Even as eighteenth-century thinkers from John Locke to Thomas Jefferson struggled to find effective means to restrain power; contemporary discussions of society gave increasing attention to ideals of refinement; moderation; and polished self-presentation. These two sets of ideas have long seemed separate; one dignified as political theory; the other primarily concerned with manners and material culture. Tea Sets and Tyranny challenges that division. In its original context; Steven C. Bullock suggests; politeness also raised important issues of power; leadership; and human relationships. This politics of politeness helped make opposition to overbearing power central to early American thought and practice.Although these views spanned the English Atlantic world; they were particularly significant in America; most notably in helping shape its Revolution. By the end of the eighteenth century; the politics of politeness was already breaking apart; however its ideals continued to be important. Opposition to arbitrary governing became central to American political culture; self-control became a major part of nineteenth-century values; but these ideals increasingly seemed to belong in separate spheres. This division between public power and personal life continues to shape thinking about liberty so fully that it has been difficult to recognize its origins in the eighteenth-century politics of politeness.Tea Sets and Tyranny follows the experiences of six extraordinary individuals; each seeking to establish public authority and personal standing: a cast of characters that includes a Virginia governor consumed by fits of towering rage; a Carolina woman who befriended a British princess; and a former Harvard student who became America's first confidence man.
#3544035 in Books University of Pennsylvania Press 2009-10-30Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.02 x .63 x 5.98l; 1.10 #File Name: 0812241932208 pages
Review
3 of 17 people found the following review helpful. totally racist!!!!!!By Mugisa Rathael Fambrothis is definitely a racist Eurocentric position this guy takes. all of the australoid and negrito; (just to use terms he; and so called scholars like him like to use; even though there pejorative to the people who have already named themselves); all over Australia; india; middle east; southeast asia; china; japan; Europe; the America's from the remotest of times; prior to these "slave" times that he only seems to know about; are all black africoids; meaning genotypically and phenotypically black African from the out of Africa migrations.all these racist want to delegate Africans to inferior positions as slaves; when they were not only masters prior to this; but were dominant over these same areas initially. The first three dynasties were ruled by Black Africans in china!!!!!!!!!I will wipe myself with this book.
