Focusing on the emotional appeal of the War of 1812, Nicole Eustace explores how this costly conflict gained public support despite its unproductive nature. The book delves into significant events of the war, highlighting the cultural expressions—songs, speeches, and imagery—that framed the conflict as a tale of opportunity and romantic adventure, shaping public perception and sentiment during that tumultuous period.
Emotion, Power, and the Coming of the American Revolution
The book explores the transformation of societal views on emotions in British America from the early eighteenth century to 1776. Initially, feelings of virtue were seen as exclusive to the genteel, while lower classes and marginalized groups were viewed as driven by sinful passions. However, radical thinkers began to advocate for a universal understanding of human emotions, linking them to natural rights. Nicole Eustace examines the implications of this shift by detailing the evolving emotional expressions of ordinary people during this pivotal period.
In the winter of 1722, on the eve of a major conference between the Five Nations of the Haudenosaunee (also known as the Iroquois) and Anglo-American colonists, a pair of colonial fur traders brutally assaulted a Seneca hunter near Conestoga, Pennsylvania. Though virtually forgotten today, the crime ignited a contest between Native American forms of justice—rooted in community, forgiveness, and reparations—and the colonial ideology of harsh reprisal that called for the accused killers to be executed if found guilty. In Covered with Night, historian Nicole Eustace reconstructs the attack and its aftermath, introducing a group of unforgettable individuals—from the slain man’s resilient widow to an Indigenous diplomat known as “Captain Civility” to the scheming governor of Pennsylvania—as she narrates a remarkable series of criminal investigations and cross-cultural negotiations. Taking its title from a Haudenosaunee metaphor for mourning, Covered with Night ultimately urges us to consider Indigenous approaches to grief and condolence, rupture and repair, as we seek new avenues of justice in our own era.