The Search for Identity in Post-Colonial America, 1787-1828
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Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Dissertations (2009 -) Dissertations, Theses, and Professional Projects "Breaking Up, and Moving Westward": The eS arch for Identity in Post-Colonial America, 1787-1828 Bethany Harding Marquette University Recommended Citation Harding, Bethany, ""Breaking Up, and Moving Westward": The eS arch for Identity in Post-Colonial America, 1787-1828" (2015). Dissertations (2009 -). Paper 502. http://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations_mu/502 “BREAKING UP, AND MOVING WESTWARD”: THE SEARCH FOR IDENTITY IN POST-COLONIAL AMERICA, 1787-1828 by Bethany Harding, B.A., M.A. A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Milwaukee, Wisconsin May 2015 ABSTRACT “BREAKING UP, AND MOVING WESTWARD”: THE SEARCH FOR IDENTITY IN POST-COLONIAL AMERICA, 1787-1828 Bethany Harding, B.A., M.A. Marquette University, 2015 This dissertation approaches the early national United States as a post-colonial state, and draws new connections between the country’s westward development and Americans’ ability to detach from their colonial past. At the conclusion of the American Revolution in 1783, the new United States became the first nation built on the ruins of a British colonial foundation; its citizens faced the colossal task of forging an independent national consciousness without being able to draw clear racial or ethnic lines of distinction between themselves and the former mother country. White Americans of the founding generation occupied a unique and tenuous position: in a world of empires and colonies, they were “settler-subjects.” As settlers, they had acted as proud agents of the imperial flag, but they were concurrently second-class citizens living on the wild peripheries of England’s empire. The legacy of this dual identity remained in the post- revolutionary period. Although the founding generation in the Atlantic colonies had rejected monarchy, it retained a respect for and a dependence on British political principles. Thus eastern Americans held a position of power in a boundless continent, but were simultaneously left with little idea how to define themselves independent of England’s laws and philosophies of governance. Easterners modeled British examples even to the extent of creating an imperial state in the West. Ultimately, and counterintuitively, distinguishing themselves from the mother country required a process wherein white Americans embraced rather than rejected their ethnic roots and the colonial role of “settler.” Easterners and westerners alike ceased to be “subjects” as well only by creating their own unique imperial process and crafting a national identity that exalted rather than marginalized the frontier. Part One of this project examines the post-colonial position of the founding generation using Philadelphia as a primary reference point. Part Two turns west, analyzing the imperial nature of federal territorial policies and the colonial relationship between East and West. Part Three illustrates how changes in that colonial relationship helped break the patterns of post-colonialism, with special emphasis on the War of 1812 and the racialization of American continental imperialism in the nineteenth century. i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Bethany Harding, B.A., M.A. I am very grateful to the staff at the Library Company of Philadelphia, and the historical societies of Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Ohio. A special debt of gratitude is owed to the Filson Historical Society for providing me with a research fellowship. My particular thanks to Jennie Cole and Dr. A. Glenn Crothers of the Filson Historical Society for their valuable assistance and advice during my time in Louisville. Many thanks to the Marquette University History Department, and especially to Fr. Steven Avella and Dr. Michael Donoghue for acting as members of my dissertation committee. Their generosity in sharing their time and vast knowledge with me is greatly appreciated. Finally, to those special people who have been with me every step of the way, I could not have done this without you. To my advisor, Dr. Kristen Foster, thank you for being a wonderful teacher, mentor, and friend. From my first day on campus to the graduation stage, you have been my companion on this extraordinary intellectual journey. I could not ask for a better one. To my parents, Sandy and David Harding, my unending gratitude for a lifetime of encouragement and support. You believed in me even when I doubted myself, and that has made all the difference. Lastly, I dedicate this project to my husband and son. Phil, you are my foundation, my roof and walls, standing strong around me no matter the weather. Sebastian, you are my doorway to the future, opened wide and always letting in the sunshine. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS AKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................................................ i ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................................... iv INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................... 1 PART I: A POST-COLONIAL UNITED STATES CHAPTER ONE: “THE TENDER STATE” ................................................................................. 18 PART II: THE AMERICAN DOMINION, 1787-1812 CHAPTER TWO: “THE COLONIAL YOKE” ............................................................................. 58 CHAPTER THREE: “ANOTHER PLANET”: DIVISIONS BETWEEN EAST AND WEST AND THE FAILURE OF AMERICAN SOVERIGNTY ............................................................ 113 CHAPTER FOUR: CONSOLIDATION AND PEACE: POST-COLONIAL INDIAN POLICY AND THE BRITISH MODEL ..................................................................................... 172 PART III: THE GLORY OF OUR WIDE DOMAIN, 1812-1828 CHAPTER FIVE: “BREAKING UP, AND MOVING WESTWARD” ..................................... 217 CHAPTER SIX: “A BABE AGAINST AN HERCULES”: THE WAR OF 1812, THE WEST, AND THE EVOLUTION OF POST-COLONIAL IDENTITY ............................ 268 CHAPTER SEVEN: “CONGENIAL BLOOD”: RACE AND IMPERIALISM IN POST-COLONIAL AMERICA .............................................................................................. 333 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................... 398 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................................... 404 iii ABBREVIATIONS FHS Filson Historical Society HSP Historical Society of Pennsylvania INHS Indiana Historical Society LCP Library Company of Philadelphia OHS Ohio Historical Society AHN America’s Historical Newspapers, Readex Archive of Americana CLC Circular Letters of Congressmen to their Constituents, vol. 1, First Congress to Ninth Congress, 1789-1807 EAI Early American Imprints, Series 1: Evans, 1639-1800, Readex Archive of Americana SCP The St. Clair Papers, vol. 2 TPUS Territorial Papers of the United States, vols. 1-3 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. “A new map of the United States with the additional territories: on an improved plan, exhibiting a view of the Rocky Mountains surveyed by a company of Winebago [sic] Indians in 1828.” New York: Lithography of Imbert, [1828?]. (Courtesy of Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, catalogue no. 2008622050) ............................................................ 332 Figure 2. “A Scene on the Frontier as Practiced by the Humane British and their Worthy Allies.” By William Charles, artist. [United States: s.n. 1812]. (Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Online Catalogue) ................. 351 1 INTRODUCTION This dissertation approaches the early national United States as a post-colonial state, and draws new connections between the country’s westward development and Americans’ ability to detach from their colonial past.1 At the conclusion of the American Revolution in 1783, the new United States became the first nation built on the ruins of a British colonial foundation; its citizens faced the colossal task of forging an independent national consciousness without being able to draw clear racial or ethnic lines of distinction between themselves and the former mother country. White Americans of the founding generation occupied a unique and tenuous position: in a world of empires and colonies, they were “settler-subjects.”2 As settlers, they had acted as proud agents of the imperial flag, but they were concurrently second-class citizens living on the wild peripheries of England’s empire. The legacy of this dual identity remained in the post- revolutionary period. Although the founding generation in the Atlantic colonies had rejected monarchy, it retained a respect for and a dependence on British political principles. Thus eastern Americans held a position of power on a boundless continent, but were simultaneously left with little idea of how to define themselves independent of England’s laws and philosophies of governance. Easterners modeled British examples most strikingly by creating an imperial state in the West. Ultimately, and counter- 1. This project