The driving ambition of this thesis lies in identifying and disclosing distinct and divergent examples of 20th century American long poems. This task will be carried out with a particular focus on stressing the idiosyncrasies of these practices rather than merely revising previous attempts at constructing a lineage or history of the American long poem. What is crucially at stake in this proposed critical movement is a distinction between ‘The Long Poem’ as an object of literary history as opposed to an ‘act of extended inquiry’ which can be comprehended in and on its own terms. In this task, I employ three key terms: Idiosyncrasy, Extension and Inquiry, which together frame my project as a disclosure of how poetic texts extend idiosyncratically over significant length, breadth and depth. In discussing ‘idiosyncrasy’ I necessarily negotiate questions of subjectivity, perception, intersubjectivity— namely, the questions which are proposed and explored by phenomenology. In this regard, my methodology is informed by a phenomenological taxonomy, developed from the writings of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Martin Heidegger, Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Derrida. The grouping of poets featured in this thesis are all American writers who have published extended works since the 1950s, and each is associated to varying extents with schools of avant-garde, post-Modernist or ‘New’ poetics. George Oppen has been regarded as an ‘Objectivist’ poet and is often discussed alongside his contemporaries Zukofsky, Lorine Niedecker and Charles Reznikoff; James Schuyler’s close association with Frank O’Hara, Barbara Guest and John Ashbery locate him among the New York School in the 1950s; Robin Blaser was instrumental in many of the publications and events which surrounded the San Francisco Renaissance; Lyn Hejinian, Susan Howe and Leslie Scalapino all published poems and works of poetics in L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E school publications in the 1970s-80s; and Rachel Blau DuPlessis has worked since the 1970s with both Language and Objectivist poetics, though her sustained interest in and engagement with ‘the long poem’ distinguishes her as a leading figure in the discourse of extended poetics in her own right. In each of these readings, significant efforts are made to discuss each poet outside of their conventional place within their ‘school’ or ‘tradition’. The purpose of this is to seek access to the idiosyncrasies of poets and their works as opposed to merely relying on generalised reckonings. In this manner, the specific ways in which individual poets extend their poetics into substantial inquiries will be made apparent using the terms employed by the poets themselves. It is my intention for this thesis to stand as an opening of the discourse of ‘The American Long Poem’ to complex and developed questions of extension in poetry, with a view to framing 20th century American poetics as being particularly oriented towards carrying out intellectual and perceptive inquiries in the form of works of poetic extension.

This thesis examines the role of History and Nostalgia in shaping the modern Tea Party movement, which emerged across the United States of America in early 2009. Inspired by the seminal work of Professor Jill Lepore, The Whites of Their Eyes, this thesis attempts to further investigate the Tea Party movement and their unique relationship with the past: from the social movement’s links with other conservative historical organisations such as the John Birch Society, to the Tea Party movement’s adoption and exploitation of the history of the American Revolution as a means of gaining political legitimacy. This thesis contextualises as well as details the historical origins, organisations, and ideologies behind the social movement. In the process of this task, the thesis has employed an experimental methodology which attempts to fuse together the philosophy of History with the discipline of History – an idea that was inspired during the experience of carrying out the thesis research at the time. This thesis highlights: the influence of the Internet over Tea Party movement, the Tea Party movement’s historiography of the American Revolution, as well as the similarities and differences of historical experiences shared by the Tea Party movement and the generation responsible for the American Revolution.

One of the most understudied frontiers, the Kentucky frontier was also one of the most violent. For twenty years this region was affected by a bloody war that came to involve the new settler population, numerous Indian tribes, the British, and the American government. More than a border war, the battle for Kentucky and the trans-Appalachian west came to define the communities which grew up in its midst, altering world views, attitudes, and compounding prejudices. It is the purpose of this thesis to accomplish two goals: first, this work will tackle the lack of recent scholarship on this region by providing a detailed history of the Kentucky frontier during the American Revolution and its subsequent period. The second goal of this thesis is to study, analyse and understand how the violence generated by the war with the Indians helped to shape settler society. By thinking of violence not purely as the result of other, more potent social forces – racism, economic fears, competition for land – it is possible to study and understand its formative impact upon early American society. From the short term development of vendetta fuelled warfare to the long term impact this war had upon relations between white and Native America, the war for the trans-Appalachian west saw violence taking on a particularly important, particularly formative role.

In the pre-contact era, Huron women were relatively powerful. They were active participants in the political, economic, and cultural activities of pre-contact Huronia. After contact with Europeans, however, epidemic disease swept through the Huron country. As a virgin soil population, the Hurons were devastated by contagious disease. Beginning in 1634, they witnessed epidemic outbreaks of diseases such as measles, scarlet fever, influenza, and smallpox. The epidemics had a harsh physical toll on all Hurons, particularly pregnant and breast-feeding women. The incidence of disease was high and the mortality rate was at least fifty percent. The epidemics also had cultural consequences. As a result of epidemic disease, the Hurons witnessed changes to their political processes, economic activities, cultural practices, and spiritual beliefs. Two of the most significant cultural consequences of contagious disease were warfare with the Five Nations and the loss of faith in traditional beliefs. Each of the cultural changes instigated by contagious disease affected the power and prestige of Huron women. The impact of contagious disease on Huron women was overwhelmingly negative.

In the pre-contact era, Huron women were relatively powerful. They were active participants in the political, economic, and cultural activities of pre-contact Huronia. After contact with Europeans, however, epidemic disease swept through the Huron country. As a virgin soil population, the Hurons were devastated by contagious disease. Beginning in 1634, they witnessed epidemic outbreaks of diseases such as measles, scarlet fever, influenza, and smallpox. The epidemics had a harsh physical toll on all Hurons, particularly pregnant and breast-feeding women. The incidence of disease was high and the mortality rate was at least fifty percent. The epidemics also had cultural consequences. As a result of epidemic disease, the Hurons witnessed changes to their political processes, economic activities, cultural practices, and spiritual beliefs. Two of the most significant cultural consequences of contagious disease were warfare with the Five Nations and the loss of faith in traditional beliefs. Each of the cultural changes instigated by contagious disease affected the power and prestige of Huron women. The impact of contagious disease on Huron women was overwhelmingly negative.