William Knox: The Life and Thought of an Eighteenth-Century Imperialist

Leland J. Bellot

Published by University of Texas Press 1977

William Knox

The Life and Thought of an Eighteenth-Century Imperialist

Leland J. Bellot

https://doi.org/10.7560/790070

Overview
Contents

About this book

Colonial expert and pamphleteer William Knox has received attention in virtually every major study of the American Revolution, yet this is the first biography of Knox ever written.

Knox is best known as undersecretary of state in the American Department of the British government from 1770 to 1782. A prolific and candid commentator, he also made a reputation as a pamphleteer, defending the imperial cause during the decade preceding the Revolution. It had been his experience as provost marshal in Georgia from 1757 to 1762 that convinced Knox of the danger to the empire of the growing "democratic" forces in the American colonies.

While numerous historical works have focused on this or that aspect of Knox's career and thought, such treatment has produced at best a jigsaw portrait. Bellot's comprehensive narrative reveals Knox as a person—one whose Calvinist heritage and Scots-Irish upbringing profoundly influenced his view of empire—and as a historical actor and witness. Here is a look at the events of the revolutionary period through the eyes of a British bureaucrat who had a significant role in both the formation and the execution of British policy. This perspective also provides an excellent case study of the operation of the eighteenth-century British bureaucracy.

Author / Editor information

Leland J. Bellot is Professor Emeritus of History at California State University, Fullerton.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
1. "The First Rudiments of My Political Education': Childhood & Youth in Ireland, 1732-1757 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. "Legislators . . . That No King Can Govern Nor No God Can Please": Georgia, 1757-1762 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	17
3.'" Dancing Attendance upon People in Office': Imperial Problems & the Georgia Agency, 1762-1765 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	42
4. "An Offer . . . Advantageous & Honourable to You": Pamphleteering & the Pursuit of Office, 1765-1770 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	71
5. "The Dye Is Cast & More Mischief Will Follow": Conflicts of Interest & the Coming of the American Revolution, 1770-1775 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	106
6. "Wrath My Dear Lord Is Gone Forth": The American War, 1775-1778 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	140
7. "Firmness & Temperance with a Readiness at Expedients": The American War, 1778-1782 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
8. "I Will Do No Mischief, But I Will Stimulate the Minister to Do Good": Calamities, Public & Private, 1782-1790 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	185
9. "I Quitted the Vortex of Politics": The Elder Statesman, 1790-1810 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	206
Abbreviations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	219
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	249
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	259

Language: English
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Copyright year: 1977
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 276

eBook

Published: October 11, 2013
ISBN: 9780292759558