Transatlantic Nationalisms and Parallel Performances: Afterlife Texts of the Revolutionary Era by David Vinson A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Auburn University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Auburn, Alabama December 14, 2019 Keywords: afterlife, transatlantic, American Revolution, performance, nationalism, cultural studies Copyright 2019 by David Vinson Approved by Paula R. Backscheider, Chair, Eminent Scholar, English Hilary E. Wyss, Professor of English Diana Eidson, Assistant Professor of English Erich Nunn, Associate Professor of English Abstract This dissertation traces the rise to public prominence of Major John André, J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur, and Mary Robinson during the American Revolution, and it examines the ways in which they each inspire an afterlife legacy that takes on public dimensions in Britain and America well into the twenty-first century. My argument is that André, Crèvecoeur, and Robinson—in life, and during their extraordinary afterlives—are used in Britain and America for restorative purposes. Their public personas and works (literary and extraliterary) inspired the transatlantic publics of Britain and America, and they did so at a crucial time in the evolving identities of both nations. Afterlife analysis facilitates an understanding of how their personas and works are used in response to the varied crises brought on not only by the American Revolution, but by subsequent historical moments that have exposed deep uncertainties regarding national identity, good citizenry, male and female propriety, and sensibility. By tracing their afterlives as that which are informed by their wartime utility, I am able to identify patterns (as well as notable deviations) in terms of how, why, and by whom their personas and works are appropriated, reimagined, and remade. This dissertation enriches studies of how eighteenth- century celebrity culture both reflects and responds to periods of national unrest, and it sets out to contribute to the expanding body of afterlife scholarship that focuses on figures of the period and the lasting impact of their works. This dissertation is also concerned with the intersection of celebrity and nationhood—that is, with how the celebrity functions as a mechanism through which national sentiments are negotiated and fostered among a diverse range of people. As such, my contribution to afterlife studies is to illustrate how the afterlives of André, Crèvecoeur, and Robinson reflect the mobilization of imaginations in the process of nation-(re)making. 2 Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... 2 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 5 Chapter 1: The Extraordinary Afterlife of Major John André ................................................... 21 Execution as Theater and the Debate for How André Should Be Remembered ........... 26 André’s Utility as a Maintaining Force ......................................................................... 45 Chapter 2: (Mis)Reading Crèvecoeur: Imaginative Communities and the Afterlife of an “American Farmer” ........................................................................................................... 57 Situating Crèvecoeur Critically: The “American Farmer” as a Transatlantic Site ......... 65 French Origins and Crèvecoeur’s Post-American Cultural Capital ................................ 68 Patriot (Mis)Readings of Crèvecoeur at Pine Hill .......................................................... 74 Loyalist (Mis)Readings in British-Occupied New York City ........................................ 78 Crèvecoeur’s Transatlantic Reception: Willful (Mis)Readings of Letters and the Problem of Authenticity ..................................................................................... 84 Crèvecoeur’s Reception in France: Reinventing the “American Farmer” amidst France’s Ongoing Rivalry with Britain ............................................................. 105 Crèvecoeur’s Afterlife: Imaginative Expansion, Canonicity, and a Resurgence in America ...................................................................................... 115 Chapter 3: Repurposing Perdita: Mary Robinson’s Self-Fashioning Projects and Her Extraordinary Afterlife ............................................................................................... 127 Situating Robinson Critically: Her Celebrity and Transatlantic Utility ....................... 135 Robinson’s Restorative Appropriation in Britain amidst a Series of National Crises ........................................................................................................ 138 3 The Impact of Robinson’s Resistance Strategies on Her Afterlife: Obituaries ........... 157 The Impact of Robinson’s Resistance Strategies on Her Afterlife: Staging Identities in Fashion and Portraits .................................................................. 166 The Impact of Robinson’s Resistance Strategies on Her Afterlife: Her Memoirs ................................................................................................................ 176 The Impact of Robinson’s Resistance Strategies on Her Afterlife: Her Literary Career ....................................................................................................... 182 Additional Afterlife Expressions: Robinson’s Lasting Transatlantic Impact ............... 196 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 210 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 214 4 Introduction On 7 April 1778, William Pitt, otherwise known as the Earl of Chatham, was assisted inside an overcrowded House of Lords by his two sons, William and James, and his son-in-law Mahon. Wrapped in flannel and supported by crutches, Chatham’s appearance on the day did little to dispel rumors that his lifelong affliction of gout had reduced him to a grave condition.1 So severe were his symptoms that he had been unable to attend the Lords earlier in the year. But this was a session he refused to miss. Charles Lennox, the Duke of Richmond, had proposed a motion to George III for the withdrawal of troops from America, and Chatham was desperate to stop it.2 Richmond’s position was that Britain had to recognize American independence in order to wage war with France. Descriptions of Chatham’s response on the day suggest that he reveled in the opportunity to adopt the role of the infirm but resolute patriot. He rose slowly when it was his turn to speak and, in dramatic fashion, he took one hand from his crutch and raised it, along with his eyes, towards heaven. He thanked God, not only for the stage upon which he could speak, but for being granted the chance to fulfill his patriotic duty in the face of death: “I have 1 Pitt’s health was far more serious than gout, but his rheumatic issues were commonly described as such. He was in chronic pain by the 1770s, and he also had heart and kidney problems. He likewise suffered from seizures and periods of severe depression, which prostrated him for months on end. See Stanley Ayling, The Elder Pitt: Earl of Chatham (London: Collins, 1976), 416-17. 2 Chatham clung to the hope that Britain could reconcile with the American rebels. For years, Pitt had promoted an approach of moderation and understanding, and by many he was considered a friend to the Americans. As prime minister, Pitt successfully led the effort to repeal the Stamp Act in 1766. Following the Boston Tea Party in December 1773, he advised the government “to proceed like a kind and affectionate parent over a child whom he tenderly loves.” Americans, he argued, were Englishmen abroad and thus the brethren of those at home: “The principal towns in America are learned and polite, and understand the constitution of the empire as well as the noble lords who are now in office.” See Pitt to Shelburne, 6 March 1772, in Chatham Correspondence, vol. 4, W.S. Taylor and W.H. Pringle, eds. (London: A. Spottiswoode, 1838), 345. As late as 30 May 1777, following an address to the House of Lords, Chatham continued to underestimate the American desire for independence; he publicly maintained a conciliatory position, to which he was labeled “a stranger to American politicks.” See L.H. Butterfield, ed. Adams Family Correspondence, vol. 2 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1963), 410. 5 one foot, more than one foot in the grave. I have risen from my bed to stand up in the cause of my country—perhaps never again to speak in this House!”3 Chatham made quick work of dismissing the likelihood of a French invasion, arguing that any such fears were unfounded. Over the next ten minutes, his speech grew increasingly impassioned and erratic, and his rhetoric suggests that he was motivated not by researchable knowledge but instead by feeling. He argued, for instance, that Britain could wage both wars, if necessary, at once—but he did so while also confirming his own lack of expertise on the subject: “I am not, I confess, well informed of the resources of this kingdom.”4 His was the sentiment, one not unfamiliar to an audience of British patricians and lawmakers, that Britishness as an identity was under assault,