Jeffersonian America: Empires of the Imagination (PDF)

Empires of the Imagination takes the Louisiana Purchase as a point of departure for a compelling new discussion of the interaction between France and the United States. In addition to offering the first substantive synthesis of this transatlantic relationship, the essays collected here offer new interpretations on themes vital to the subject, ranging from political culture to intercultural contact to ethnic identity. They capture the cultural breadth of the territories encompassed by the Louisiana Purchase, exploring not only French and Anglo-American experiences, but also those of Native Americans and African Americans.Despite differences in concerns and methods, the pieces collected share crucial ground in how they suggest new ways for thinking about empire, identity, and memory. The authors show how France and the United States set about their competing imperial projects even as residents of the North American West effectively resisted those imperial aims, creating instead their own notions of community and connection. At the same time, these essays show how the contact among peoples created new social configurations and distinct cultural identities. Moving beyond the particulars of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, these essays reveal how the Louisiana Purchase subsequently entered into the public consciousness on both sides of the Atlantic in ways that continue to define imperial projects, racial identities, and ethnic communities.Delineating a unique moment in transatlantic historical conversation, Empires of the Imagination also provides important lessons in cross-disciplinary approaches to North American and Atlantic history. In addition to the multinational perspectives of the authors, individual essays deploy social science history, political culture, and ideological history, as well as social and cultural history, to create a cohesive understanding of diverse experiences.Contributors:Emily Clark, Tulane UniversityLaurent Dubois, Duke UniversityMark Fernandez, Loyola University, New OrleansPeter J. Kastor, Washington University in St. LouisPaul Lachance, University of OttawaJean-Pierre Le Glaunec, Dalhousie UniversityJames E. Lewis Jr., Kalamazoo CollegePeter S. Onuf, University of VirginiaJacques Portes, Université de Paris VIIIMarie-Jeanne Rossignol, Université de Paris VII–Denis DiderotCécile Vidal, L' École des Hautes Études en Sciences SocialesFrançois Weil, L' École des Hautes Études en Sciences SocialesRichard White, Stanford University