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 39
Page 4
... merchants, servants, slaves, seamen, and so on. What would set Ledyard apart was his capacity to translate that experience into a language familiar to those he sought to impress. As the operative verb here implies, this ability was ...
... merchants, servants, slaves, seamen, and so on. What would set Ledyard apart was his capacity to translate that experience into a language familiar to those he sought to impress. As the operative verb here implies, this ability was ...
Page 5
... merchant vessel plying the British Atlantic triangle trade. And his career as traveler and explorer was inseparable from the British pursuit of empire. Captain Cook's third Pacific expedition would never have happened had the Admiralty ...
... merchant vessel plying the British Atlantic triangle trade. And his career as traveler and explorer was inseparable from the British pursuit of empire. Captain Cook's third Pacific expedition would never have happened had the Admiralty ...
Page 10
... merchants , sea captains , and lawyers . Perhaps these differences had played themselves out in the marriage of Abigail's aunt , Deborah Youngs . Her husband , Squire John , may simply have been too consumed with his business dealings ...
... merchants , sea captains , and lawyers . Perhaps these differences had played themselves out in the marriage of Abigail's aunt , Deborah Youngs . Her husband , Squire John , may simply have been too consumed with his business dealings ...
Page 11
... merchants around the Atlantic littoral whose trading ties constituted the backbone of the British Empire . It was through them that credit flowed to small , provincial towns such as Groton , and it was their political influence in ...
... merchants around the Atlantic littoral whose trading ties constituted the backbone of the British Empire . It was through them that credit flowed to small , provincial towns such as Groton , and it was their political influence in ...
Page 12
... merchants , farmers , and probably his fa- ther allowed him to acquire export cargo ; credit allowed him to obtain ... merchant could cover his various debts and even make a modest profit . Over time , enough such voyages could elevate a ...
... merchants , farmers , and probably his fa- ther allowed him to acquire export cargo ; credit allowed him to obtain ... merchant could cover his various debts and even make a modest profit . Over time , enough such voyages could elevate a ...
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