The Making of John Ledyard: Empire and Ambition in the Life of an Early American TravelerYale University Press, 1. okt 2008 - 224 pages During the course of his short but extraordinary life, John Ledyard (1751–1789) came in contact with some of the most remarkable figures of his era: the British explorer Captain James Cook, American financier Robert Morris, Revolutionary naval commander John Paul Jones, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and others. Ledyard lived and traveled in remarkable places as well, journeying from the New England backcountry to Tahiti, Hawaii, the American Northwest coast, Alaska, and the Russian Far East. In this engaging biography, the historian Edward Gray offers not only a full account of Ledyard’s eventful life but also an illuminating view of the late eighteenth-century world in which he lived. Ledyard was both a product of empire and an agent in its creation, Gray shows, and through this adventurer’s life it is possible to discern the many ways empire shaped the lives of nations, peoples, and individuals in the era of the American Revolution, the world’s first modern revolt against empire. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 23
Page 13
... Hartford . Ledyard would spend the better part of a decade in this provincial capital founded by dissident Puritans in 1636 . Hartford's persistence into the middle of the eighteenth century was owing largely to the Connecticut River ...
... Hartford . Ledyard would spend the better part of a decade in this provincial capital founded by dissident Puritans in 1636 . Hartford's persistence into the middle of the eighteenth century was owing largely to the Connecticut River ...
Page 14
... Hartford paper thought it newsworthy when one Rev. Mr. Ves- siere , a former Recollet missionary residing in Quebec " declared himself a Protestant , took the usual Oaths of Allegiance to the King [ of England ] ... and subscribed the ...
... Hartford paper thought it newsworthy when one Rev. Mr. Ves- siere , a former Recollet missionary residing in Quebec " declared himself a Protestant , took the usual Oaths of Allegiance to the King [ of England ] ... and subscribed the ...
Page 15
... Hartford's wealthiest 10 percent and among the very wealthiest in the colony . Yet for all his wealth , there was nothing removed or distant about Squire John . He was no dissipated , detached aristocrat but a vig- orous and devoted ...
... Hartford's wealthiest 10 percent and among the very wealthiest in the colony . Yet for all his wealth , there was nothing removed or distant about Squire John . He was no dissipated , detached aristocrat but a vig- orous and devoted ...
Page 17
... Hartford ; he would have affirmed Squire John's worth as a colonial leader ; and he would have affirmed the values of patience , moderation , and Christian charity that had allowed Abigail and Captain John to enter Groton's First Church ...
... Hartford ; he would have affirmed Squire John's worth as a colonial leader ; and he would have affirmed the values of patience , moderation , and Christian charity that had allowed Abigail and Captain John to enter Groton's First Church ...
Page 18
... Hartford , Thomas Seymour . The career choice was a sensible one , especially given Ledyard's fam- ily background . By the middle of the eighteenth century , the colonial bar had begun to resemble the ministry in its elite , closed ...
... Hartford , Thomas Seymour . The career choice was a sensible one , especially given Ledyard's fam- ily background . By the middle of the eighteenth century , the colonial bar had begun to resemble the ministry in its elite , closed ...
Contents
1 | |
9 | |
23 | |
43 | |
IV Seeking Distinction with the Pen Aboard the Resolution | 69 |
V Following the Revolution Home | 83 |
VI From Author to Fur Trader | 101 |
VII Becoming a Traveler in Thomas Jeffersons Paris | 124 |
VIII Across the Russian Empire | 136 |
IX Despotism and Human Nature in Catherine IIs Russia | 153 |
X To Africa | 170 |
Memories of the Traveler | 186 |
Notes | 195 |
Index | 217 |
Other editions - View all
The Making of John Ledyard: Empire and Ambition in the Life of an Early ... Edward G. Gray No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
Abigail aboard the Resolution Africa African Association appeared Banks Beaufoy Britain British Captain John Catherine chap character China colonial command Connecticut River Cook’s Cook's Last Voyage crew Dartmouth College death despotism Discovery eighteenth-century Eleazar Wheelock elite Empress England ethnic European expedition explained French frontier fur trade Hartford Hawaiian History human Ibid imperial Imperial Russia Irkutsk Islands Jared Sparks JCJC John Ledyard John Ledyard's Journey John Paul Jones Jones journal labor land letter Library London luxury marines merchants military moral Munford native nature naval navy never North America North Pacific northwest coast officers Pacific Ocean Palais Paris patrons perhaps political reprint returned revolutionary Russian Empire Russian Far East seemed Shelikov ships Siberia simply slavery slaves social Society South Squire John suggested Syphax Tahitian tattooed Thomas Jefferson tion Unalaska vessels Watrous West Whitman William writing Yakutsk yard York young