William Bartram and the American Revolution on the Southern FrontierIn Travels, the celebrated 1791 account of the "Old Southwest," William Bartram recorded the natural world he saw around him but, rather incredibly, omitted any reference to the epochal events of the American Revolution. Edward J. Cashin places Bartram in the context of his times and explains his conspicuous avoidance of people, places, and events embroiled in revolutionary fervor. Cashin suggests that while Bartram documented the natural world for plant collector John Fothergill, he wrote Travels for an entirely different audience. Convinced that Providence directed events for the betterment of mankind and that the Constitutional Convention would produce a political model for the rest of the world, Bartram offered Travels as a means of shaping the new country. Cashin illuminates the convictions that motivated Bartram-that if Americans lived in communion with nature, heeded the moral law, and treated the people of the interior with respect, then America would be blessed with greatness. |
Contents
The Ceded Lands | 38 |
East Florida | 76 |
The Cherokee Country | 125 |
The Creek Country | 160 |
The Military Engagement | 208 |
Philadelphia | 235 |
Epilogue | 254 |
| 303 | |
Other editions - View all
William Bartram and the American Revolution on the Southern Frontier Edward J. Cashin Limited preview - 2000 |
Common terms and phrases
Altamaha Andrew Attakullakulla Augusta backcountry Barnard Bartram Papers Benjamin Bluff botanist British Bryan Cameron Cashin cession Chalmers Charlestown Cherokee Cherokee country Chester chief Choctaws Clinton Collection Colonial Congress Council of Safety Cowee Coweta Cowkeeper Creek country Darien David Taitt Davies December Demere Drayton Emistisiguo father Fort Prince George Fothergill Francis Harper friends frontier Gage Papers George Galphin Georgia Governor Wright Harper headmen Henry Laurens History Ibid Indians Island James John Bartram John Stuart July June Keowee King Lachlan McGillivray Lachlan McIntosh Lamboll Lower Creeks loyalists March miles Mobile mountains Oconee Ogeechee Oglethorpe's Parish Pensacola plantation plants rangers River road Savannah Seneca settlements slaves South Carolina southern Spalding Spanish Tapley Tensaw Thomas Brown Tonyn took town trade trail tram Travels treaty troops Upper Creeks village W. B. Report Warrior West Florida William Bartram William Henry Drayton WLCL Wright to Dartmouth Wrightsborough wrote young