Land, Labor, and Colonial Economics in Thomas Morton's New English Canaan

Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.

Morton frequently describes the Plymouth Separatists as moles, first calling them by this name when he records their inability to interpret the maypole poem.

“Morton frequently describes the Plymouth Separatists as moles, first calling them by this name when he records their unacknowledged inability to interpret the poem he nailed to the maypole in celebration of the renaming of his plantation.”

Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.

In Morton's book 3, a pious Separatist who became wealthy through the beaver trade was made a Gentleman of the first head upon renouncing commerce for religious reasons.

“Meanwhile, a pious Separatist who had become wealthy through the beaver trade was, upon renouncing such commerce for religious reasons, “made a Gentleman of the first head” (175).”

Probably not a substantial claim.

Morton turns to the genre of the masque in book 3 to depict to the council and Gorges the conflict between the Puritans and himself.

“Morton turns to the genre of the masque in book 3 to depict to the council and Gorges in theatrical terms the conflict between the Puritans and himself, employing the songs, dances, mythological figures, and revels that characterized the Stuart court masque.”

Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.

Morton uses the example of King Louis XI, who advanced his barber to honor and allowed him to address foreign princes, to illustrate the danger of social mobility.

“The danger of this social mobility, Morton observes, might be seen in the example of King Louis XI, who “advanced his Barber to place of Honor, and graced him with eminent titles,” permitting him even to address political matters with “foreign princes” (183).”

It may state two separate claims as one.

While Morton himself engages in fowl-hunting, the Indians are often described in terms that reveal their physical labor.

“While Morton himself engages in the English gentleman's leisure activity of fowl-hunting, the Indians are often described in terms that, at least inadvertently, reveal their physical labor.”

It may state two separate claims as one.

The economic usefulness of the geese Morton shoots appears almost a by-product of the sport of hunting, and Morton never describes himself preparing or exchanging any of the game he kills.

“The economic usefulness of the geese he shoots appears almost a by-product of the sport of hunting, and Morton never describes himself preparing or exchanging (i.e., plucking and selling its feathers) any of the game he kills.”

Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.

In the poetic prologue, Morton claims the country, like the virgin, is most fortunate when most enjoyed, and he insists throughout the book that it is necessary to enjoy New England, to take pleasure in it, in order to make it prosper.

“In the poetic prologue that presents New England as a “fair virgin, longing to ... I meet her lover in a Nuptial bed,” Morton claims that the country, like the virgin, is “most fortunate I When most enjoyed”-and he insists throughout his book that it is, indeed, necessary to enjoy New England, to take pleasure in it, in order to make it prosper, to make it “fortunate.””

It may state two separate claims as one.

While it is unclear what comprised Morton's own activities at the trading post, he never represents himself as engaged in any activity other than the country gentleman's sport of hunting.

“While it is unclear just what comprised Morton's own activities at the trading post, he significantly never represents himself as engaged in any activity other than the country gentleman's sport of hunting.”

Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.

Morton notes that the two animals that prosper best in the Zona Temperata are the ant and the bee, both identified with industriousness and hoarding.

“The two animals that prosper best in the “Zona Temperata” are, Morton notes, “the Ant and Bee” (10)-both of which are identified with industriousness and with hoarding.”

Probably not a substantial claim.

Morton extends naturalized and aestheticized productivity to Indian women, marveling that even when pregnant they forbear neither labor nor travel and have fair, quick deliveries.

“Morton extends this naturalized and aestheticized productivity to Indian women as well, and marvels that even when Indian women are “as great as they can be” with child, “yet in that case they forbear neither labor nor travel.I have seen them in that plight with burthens at their backs enough to load a horse, yet do they not miscarry, but have a fair delivery, and a quick.”

Not yet classified.

Morton urges an aristocratic reordering of colonial society and economy.

“urges an aristocratic reordering of the colonial society and economy”

Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.

Endicott and his men experience poverty and hunger, and must resort to theft, because they lack the knowledge and ability to reap the landscape's natural abundance that country gentlemen like Morton possess.

“Endicott and his men experience poverty and hunger, and must resort to theft, because they lack the knowledge and ability to reap the landscape's natural abundance that country gentlemen like Morton possess.”

Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.

Endicott's raid on Morton's home betrays his financial ignorance and his class/status ignorance of traditional English countryside hospitality.

“When Littleworth/Endicott responds to the failure of his trade arrangements, for example, by organizing a raid on Morton's home, his actions betray not only his financial ignorance but also his class/status ignorance of the traditional hospitality and feasting customs of the English countryside.”

Probably not a substantial claim.

In Morton's representation, the Puritans cannot profitably manage trade even when they try, because the economic blindness associated with their social ranking renders them unable to see New England's natural abundance.

“But in Morton's representation, the Puritans cannot profitably manage trade even when they try, for the economic blindness associated with their social ranking renders them unable to even see New England's natural abundance.”

Probably not a substantial claim.

