John Alvis was devoted to the teaching of great literature and its engagement with the principle of liberty in the Western tradition. His work considered the good life and how it may be lived in a free society. Much like his monumental studies on Shakespeare and Hawthorne––and in a style that has been compared to Allan Bloom and Harry Jaffa––Alvis places Cooper, Melville, and Whitman in their original context in the shadow of the American Declaration of Independence. These authors offer differing approaches to the merit and shortcomings of this landmark document. Alvis astutely joins his own reading of the Declaration with the positions of these three authors that emerges in their respective works. Indeed, American literature of this period grapples with the principles of the Declaration and cannot be read without acknowledging that these great novels were nothing short of intentional political and social commentary. Alvis presents the tension between natural law and democracy in Cooper; the question of whether there is any firm metaphysical foundation for self-government, as Melville questions; and whether Whitman was the forefront of a new political religion that is at best misleading. This work is particularly relevant as Americans celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War. Alvis’ treatment of these authors highlights the “exceptionalism” of American literary, political, and industrial endeavors in the wake of colonial break with the empire. “Major American imaginative writers of the nineteenth century exhorted one another to distinguish themselves from their British counterparts by producing works devoted to portraying a national identity they were convinced was new to the world.” Alvis illustrates how these three writers responded creatively to this national enterprise. It is a work of historical and literary importance, but scholarship surrounding the American founding will benefit greatly from its pages.
