Becoming America - An Exploration of American Literature from Precolonial to Post-Revolution, 2018a

BECOMING AMERICA
REVOLUTIONARY AND EARLY NATIONAL PERIOD LITERATURE
From the valiant Dunmore, with his crew of banditti,
Who plunder Virginians at Williamsburg city,
From hot-headed Montague, mighty to swear,
The little fat man with his pretty white hair.
From bishops in Britain, who butchers are grown,
From slaves that would die for a smile from the throne,
From assemblies that vote against Congress proceedings,
(Who now see the fruit of their stupid misleadings.)
From Tryon the mighty, who ies from our city,
And swelled with importance disdains the committee:
(But since he is pleased to proclaim us his foes,
What the devil care we where the devil he goes.)
From the caiti, lord North, who would bind us in chains,
From a royal king Log, with his tooth-full of brains,
Who dreams, and is certain (when taking a nap)
He has conquered our lands, as they lay on his map.
From a kingdom that bullies, and hectors, and swears,
We send up to heaven our wishes and prayers
That we, disunited, may freemen be still,
And Britain go on—to be damned if she will.
3.13.5 Reading and Review Questions
1. In “To Sir Toby,” why does Freneau group “despots” with such other of
“nature’s plagues” as “Snakes, scorpions. . . lizards, centipees?”
2. In “To Sir Toby,” what are some of the atrocities perpetrated on slaves
that Freneau lists? How do these atrocities connect with the poem’s
opening declaration that Sir Toby’s slaves suer hell on earth?
3. What actual knowledge about Native American culture does Freneau
display in “The Indian Burying Ground?” What is his attitude towards
Native Americans? How do you know?
4. Despite being “unnatural,” according to Freneau in “On Mr Paine’s
Rights of Man,” why have monarchs managed to rule “this globe?”
5. By what means, and why, does Freneau destroy the “heroism” of such
gures as Wallace, Greaves, Dunmore, and Montague? What does his
doing so suggest about American democratic ideals?
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