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 35
Page 3
... Revolutionary War years on a widely celebrated voyage of scientific discovery further freed him from the venomous judgments that haunted so many Americans — Loyalist and Patriot - in the immediate aftermath of the Revolution . Ledyard ...
... Revolutionary War years on a widely celebrated voyage of scientific discovery further freed him from the venomous judgments that haunted so many Americans — Loyalist and Patriot - in the immediate aftermath of the Revolution . Ledyard ...
Page 6
... than being just a product of empire, John Ledyard struggled to be an agent in empire's growth. In Ledyard's lifetime, empire as he knew it grew anachronistic and, indeed , was directly attacked by his revolutionary countrymen .
... than being just a product of empire, John Ledyard struggled to be an agent in empire's growth. In Ledyard's lifetime, empire as he knew it grew anachronistic and, indeed , was directly attacked by his revolutionary countrymen .
Page 7
... revolutionary ideology — especially its hostility to the staid , corrupt institutions of old Europe and its faith in reason and in the universality of human nature . But he was never a revolutionary . His destiny , as he came to ...
... revolutionary ideology — especially its hostility to the staid , corrupt institutions of old Europe and its faith in reason and in the universality of human nature . But he was never a revolutionary . His destiny , as he came to ...
Page 8
... with his own more hopeful vision of empire . Insofar as Ledyard came to embody the republican values of his revolutionary countrymen , it was a result of this struggle . CHAPTER I A Colonial Childhood JOHN LEDYARD was born in 8 ...
... with his own more hopeful vision of empire . Insofar as Ledyard came to embody the republican values of his revolutionary countrymen , it was a result of this struggle . CHAPTER I A Colonial Childhood JOHN LEDYARD was born in 8 ...
Page 26
... revolutionary world of classical republicans, the province of the less edu- cated: small farmers, women, children, servants, slaves, and the generally unfortunate. The male elite simply did not labor. But at Dartmouth the situation was ...
... revolutionary world of classical republicans, the province of the less edu- cated: small farmers, women, children, servants, slaves, and the generally unfortunate. The male elite simply did not labor. But at Dartmouth the situation was ...
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