Hunting and the American imagination / Daniel Justin Herman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Herman, Daniel Justin.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hunting--United States--History.

Hunting.

Hunting--Social aspects--United States.

Hunting--Social aspects.

Philosophy.

History.

United States.

Hunting--United States--Philosophy.

Physical Description:

xvi, 356 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Washington [D.C.] : Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001.

Summary:

The historic image of the American hunter, clad in buckskins and carrying a rifle, is a cultural icon. But as Daniel Herman finds in Hunting and the American Imagination, America's hunting tradition did not spring solely from the colonial or frontier experience. By tracing American hunters' ideas about who they were and what they represented, Herman shows how Americans claimed a continent and forged enduring ideas about manliness, race, and nation.

Far from seeing themselves as a society of hunters, colonists and early Americans defined themselves as farmers and builders of civilization. Although hunting was a part of frontier life, most Americans viewed it as a matter of subsistence rather than a mark of identity. In the nineteenth century, however, largely through the efforts of writers and artists, hunter-explorers like Davy Crockett and Meriwether Lewis became heroes to the men of a growing and increasingly urban middle class. Whether they subscribed to the democratic legend of Daniel Boone or the hunting-with-hounds tradition of European aristocrats, America's sport hunters ultimately saw themselves as self-reliant "American Natives." Hunters identified with the Native Americans they had displaced and claimed to be heirs of the continent and natural stewards over its land and wildlife.

The story of America's hunting heritage is more than a story of crosshairs and prey. It is a tale of imagination and identity. From John Smith to Theodore Roosevelt, the experiences of American hunters provide a rich legacy that continues to inform the conservation movement and fundamental ideas about American rights today.

Contents:

1 Paradise 13

2 Hunting as a Religious Problem 27

3 Hunting as a Social Problem 37

4 Hunting as a Way of Life 47

5 The Problem with Sport Hunting 64

6 Hunters Ascendant 75

7 The Hunter's Empire 80

8 Daniel Boone 93

9 A Pantheon of Hunter-Heroes 114

10 The Sport Hunter's Awakening 122

11 Manliness and Its Constraints 141

12 American Natives 159

13 Disciples of Sport Hunting 173

14 Adirondacks and Aesthetics 188

15 The Far West 200

16 Manly Men and Manly Women 218

17 Conservation and Conflict 237

18 Friends and Foes 254.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [283]-348) and index.

ISBN:

156098919X

OCLC:

45002218