Timothy B. Powell is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Georgia. He is the editor of Beyond the Binary: Reconstructing Cultural Identity in a Multicultural Context.

"Timothy Powell's theoretically sophisticated and impressively researched book demonstrates that [multiculturalism] can ... produce literary criticism and historicism of the first order."--Christopher Diller, The New England Quarterly

• Acknowledgements vii Historical Interlude 3 Introduction Theorizing Ruthless Democracy 5 PART I: BEYOND NEW ENGLAND 25 Historical Interlude 27 Chapter One Nathaniel Hawthorne: History Imagined "Fantastically Awry" 30 Historical Interlude 49 Chapter Two John Rollin Ridge: Extending the Borders of "America" from New England to Alta California 52 Historical Interlude 75 Chapter Three Henry David Thoreau: "The Only True America" 77 PART II: TOWARD A TRANSNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING OF "AMERICAN" IDENTITY 101 Historical Interlude 103 Chapter Four Harriet Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Question of the American Colonization Society 106 Historical Interlude 131 Chapter Five William Wells Brown: Mapping the American Diaspora 133 Historical Interlude 151 Chapter Six Herman Melville: Ruthless Democracy 153 Notes 177 Bibliography 207 Index 221

Timothy B. Powell is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Georgia. He is the editor of Beyond the Binary: Reconstructing Cultural Identity in a Multicultural Context.

"Timothy Powell's theoretically sophisticated and impressively researched book demonstrates that [multiculturalism] can ... produce literary criticism and historicism of the first order."--Christopher Diller, The New England Quarterly

• Acknowledgements vii Historical Interlude 3 Introduction Theorizing Ruthless Democracy 5 PART I: BEYOND NEW ENGLAND 25 Historical Interlude 27 Chapter One Nathaniel Hawthorne: History Imagined "Fantastically Awry" 30 Historical Interlude 49 Chapter Two John Rollin Ridge: Extending the Borders of "America" from New England to Alta California 52 Historical Interlude 75 Chapter Three Henry David Thoreau: "The Only True America" 77 PART II: TOWARD A TRANSNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING OF "AMERICAN" IDENTITY 101 Historical Interlude 103 Chapter Four Harriet Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Question of the American Colonization Society 106 Historical Interlude 131 Chapter Five William Wells Brown: Mapping the American Diaspora 133 Historical Interlude 151 Chapter Six Herman Melville: Ruthless Democracy 153 Notes 177 Bibliography 207 Index 221