For Morton, New England is a laborless world because the climate that makes it a geographic golden mean also makes it an economic golden mean.

“For Morton, the paradise of New England is a laborless world because the very climate that makes it a geographic golden mean also makes it an economic golden mean.”

Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.

If book 2 presents a landscape of natural abundance reproducing without human labor, book 3 presents its Puritan inhabitants as a plague whose misguided labor brings morbidity and infertility to Canaan's paradise.

“If book 2 presents a landscape of natural abundance that reproduces itself without the need of human labor, book 3 presents its Puritan inhabitants as a kind of plague whose misguided labor brings morbidity and infertility to Canaan's paradise.”

Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.

Morton's trading-post pastoral mocks Plymouth's class/status alliance with agricultural and artisanal labor.

“Morton's trading-post pastoral in New English Canaan mocks Plymouth's class/ status alliance with agricultural and artisanallabor”

It may state two separate claims as one.

Morton suggests Plymouth and Ma-re Mount competed in the same fur trade but advanced different colonial economic visions.

“although Ma-re Mount and Plymouth found themselves competing in the same fur trade, Morton suggests that each plantation was engaged in that trade as a means to advance very different colonial economic visions”

Probably not a substantial claim.

Book 3 is largely an effort by Morton to expose the Puritans' socioeconomic identity as illiterate common laborers who lack ability and legitimacy to govern and manage New England.

“Book 3 is in large part an effort by Morton to expose the Puritans' “ass's ears [that] will peep through the lion's hide”; he intends to expose the socioeconomic identity of “these illiterate people” (184) who, as common laborers, lack-from Morton's point of view-the ability and legitimacy to govern and manage the paradise that is New England.”

Probably not a substantial claim.

Morton's New English Canaan performs for its gentlemanly audience the same aristocratic disavowal as pastoral masques did for the monarch or country-house poems did for the gentry.

“We might see Morton's New English Canaan performing for its gentlemanly audience this same aristocratic disavowal, much as pastoral masques did for the monarch or country-house poems did for the gentry.”

Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence.

New English Canaan develops an aesthetics of colonial pastoral that locates within the landscape itself the right of English gentlemen to possess New England's land and wealth.

“Land is absolutely integral to New English Canaan, which develops an aesthetics of colonial pastoral that finally locates within the landscape itself the right of English gentlemen to possess New England's land and wealth”

Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.

New English Canaan offers its English aristocratic audience the same satisfying identity as the masque, but its distinction between masque and antimasque is the presence not of trade but of labor.

“New English Canaan offers the same satisfying identity to its English aristocratic audience, although its distinction between the world of the masque and the antimasque is the presence not of trade but of labor.”

Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.

Morton's book is not addressed to present or would-be investors because its premise is that New England yields rather than needs wealth.

“Morton's is not addressed to present or would-be investors, because the very premise of his book is that New England yields rather than needs wealth.”

Probably not a substantial claim.

In New English Canaan, the intrusion of the disorder of the antimasque-represented by the ignorant, blind, incompetent Separatists-represents the entrance of commoners, exposed by their labor, into the realm of gentlemen landlords.

“The intrusion of the disorder of the antimasque-represented by the ignorant, blind, and incompetent Separatists-represents the entrance of commoners, exposed by their labor, into the realm of gentlemen landlords.”

Probably not a substantial claim.

New English Canaan condemns the New England Puritans as financial and cultural illiterates.

“The book condemns the New England Puritans as financial and cultural illiterates”

Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.

For Morton, the Separatists are a group of commoners who have duped themselves into believing they can become gentlemen.

“For Morton, the Separatists are precisely such a group of commoners who have duped themselves into believing they can become gentlemen.”

Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.

Book 1's proto-ethnographic account of the Indians is an inadvertent record of the necessary human labor that quietly sustains Morton's aristocratic pastoral vision.

“Book 1's proto-ethnographic account of the Indians is, on the other hand, an inadvertent record of the necessary human labor that quietly sustains Morton's aristocratic pastoral vision.”

Probably not a substantial claim.

Book 3 relies on Morton's earlier description of the land's abundance to support his critique of the Puritans' economic mismanagement of New England.

“Book 3, which might appear to abandon the promotional pastoral of the previous book for its satirical history of the Plymouth Separatists, actually relies on Morton's earlier description of the land's abundance to support his critique of the Puritans' economic mismanagement of New England.”

It may state two separate claims as one.

Both groups looked backward to economic formations that predated the capitalist world-system, while participating in mercantile capitalist arrangements central to that world-system.

“Both groups looked backward, in different ways, to economic formations that predated the capitalist world-system, although both participated in mercantile capitalist arrangements central to that world-system in their efforts to arrive there.”

Probably not a substantial claim.

The natural world in Morton's text models a socioeconomic arrangement repeated among its inhabitants, mirroring the relationship between Morton and the Indians.

