America Writes Its History 1650-1850

<p> By turns irreverent sympathetic and amusing <I>America Writes Its History 1650-1850</I> adds to the public discourse on national identity as advanced through the written word. Highlighting the contributions of American writers who focused on history the author shows that for nearly 200 years writers struggled to reflect or influence the public perception of America by Americans. This book is an introduction to the development of history as a written art form and an academic discipline during America's most crucial and impressionable period. <I>America Writes Its History 1650-1850</I> takes the reader on a historical tour of written histories--whether narrative history novels memoirs or plays--from the Jamestown Colony to the edge of the Civil War. What exactly did we as Americans think of ourselves? And more importantly; What did we want non-Americans to think of us? In other words what was (and is) history and who if anyone owns it?</p>