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William Smith’s Catonian Loyalism, Race, and the Politics of Language
Ist Teil von
Early American literature, 2017-09, Vol.52 (3), p.531-558
Ort / Verlag
Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press
Erscheinungsjahr
2017
Link zum Volltext
Quelle
Project MUSE
Beschreibungen/Notizen
Smith's commitment to Britain and to liberty bears out Mary Beth Norton's observation that "the American Tory' was in fact a Whig par excellence" (130).7 His very persona attests to these values.8 George Washington and Patrick Henry borrowed from Addison the symbolism of Cato's opposition to Caesar, while Mercy Otis Warren and Abigail Adams found inspiration in the drama (Dillon 556; Hicks 281-83). Because Smith's persona emphasized the ideological common ground he shared with his opponents, it presented Philadelphia's radical community with the rhetorical challenge of countering arguing against a figure they themselves often relied upon. Smith's opponents also sought to undo the abstracting work of Smith's pseudonymous selfpresentation. [...]when Smith dismissed Paine's extreme rhetoric and accused him of "perverting the Scripture" ("Letter 6" 840), Paine responded by assailing the "specious name of Cato" (Collected 60). Whatever Paine's motivations, his emphasis on doctrine over personality was echoed by many writers of the period, like the contributor to the Pennsylvania Ledger who averred, "Who I am is not material" (Settled Citizen). Because of anonymity's ideological power, attribution could alienate the very audience writers sought to convince. [...]it is while in the very process of objecting to the other side's tendency to identify their opponents' names that Smith calls their roll.