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Chapter 5 - Paupers, Vagabonds and American Indians

from Part III - The Frontier

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 November 2021

Alistair Robinson
Affiliation:
Birkbeck, University of London
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Summary

Vagrants abound in the writings of British travellers who visited antebellum America. This chapter focuses on the representation of three of these vagrant figures. First, the pauper immigrant, a figure whose mobility was vigorously contested by British and American commentators. For the British these immigrants belong to the deserving poor – their rootlessness was temporary and incidental; for the Americans they were often perceived as undeserving vagrants and a potential financial burden. Second, the American Indian, a figure who was frequently compared to the English Gypsy, and whose nomadism was often repositioned as vagrancy and a sign of their impending extinction. And third, the American vagabond, a vagrant and anarchic figure who was represented as a lawless reprobate living on the frontiers. These three figures were interpreted using a range of representational strategies that were current in Britain, and together they demonstrate the flexibility of vagrant discourses – their ability to circulate globally as well as locally. Among other writers, this chapter examines the works of Frances Trollope, Harriet Martineau and Charles Dickens.

Type
Chapter
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Vagrancy in the Victorian Age
Representing the Wandering Poor in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture
, pp. 163 - 194
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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