The Nation's Nature: How Continental Presumptions Gave Rise to the United States of America

acknowledgments

acknowledgments Over the past decade, I have leaned heavily on countless friends, scholars, and institutions to help bring this book to fruition. Unfortunately, my debts to individuals are so numerous, and my memory so faulty, that I fear I have forgotten someone in the thanks that follow. If so, please accept my apologies. I am grateful for the assistance of librarians at the American Antiquarian Society, the Boston Athenaeum, the British Library, the British Museum, Harvard University, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Library Company of Philadelphia, the Library of Congress, the Library of Virginia, the Louisiana State Museum, Metropolitan State College of Denver, the National Gallery of Art, the National Gallery of Canada, the University of Georgia, the University of Pittsburgh, and the Yale University Art Gallery. The Metropolitan State College of Denver provided funding for short research trips, paper presentations, and a year’s sabbatical. The American Philosophical Society funded a month at its magnificent library. There I found the assistance of Rob Cox, Valerie Lutz, and Roy Goodman unfailing. Roy, in particular, took pity on me as a new father who was far from home and family, taking me to lunches and dinners where, undoubtedly, he heard more than he cared to about continents. A fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) paid for an essential year of writing . Of course—and in compliance with NEH requirements—I must state that any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the NEH. The book has benefited from the input of participants at the History of Science Society Conference in 2001; the Front Range Early Americanists Conference (the FREACs) in 2002 and 2006; and the Metro Unpublished Papers and Extended Thesis Seminar (the MUPPETS) on multiple occasions in 2008. Virginia Anderson, Joyce Appleby, Kyle Bulthuis, Vincent C. de Baca, Dolph Grundman, Woody Holton, Ben Irvin, Kim Klimek, Susan Lanman, Todd Laugen, Matt Makley, Holly Mayer, Laura McCall, Kris Mitchener, John Monnett, Andrew Muldoon, Tish Richard, Paul Sidelko, Brian Weiser, and Jennifer Wynot all read drafts, usually crude, of portions of the manuscript. Holly Mayer, Paul Mapp, and Peter Silver generously shared their work in progress with me. xii ) Acknowlegments Portions of chapters 1 and 6 appeared in the Journal of World History 15 (2004). I received apt suggestions from the journal’s editor, Jerry Bentley, and its anonymous reader. The judges for the University of Virginia Press’s Walker Cowen Prize o√ered shrewd suggestions on how to improve the manuscript as a whole, as did a subsequent anonymous reader. At the press, Angie Hogan, Penny Kaiserlian, Mark Mones, and Morgan Myers deftly guided me through the publication process. Susan Deeks did a superb job of copyediting. At a critical time, the press also granted me temporary access to The American Founding Era, a remarkable digital collection under its Rotunda imprint. Paul Mapp has served as both an intellectual inspiration and a model of generosity, sharing drafts of his remarkable book and critiquing my early chapters. Tom Ingersoll, Gary Nash, Fred Anderson, and Steve Leonard all slogged through the first draft of the entire manuscript. I also owe special thanks to both Gary and Fred for the wisdom and support they o√ered on several occasions and, in the case of Fred, for some wild boar. Steve Leonard painstakingly took one of the sharpest pencils I’ve ever seen to my prose. If there is a decent sentence in the book, he probably deserves credit for it. My greatest debt—and a√ection—goes to my family. Haley, Hanna, and Monique have influenced and supported me more than anyone else. the nation’s nature ...