This dissertation examines the ways in which the science of insanity informs the creation of the American citizen during the years of the early Republic. By utilizing the medical texts of "America's first psychiatrist" Benjamin Rush, as a way of interpreting early American literature, I discern that the uses of insanity factor into some of the key discourses about the creation and function of citizenship in the decades just proceeding the American Revolution. Recent scholarly trends in early American literature have started to understand how disease, especially small-pox and yellow fever, uncover the strategies at work in transforming individuals into national citizens. In the late-eighteenth century, insanity is conceived as a disease capable of spreading throughout a geographic space. By examining the public's reaction to this "epidemic of the mind," I reveal that the appearance of insanity in texts by Crèvecoeur, William Hill Brown, Charles Brockden Brown, and Leonora Sansay gesture towards the precarious position of former loyalists, women, and slaves during the late eighteenth century. In each chapter I argue that the language of madness and the discourse on citizenship mirror each other, with both offering a bleak assessment of post-Revolution America. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2012. / April 19, 2012. / citizenship, insanity, madness, revolution / Includes bibliographical references. / Dennis Moore, Professor Directing Dissertation; Edward Gray, University Representative; Cristobal Silva, Committee Member; Maxine Montgomery, Committee Member; Candace Ward, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_183071 |
| Contributors | Price, Matthew L. (authoraut), Moore, Dennis (professor directing dissertation), Gray, Edward (university representative), Silva, Cristobal (committee member), Montgomery, Maxine (committee member), Ward, Candace (committee member), Department of English (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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