Persuasion and propaganda : monuments and the eighteenth-century British Empire

Description

In the eighteenth century, sugar planters, merchants, aristocrats, politicians, and governments erected hundreds of commemorative monuments throughout the British Empire as expressions of social status, personal dynasties, territorial occupation, and imperial ambitions. In a culture transformed by the rising merchant class, these monuments - inherently public and hopefully permanent - underscored the economic, political, and cultural complexities of the emerging empire. Lavishly illustrated, Persuasion and Propaganda is the first study of these works of art within the framework of colonial politics and political culture. While examining the rise of the idea of the public in the modern world, Joan Coutu also explores how empire was constantly being redefined. Contents Acknowledgments Author’s Notes Abbreviations List of Figures 1 Introduction PART ONE: FAMILY EMPIRES 2 Display and Dynasty 3 The Colonial Trade in Monuments PART TWO: OFFICIAL EMPIRE 4 Heroic Imagery? The Monument to Wolfe in Westminster Abbey 5 Precedents and Parallels: The Grenville Commissions PART THREE: EMPIRE SECURED? 6 Magnanimity? The Bust of George III in Montreal 7 Reassurances of Liberty: Public Monuments in the American Colonies PART FOUR: EMPIRE RENEWED 8 Reassurances of Loyalty: Public Commissions in the West Indies 9 India: Empire Building as a Moral Imperative 10 Conclusion Appendix 1: Excerpt from the Agreement between Joseph Wilton and William Young for the Ottley Monument, St John’s Church, Antigua,21 August 1767 Appendix 2: Advice Concerning a Monument to Major General Wolfe Appendix 3: Correspondence of Charles Garth, Joseph Wilton, and the Committee of Correspondence of the Commons House of Assembly of South Carolina Concerning the Monument of William Pitt for Charleston, 766–70 Appendix 4: Eighteenth- and Early-Nineteenth-Century Monuments in North America and the British West Indies Notes Bibliography Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T V W Y