Domestic Manners of the Americans

Frances Trollope candidly describes her travel experiences in the United States during 1827-1831 in her two-volume book Domestic Manners of the Americans. First published in 1832, it records her views on many aspects of American daily life, especially targeting the supposed lack of manners among Americans. On reaching America, Mrs. Trollope encountered a country that was completely different from what she had expected. She expresses her disgust at the copious handshaking, spitting-habits, tobacco chewing, expressions of self-righteousness, and hypocrisy of the Americans and vents her outrage at the existence of the slave trade in a country that boasted of equality. Her criticisms of American culture are interspersed with descriptions of elections, cathedrals, markets, public balls, literature, and religion. Volume 1 covers her travels through New Orleans, Memphis, Baltimore and Washington, and offers an engaging account of a nineteenth-century Englishwoman’s impressions of America.