitan prerogatives in law and commerce when they obtruded upon provincial rights and interests; and the argument that Britain's imperium pelagi was an ethical empire, because it depended upon the morality of trade, while the empires of Spain and France were immoral empires because they were grounded upon conquest. In discussing these issues, Shields provides a virtual anthology of poems long lost to students of American literature.