2 options
The way of improvement leads home : Philip Vickers Fithian and the rural Enlightenment in early America / John Fea.
JSTOR Connect to full text Available online
View online- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Fea, John.
- Series:
- Early American studies
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Fithian, Philip Vickers, 1747-1776.
- Fithian, Philip Vickers.
- American diaries--History and criticism.
- American diaries.
- Diarists--Virginia--Biography.
- Diarists.
- Enlightenment--United States.
- Enlightenment.
- History.
- Chaplains.
- Tutors and tutoring.
- Presbyterians.
- Plantation life.
- United States.
- Plantation life--Virginia--History--18th century.
- Presbyterians--New Jersey--Biography.
- Tutors and tutoring--Virginia--Biography.
- United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Chaplains.
- United States--Intellectual life--18th century.
- Intellectual life.
- Virginia--Social life and customs--To 1775.
- Virginia.
- Manners and customs.
- New Jersey.
- Local Subjects:
- Fithian, Philip Vickers, 1747-1776.
- Genre:
- Electronic books.
- Biographies.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (269 pages :) : illustrations, maps.
- Other Title:
- Penn Press e-books.
- Place of Publication:
- Philadelphia [Pa.] : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2008]
- System Details:
- Mode of access: World Wide Web.
- text file
- Summary:
- The Way of Improvement Leads Home traces the short but fascinating life of Philip Vickers Fithian. Born to Presbyterian grain-growers in rural New Jersey, he was never quite satisfied with the agricultural life he seemed destined to inherit. Fithian longed for something more- to improve himself in a revolutionary world that was making upward mobility possible. Fithian is best known for the diary that he wrote in 1773-74 while working as a tutor at Nomini Hall, the Virginia plantation of Robert Carter, and his role as a Revolutionary War chaplain. From the villages of New Jersey, Fithian was able to participate indirectly in the eighteenth-century republic of letters- a transatlantic intellectual community. Participation required a commitment to self-improvement that demanded a belief in the Enlightenment values of human potential and social progress. He constantly struggled to reconcile this quest for a cosmopolitan life with his love of home. It was the people, the religious culture, and the very landscape of his "native sod" that continued to hold Fithian's affections.
- Contents:
- Introduction
- A Cohansey Home
- A Presbyterian Conversion
- Ambition
- Rural Enlightenment
- A Virginia Sojourn
- Revolution
- The Call of God
- Duty
- Conclusion
- Appendix: A Note on the Fithian Diaries.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-255) and index.
- ISBN:
- 9780812206395
- 0812206398
- OCLC:
- 859161556
- Access Restriction:
- Restricted for use by site license.
The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.