America and the Americans- in 1833-1834

by Richard Gooch, Richard Toby Widdicombe (Editor)

Overview

Gooch examines the American legal system, banks, labor; American policy toward Native Americans and blacks; he includes a condemnation of New York City government and its electoral process, among other topics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823215942
Publisher:	Fordham University Press
Publication date:	01/01/1994
Pages:	237
Product dimensions:	6.25(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1500L (what's this?)

About the Author

Richard Toby Widdicombe is Professor of English at the University of Alaska in Anchorage.

Editorial Reviews

Widdicombe’s scholarly apparatus shows brilliance and dedicated labor.

Journal of the American Studies Association of Texas

Gooch's acerbic account of his alleged sojourn in America should be read less as a travelogue than as a polemic against American life and customs, written to dissuade would-be English emigrants from crossing the Atlantic. Arranged by subject and based on both personal observations and newspaper stories, Gooch's account ridicules aspects of US life ranging from courtship customs to working conditions, from the electoral process to religious practices. Railing against slavery, corruption at the ballot box, treatment of the poor, and other injustices, Gooch decries "Republican America." In a well-researched introduction, Widdicombe sets the account in historical context, providing a useful biography of Gooch, as well as evidence casting doubt on whether Gooch actually visited the US at all. Even with its veracity in doubt, Gooch's account is still a highly readable, clever example of a segment of Tory opinion on America, and of what Widdicombe calls a "unique effort to reorient the British attitude to the United States at the dawn of the Victorian Age." General readers, lower-division undergraduates.

Choice

Gooch was a storyteller, poet, and perceptive social observer living in Georgian and early Victorian England. His previously unpublished, satirical account of his purported travels in America (focusing on New York City) was discovered by editor Richard Widdicombe. Widdicombe includes in this volume a short biography of Gooch, extensive textual and historical notes and an essay on Anglo-American travel literature. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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