Looking Backward in a New Republic: Conservative New Englanders and American Nationalism, 1793-1833
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1 Looking Backward in a New Republic: Conservative New Englanders and American Nationalism, 1793-1833 Asaf Almog Charlottesville, Virginia BA, Tel Aviv University, 2006 MA, Tel Aviv University, 2013 MA, University of Virginia, 2015 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Virginia in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History University of Virginia April 2020 Copyright © 2020 by Asaf Almog All Rights Reserved 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgments… 3 Abstract………………… 6 Abbreviations………………… 7 Introduction………………………. 10 Chapter One: “The Hasty and Indiscreet Zeal: Timothy Pickering and the Alternative to Jeffersonian Nationalism …………………………………. 36 Chapter 2: “The Real Patriots of 76”: New England Separatists and Their Legacy …………….. 89 Part 2: Reacting to the Triumph of Jeffersonian Democracy… 123 Chapter 3: “Holy Patriarchs of the Revolution”: The North American Review and an Emerging National Consensus ………………………………….. 130 Chapter 4: New England and the Missouri Crisis: The Shifting Boundaries of Compromise … 166 Chapter 5: “As Passion Subsides”: Seeking Consensus in the Face of Turmoil … 199 Chapter 6: Revolutions and Insurrections: Imagining Haiti, 1821-1829 … 234 Conclusion… 279 Bibliography… 300 3 Acknowledgements I have never been the master of concision, and I will not use this text for begin practicing it. Since I began to read scholarly works I always liked to read the acknowledgments. My seven years at the University of Virginia showed me how justified some of the biggest clichés in most acknowledgments are. There are certain people without whom my experience- at times quite difficult as it was- would have become infinitely harder. No two people on earth deserve credit for this project’s fruitful ending more than Gary Gallagher and Elizabeth Varon. Professor Varon patiently read numerous drafts while offering pointed and helpful critique. In time, she managed to get my mindset, although I did not make that easy for her. Meanwhile, Professor Gallagher offered highly valuable insights and suggestions. Beyond that, Professor Gallagher has both supported and stimulated my mind ever since I took his seminar in my second year. Significantly, both he and Professor Varon showed equal openness to all reasoned and well-argued perspectives, even those contrasting their own. Beyond these reasons, I am eternally grateful for both my advisers for standing by my side in tough times. I am immensely grateful to Daniel Walker Howe for agreeing to serve on my dissertation committee. I started my studies with a focus on the Revolutionary Era, and when I began to show interest in the nineteenth century I read Professor Howe’s The Political Culture of the American Whigs with great enthusiasm. The book answered my desire to bring together intellectual, political and cultural history. Marlene Daut, through her writing and her South Atlantic Seminar I took, introduced me to deeper levels of Haitian history than I thought I would look into. This was very rewarding, and therefore I thank her for that as well as for serving on my committee. I am indebted to Professors Gallagher, Varon, Howe, Daut and Christa Dierksheide for agreeing to read the entire manuscript and provide incredibly helpful feedback, some of which I applied in the editing process and much else will become a key part of my revision for a book. In addition, I am thankful to many faculty members at the History Department. Max Edelson, who served as my de facto adviser for my first two years at UVA, is the reason I got here, along with Paul Halliday. I thank them both, as well as Peter Onuf whose books first awakened my interest in Jeffersonian America back in the Tel Aviv University library. Sophie Rosenfeld agreed to serve on my comps committee although she had left the university by then. John Stagg personified the image of “a gentleman and a scholar.” In addition to his ability to provide a thorough analysis of anything connected to the early republic in zero notice, Professor Stagg encouraged me in a difficult time. Alan Taylor significantly helped me to improve my writing skills. Claudrena Harold gave me my first glimpse of the contours of African American history. James Ceaser from the Politics Department shared his vast knowledge of Tocqueville, and even though he barely made it into the dissertation, the French thinker remains a favorite of mine. I further thank Caroline Janney, Brian Owensby, Karen Parshall and Olivier Zunz. 4 Among my fellow grad students, a distinct group has made this experience very worthwhile and sometimes enjoyable. I will first mention Rhonda Barlow, Swati Chawla, Alexi Garrett, Rachael Givens Johnson, Elizabeth Klaczynski, and Scott Miller (as well as his wife Sarah). All gave me invaluable help at significant breaking points during my studies. To these people, “thank you” hardly seems enough. An additional special thanks goes to Drew Sorber, who put up