Gather The Contrast: Manners, Morals, And Authority In The Early American Republic Chronicled By Cynthia Kierner Visible In Softcover

Contrast", which premiered at New York City's John Street Theater in, was the first American play performed in public by a professional theater company.
The play, written by New Englandborn, Harvardeducated, Royall Tyler was timely, funny, and extremely popular, When the play appeared in print in, George Washington himself appeared at the head of its list of hundreds of subscribers,
Reprinted here with annotated footnotes by historian Cynthia A, Kierner, Tyler's play explores the debate over manners, morals, and cultural authority in the decades following American Revolution, Did the American colonists' rejection of monarchy inmean they should abolish all European social traditions and hierarchies What sorts of etiquette, amusements, and fashions were appropriate and beneficial Most important, to be a nation, did Americans need to distinguish themselves from Europeansand, if so, how
Tyler was not the only American pondering these questions, and Kierner

situates the play in its broader historical and cultural contexts.
An extensive introduction provides readers with a background on life and politics in the United States in, when Americans were in the midst of nationbuilding.
The book also features a section with selections from contemporary letters, essays, novels, conduct books, and public documents, which debate issues of the era.
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