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
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Page iv
... 18th century . 7. United States — Description and travel . 8. Oceania - Description and travel . 9. Russia — Description and travel . I. Title . G226.L5G73 2007 910.92 - dc22 [ B ] 2006033476 A catalogue record for this book is ...
... 18th century . 7. United States — Description and travel . 8. Oceania - Description and travel . 9. Russia — Description and travel . I. Title . G226.L5G73 2007 910.92 - dc22 [ B ] 2006033476 A catalogue record for this book is ...
Page 3
... eighteenth - century America meant being somebody known to the right kind of people . It meant , that is , being admired by the famous and the powerful , people who could help a striving young man make something of himself . Such ...
... eighteenth - century America meant being somebody known to the right kind of people . It meant , that is , being admired by the famous and the powerful , people who could help a striving young man make something of himself . Such ...
Page 4
... eighteenth- century republic of letters: information communicated through prose or print—as opposed to some sort of oral performance such as a sermon— was ultimately the most authoritative kind of information. The journals he kept while ...
... eighteenth- century republic of letters: information communicated through prose or print—as opposed to some sort of oral performance such as a sermon— was ultimately the most authoritative kind of information. The journals he kept while ...
Page 6
... eighteenth-century man.5 Empire also afforded Ledyard the frame through which he viewed the various peoples and places he went. He could speak with great eloquence about the power and dignity of Tongan chiefs and Maori warriors, for ex ...
... eighteenth-century man.5 Empire also afforded Ledyard the frame through which he viewed the various peoples and places he went. He could speak with great eloquence about the power and dignity of Tongan chiefs and Maori warriors, for ex ...
Page 12
... eighteenth - century seafarers and not return home , they would be left to manage his debts . This prospect became reality in 1762 , eleven years after the birth of John , the future traveler , when not a storm but smallpox took Captain ...
... eighteenth - century seafarers and not return home , they would be left to manage his debts . This prospect became reality in 1762 , eleven years after the birth of John , the future traveler , when not a storm but smallpox took Captain ...
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