The Dark Cloud of Jeffersonian Philanthropy: Native American Assimilation and the Critique of the Frontier Romance

During the most crucial years of the early republic (1780-1830), Jeffersonian Philanthropy saw the incorporation of the Native American into American citizenry as an ideal cornerstone for the building of the new nation. This assimilation would take many forms, yet the most discussed are intermarriage, the acceptance of Christianity, and the Native influence on the story of the nation\u27s founding. This study examines the ways in which the literary genre of the Frontier Romance portrays, influences, and critiques Native American assimilation and interacts with political and social writing of the early republic. Intermarriage between Native and European Americans is discussed in a chapter on Rowson\u27s Rueben and Rachel, Child\u27sHobomok, and Sedgwick\u27s Hope Leslie. Christianity and the Native American is discussed in a chapter on Bleecker\u27s The History of Maria Kittle, Brown\u27s Wieland, Sedgewick\u27s Hope Leslie, and the anonymously published work The Christian Indian. Lastly, the Natives role in shaping the American individual is discussed in a chapter covering Brown\u27s Edgar Huntly, James McHenry\u27s The Wilderness, and the third novel in James Fennimore Cooper\u27s Leatherstocking Tales, The Prairie