First published 2012
Nicole Eustace examines how British Americans transformed their understanding of human emotion during the eighteenth century. In 1700, colonists believed virtuous feelings belonged to genteel society while base passions drove lower classes, Indians, and enslaved people. By 1776, revolutionaries argued all humans shared the same emotional nature and used this idea to justify natural rights. Eustace traces this shift through newspapers, pamphlets, sermons, letters, and literary works from Pennsylvania and beyond. She shows how ordinary colonists used emotional language in daily life and how political leaders deployed feelings during crises like the Seven Years War and the patriot movement. The book demonstrates that changing ideas about emotion reshaped colonial power structures and social order. Eustace argues that passion drove Anglo-Americans to seek independence, first as communities and then as individuals.
Genres: history, non-fiction, biography-memoir, academic, cultural-studies, american-history
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-fiction, social-commentary
Setting: Pennsylvania
Period: 18th Century
610 pages · Kindle Edition · Omohundro Institute and UNC Press