with me in a way I have come to appreciate. Among my fellow grad students I also hold a special place in my heart for Stephanie Lawton, Mary Barton, Monica Blair, Leia Boudet, Brian Bowman, Kate Brown, Clayton Butler, Vivien Chang Jessica Cook, Anne Daniels (and her husband Evan Farr), Alex Evans, David Flaherty, Joseph Foley, Jack Furniss, Jesse George- Nichol, Chris Halsted, Rosa Hamilton, Mary Hicks, Zach Hoffman, Kimberly Hursh, Ian Iverson, Brianna Kirk, Kristen Lashua, Shira Lurie, Emily Matson, Allison Mitchell, Josh Morrison, Adele McInerney, Wu Qu, Abeer Saha, Emily Senefeld, Nick Scott, Noel Stringham, Joey Thompson, Hannah Tucker, Lauren Wallace, and Kevin Woram. Among students whom I only knew as senior year students I especially thank Michael Caires, Frank Cirillo, Frank Garmon, Jim Hrdlicka, Lauren Turek and Nic Wood, who offered continuous help years after our paths separated. Of grad students outside of UVA whom I’ve met during conferences and through other venues, I especially thank Max Matherne and Cara Rogers. At UVA I further thank Jenni Via, Kathleen Miller, Kelly Robeson, Tim Dunne, Adrienne Kim Bird, Tricia Carpenter, Caren Freeman, Richard Tanson, Will Kurtz, and the dedicated staff in Alderman and Clemons libraries who professionally handled my numerous requests. Finally, I am deeply indebted to the UVA Health Center, and in particular to Doctors Belinda Overstreet and Anderson Thomson and pharmacist Stacy Volles. I am indebted to many scholars from other institutions. I am profoundly grateful to Wendy Wong Schirmer for the degree of intellectual and mental sanity I kept. Amanda Mushal has taught me valuable lessons while editing a volume chapter I wrote. Matthew Mason, John Belohlavek and Joshua Lynn have devoted significant time and intellectual effort to talk to, and assist, a junior scholar. I further thank Jordan Cash, Erik Chaput, Tom Coens, Michael David Cohen, Russell J. DeSimone, Andrew Jackson Forney, Jeff Pasley, William K. Bolt, Aaron Crawford, Katherine Grenier, Michael Hattem, Reeve Huston, Rob McDonald, Robert Paquette, and Chelsea Stieber. I further than Johann Neem, who helped me phrase one of my dissertation’s important aspect in a conversation in Dallas, Texas. You will see substantial references to Haiti in this dissertation. I am indebted to Max Edelson for introducing me to the American Revolution’s hemispheric dimensions and the significance of the Caribbean and my colleague Brian Bowman for encouraging me to delve in to the subject. For broadening my horizons on Haiti’s history and significance I further thank Marlene Daut, Ron Johnson, and Alan Taylor who introduced me to Johnson’s 2014 book. The Society for United States Intellectual History (S-USIH) has become especially dear to my heart after attending several of its conferences. Among its members I thank Ben Alpers 5 and Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn for offering important encouragment in gatherings of the Society. Thanks also to Rebecca Brenner Graham, a fellow grad student who relentlessly sought to make S-USIH the community I described. I have benefited from several fellowships over the years. I offer a special thank you to the Institute for Humane Studies, which helped me during most of my graduate studies, and particularly to Nigel Ashford, Phil Magness and Kevin Gutzman for relentlessly offering academic support and differing perspectives on the material. Rachael Givens Johnson deserves another thanks for introducing me to the IHS. For additional fellowships I thank the committee of the New England Consortium Fellowship, Edward Barnaby, Kanisorn Wongsrichanalai (Kid), Katy Morris, Anna Clutterbuck-Cook and the other helpful librarians at the Massachusetts Historical Society; and the librarians at Houghton Library, John Jay Library, and Rhode Island Historical Society. For lodging aid during research trips throughout these seven years I am particularly grateful to Alan and Marilyn Levitt, Noa and Shahar Alon, and Courtney and Jim Hrdlicka. I am further grateful to Linda and Tim Jenkins at the Pickering House in Salem, Massachusetts, and to Donald Friary of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts for first introducing me to the Pickering House. As my accent immediately reveals, I did not grow up in this country. In fact, it is more than fair to say that my academic career began at Tel Aviv University- and not just formally. My BA and Master’s studies helped shape my fundemental knowledge of history and fall in love with Anglo-American intellectual and political history. For that I thank Eyal Naveh, my Master’s thesis adviser, as well as Billie Melman, Snait Gissis, Michael Zakim, Arnon Gutfeld, and Martin Van Creveld from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. I also thank Yardena Libovsky, the administrative assistant at Tel Aviv University’s history department. I am grateful to Daphna Oren-Magidor for her enormous help during my repeated attempts to apply to studies abroad as well as being a wonderful friend and a fountain of knowledge for the past decade and a half.