Creating an American Identity 9780230605268ts01.indd i 4/24/2008 12:26:30 PM This page intentionally left blank Creating an American Identity New England, 1789–1825 Stephanie Kermes 9780230605268ts01.indd iii 4/24/2008 12:26:30 PM CREATING AN AMERICAN IDENTITY Copyright © Stephanie Kermes, 2008. All rights reserved. First published in 2008 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™ 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN-13: 978–0–230–60526–8 ISBN-10: 0–230–60526–5 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kermes, Stephanie. Creating an American identity : New England, 1789–1825 / Stephanie Kermes. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–230–60526–5 1. New England—Civilization—18th century. 2. New England— Civilization—19th century. 3. Regionalism—New England—History. 4. Nationalism—New England—History. 5. Nationalism—United States—History. 6. National characteristics, American—History. 7. Popular culture—New England—History. 8. Political culture—New England—History. 9. New England—Relations—Europe. 10. Europe— Relations—New England. I. Title. F8.K47 2008 974Ј.03—dc22 2007048026 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: July 2008 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America. 9780230605268ts01.indd iv 4/24/2008 12:26:30 PM To my daughter and husband, Lia and Tom, I dedicate this book with love 9780230605268ts01.indd v 4/24/2008 12:26:30 PM This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Figures ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Chapter 1 New Englandizing America 15 Chapter 2 A Prussian Monarch—an American Hero: Early Republican Royalism and Parallels between the Cult of Frederick the Great and Celebrations of the First American President 57 Chapter 3 Failed Republicans: Images of the British and the French 87 Chapter 4 Hero of Liberty: New England Celebrations of General Lafayette during His Visit in 1824–1825 117 Chapter 5 Separation for the Nation: The Movement for Maine’s Statehood 145 Chapter 6 God’s People: The Creation of a Protestant Nation 169 Conclusion 197 Notes 203 Bibliography 273 Index 287 9780230605268ts01.indd vii 4/24/2008 12:26:30 PM This page intentionally left blank List of Figures Figure 1.1 Artist Unknown, Contemplation by the Shore, fireboard, 1790 (courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts) 30 Figure 1.2 George Ropes, Crowningshield’s Wharf, 1806 (courtesy, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts) 37 Figure 1.3 Francis Alexander, Globe Village, painting, ca. 1822 40 Figure 1.4 View from the Green Woods toward Canaan and Salisbury, in Connecticut, engraving, Columbian Magazine, 1789 (courtesy, American Antiquarian Society) 40 Figure 2.1 Norman, The Justice of Frederick! engraving, in Boston Magazine 1 (1783): 287 (courtesy of the Rare Books and Manuscript Department, Boston Public Library) 74 Figure 5.1 Lemuel Moody, Signals at Portland Lighthouse, watercolor 1807, collections of the Maine Historical Society 157 9780230605268ts01.indd ix 4/24/2008 12:26:30 PM This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments This book would have never been written without my professors and fellow graduate students in the history department and the adminis- trators at the Graduate School of Arts and Science at Boston College. For me, Boston College has been the most supportive and inspiring scholarly environment that I could hope for, when I first came there as an international student from Germany, throughout my years as a Ph.D. candidate, and as a Postdoctoral fellow. Teaching and research fellowships from Boston College allowed me to become the teacher I wanted to be and to write the first draft of this book. Fellowships from the John Nicholas Brown Center and the Huntington Library also supported me during research and writing of my dissertation. The expertise and generous aid from archivists and librarians throughout New England not only made this book possible, but also helped to complete it in a little less than ten years. I would like to thank the staff at the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Maine Historical Society, the Boston Public Library, the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (now Historic New England), the Houghton Library at Harvard University, the John Hay Library at Brown University, the Huntington Library, the Amy Bess and Lawrence K. Miller Library at the Hancock Shaker Village, and the New Hampshire Historical Society. I especially appreciate the assistance of Peter Drummey at the Massachusetts Historical Society and Nicholas Noyes at the Maine Historical Society. I need to acknowledge everybody who made it possible for this book to also include visual sources. James Patterson at the Jacob Edwards Library, Christine Michellini at the Peabody Essex Museum, Sean P. Casey at the Boston Public Library, Bethany Engstrom at the Farnsworth Art Museum, and Jaclyn Penny at the American Antiquarian Society made sure that I get reproductions of the images and permissions in a very short time. Christopher Chappell, my editor at Palgrave McMillan, helped more to finalize this book than he probably realizes. It was a pleasure to work with him; his prompt and clear answers to my e-mails, which were numerous on some days, kept the process flowing at all times. 