The Society of the Cincinnati and Exemplarity in Late 18th-Century America
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6107899 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Daniel Kapust (0000-0002-2547-5171, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 128-147 |
| Publication date | 2023-02-06 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Polis The Journal for Ancient Greek and Roman Political Thought (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0142-257X • E-ISSN: 2051-2996 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1163/20512996-12340395 |
| OpenAlex | W4327561645 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 2 |
Drawing on Rex Stem’s analysis of exempla, I explore Mercy Otis Warren and John Marshall’s narrations of the Society of the Cincinnati, and Washington’s place within it, to draw out the lessons they sought to impart. Beginning with an exploration of Cincinnatus’ exemplum in antiquity, its relationship to late 18th-century portrayals of Washington, and its invocation in the establishment of the Society of the Cincinnati, I also discuss the exemplum by a prominent critic of the Society of the Cincinnati, Aedanus Burke. I then turn to Warren and Marshall’s accounts of the Cincinnati. I do so with a particular focus on how a single exemplary American – George Washington – is depicted in two different ways, exemplifying two different sets of moral teaching. I conclude by suggesting that Warren, Marshall, and Burke’s battle over the exemplum of Cincinnatus is a battle over the moral ordering of America’s future
Ancient history · Art · Art history · Battle · George (robot · Invocation · Theology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Classics · History · Mormonism, Religion, and History · Philosophy · Religion, Gender, and Enlightenment
| Highly cited | No |
|---|