Civilized America

Published in 1859, Thomas Colley Grattan’s work illustrates ante-bellum America through anecdote and reflection. Dublin-born Grattan (1791/2-1864) became a journalist and novelist after abandoning a potential military career in favour of settled life in France. In Paris Grattan contributed to literary magazines and became acquainted with various writers, including Washington Irving, to whom he dedicated his celebrated Highways and Byways (1823). After living in the Netherlands and Belgium, Grattan was made - with the support of King Leopold - British Consul in Boston, where he began these two volumes. Determined to tell ‘the truth of the New World’ so that Europe may understand it, Grattan asks serious questions about American life. Volume 2 discusses the Irish, women, and Native Americans, and it criticizes the South’s slave-based economy and society even though racism colors its reflections. Anyone interested in nineteenth-century America will find this work relevant and fascinating.