9780230605268ts01.indd xi 4/24/2008 12:26:30 PM xii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My greatest intellectual debt is to teachers and colleagues who accompanied this book and its author at different stages. Alan Rogers has been the best dissertation advisor one could wish for and a won- derful friend. I learned so much from him, not only about American history but also about teaching and writing in general. Observing his intelligent and at the same time entertaining lectures was as much a lesson for me as our long conversations about New England in the early republic. David Quigley, with his insight and dedication to American history, made me want to read, research, and write night and day and pushed me and this book further than I could have ever gone. It was always the best decision to follow his advice. Marilynn Johnson’s classes, although they focused on a later period than mine, greatly influenced my thinking and made me a better historian. During the transformation from the dissertation into the book, Joyce Appleby, Joseph Conforti, Jonathan Sassi, and Alan Taylor all read a few chapters or the entire manuscript. I cannot thank them enough for their careful reading and inspiring comments, which helped me to make most meaningful revisions. I owe a large debt to my friend Joan Cashin. She was always there for me when I needed advice and remains my model as a teacher, scholar, and writer. I also want to thank Jay Corrin, Polly Rizova, John McGrath, Tom Whalen, John Mackey, Susan Lee, and Kathleen Martin at Boston University for being wonderful colleagues and friends. I dedicate this book to Tom and Lia, my husband and daughter. I am ever thankful for Tom’s support, critical questions, and belief in me. This book became what it is because of their love and affection. 9780230605268ts01.indd xii 4/24/2008 12:26:30 PM Introduction The creation of American nationalism in the decades after Independence was paradoxically a distinctly regional process. At the same time the French Revolution brought about the emergence of modern nationalism in Europe, the founding of the new American republic led Americans to establish an idea of what it meant to be an American. Americans in New England thought that to be an American meant primarily to be a New Englander. They came to believe that in the creation of the new American identity their region should serve as a model for all other Americans. Taking the measure of this early American nationalism is essential to understanding the politics, culture, and identity of the new republic. More than thirty years ago, David Potter reminded us that national and regional loyalties are intertwined. He emphasized that a national identity does not overpower regional and local identities, but that all these loyalties nourish and shape each other because they share a psychological pattern. My study returns to Potter’s observation by focusing on New England between 1789 and 1825 in order to analyze the relationship between nationalism and regionalism.1 At the beginning of the twenty-first century, globalization evokes fears among many people that we are losing local, regional, and national traditions. In response to a situation where we share more information, consumer goods, and entertainment with others around the world every day, values connected with a more particular place gain new significance. Even if progressing rapidly, globalization does not remain unchallenged by local, regional, and national loyalties. Therefore, it is especially important for us to understand how universal and particular identities interact. This study looks at the relation between American nationalism, New England regionalism, and transatlantic elements that helped define those identities. When I was a graduate student at the University of Munich in Germany, I was curious about how the size of the United States and its immigrant, multicultural, and multiracial character might distinguish American nationalism from its European counterparts. 9780230605268ts02.indd 1 4/24/2008 12:27:31 PM 2 CREATING AN AMERICAN IDENTITY All these factors turn American nationalism into a particularly interesting case for a study of the interaction between nationalism and regionalism.