In recent years there has been a renewed interest in Scottish contributions to the intellectual development in the early America. There has been a significant amount of work focused on Scottish luminaries such as Hutcheson, Hume and Smith and their influence on the eighteenth century American founding fathers. However, little attention has been directed at what we might call the later reception of the Scottish Enlightenment in the first half of the nineteenth century. This thesis presents an in-depth account of the intellectual and literary contributions of two relatively obscure philosophers of the nineteenth century: George Jardine and Sir William Hamilton. This study is framed by biographies of their lives as academics and then focuses on a detailed account of their work as represented in American books and periodicals. In addition, some attention will be given to their respected legacies, in regards to their students who immigrated to America. This thesis is comprised of two sections. The first contains five chapters that lay out the details of the lives and legacies of Jardine and Hamilton. Chapter 1 looks at the literary and historical context of Scotland’s contributions to early American academic development. Chapter 2 is a focused biography of the academic life of George Jardine. Though this biography centres on Jardine’s life as an educator, it constitutes the most complete account of his life to date. Chapter 3 looks in depth at Jardine’s academic and literary reception in America. This chapter chronicles the dissemination of Jardine’s pedagogical strategies by former students who immigrated to America as well as how his ideas were presented in American books and journals. Chapter 4 returns to a biographical format focused on one of Jardine’s most famous students – Sir William Hamilton. Like the biography on Jardine the emphasis of this chapter is on Hamilton’s role as an educator. Chapter 5 looks at Sir William Hamilton’s academic and literary reception in the United States. This chapter also presents material on Hamilton’s personal connections to Americans that have been overlooked in transatlantic intellectual history. Section two presents annotated catalogs of books and journals that exemplify the literary reception of Jardine and Hamilton in America. In the case of Jardine I include catalogs of two of his students who immigrated to America as a means to highlight Jardine’s indirect impact on the American religious and educational literature. Whereas many have argued that the 19th century witnessed a decline in Scottish education and Philosophy this study shows that these ideas thrived in America and it is evident Scotland was still exporting useful knowledge to the United States well past the civil war.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:631019 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Clark, Duane E. |
| Publisher | University of Glasgow |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://theses.gla.ac.uk/5670/ |
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