“The natural world itself models a socioeconomic a:rrangeme•nt that is repeated among its in-habitants, since the relationship here between Neptune, the lord of the sea, and the laboring streams, is precisely that between Morton, trading post owner, and the Indians”

Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.

As moles living in darkness aligned with common social ranking and soil, the Separatists in Morton's representation have no access to elite knowledge or to New England's temperate climate and abundant productivity.

“As moles who live in the darkness aligned here both with a common social ranking and the soil itself, the Separatists have no access to elite knowledge, but also no access to the climate of New England's temperate zone and its abundant productivity.”

Probably not a substantial claim.

New English Canaan presents New England to English aristocrats as a pastoral utopia of potentially unlimited pleasure and profits, conditional on a hierarchical socioeconomic order supported by colonial trade.

“New English Canaan presents New England to its audience of English aristocrats as a pastoral utopia of potentially unlimited pleasure and profits, but only if it is organized around a hierarchical socioeconomic order supported by colonial trade rather than King Solomon's gold or Plymouth's labor.”

Probably not a substantial claim.

In New English Canaan, the Puritans' ungoverned access to colonial trade destroys the order of a traditional social hierarchy and the natural productivity and wealth of New England.

“whose ungoverned access to colonial trade destroys at once the order of a traditional social hierarchy and the natural productivity and wealth of New England.”

Probably not a substantial claim.

Morton develops a pastoral not of the shepherd dispossessed of pasture but of the landowner dispossessed of his trading post.

“Morton-who by losing the land has also lost the trading rights and profits that accompany that possession-develops a pastoral not of the shepherd dispossessed of pasture but of the landowner dispossessed of his trading post.”

Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.

Reading New English Canaan in its entirety exposes Morton's vision of plantation economics, a colonial class/status system, and the obscured labor relations underlying his aristocratic pastoral ideology.

“Only by reading New English Canaan in its entirety might we begin to expose Morton's vision of plantation economics and a colonial class/status system, as well as the obscured labor relations that underlie his aristocratic pastoral ideology.”

Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.

The economic drama of New English Canaan is staged against a backdrop of land ownership disputes, trading rights and pricing conflicts, and colonial financial failure on the plantation level.

“The economic drama of New English Canaan is therefore staged against a backdrop of land ownership disputes, trading rights and pricing conflicts, and colonial financial failure on the plantation level.”

• AssumptionRests on an assumption: At the time of the Plymouth-Ma-re Mount conflict, there was no working model of a profitable plantation in New England.

Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.

Book 3 repeatedly characterizes the Separatists as laborers whose blindly unnecessary work produces nothing of value.

“Book 3 repeatedly characterizes the Separatists as laborers whose blindly unnecessary work produces nothing of value.”

It may state two separate claims as one.

Morton was likely echoing and building on Samuel Purchas's Hakluytus Posthumous; or Purchas His Pilgrimes, which targets a gentry more than a merchant audience.

“Morton was likely echoing and building on the most well-known travel collection of the time, Samuel Purchas's Hakluytus Posthumous; or Purchas His Pilgrimes (1625) which, like New English Canaan (but unlike the travel narratives listed earlier), targets a gentry more than a merchant audience.”

• cites Samuel Purchas's Hakluytus Posthumous; or Purchas His PilgrimesNot matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Not yet classified.

Morton insists this aristocratic reordering is already modeled in the landscape itself.

“that, he insists, is already modeled in the landscape itself.”

Not yet classified.

Morton pastoralizes promotional travel writing to advance his economic vision.

“To advance this economic vision, Morton pastoralizes promotional travel writing.”

Not yet classified.

Morton's economics of laborless abundance challenge the economics of investment that characterize most contemporary colonial travel writing.

“Morton's economics of laborless abundance challenge the economics of investment that characterize most contemporary colonial travel writing.”

Not yet classified.

Morton saw in Plymouth wasted opportunity whereas Bradford saw in Ma-re Mount opportunistic waste.

“Whereas Bradford saw in Ma-re Mount opportunistic waste, Morton saw in Plymouth wasted opportunity.”

Not yet classified.

Morton's use of pastoral and masque traditions negotiates his own disavowed participation in commercial relations by separating an idealized and abundant past from the present.

“Morton's use of pastoral and masque traditions negotiates his own disavowed participation in these commercial relations by separating from the present an idealized and abundant past.”

Not yet classified.

New English Canaan can be seen as a colonial masque that performs its pastoral excess for the Council of New England and its leader Gorges.

“New English Canaan might be seen as a colonial masque that performs its pastoral excess not for the court and the king, I suggest, but for the Council of New England and its leader Gorges.”

Not yet classified.

It is less easy to celebrate Morton's collective than Linebaugh and Rediker's description suggests, because their description of the ruling class's erasure of workers' labor from landscape descriptions could very well describe Morton's own text.

“But it is perhaps less easy to celebrate Morton's collective than this description suggests, for when Linebaugh and Rediker describe the ruling class's erasure of workers' labor from landscape descriptions, they could very well be describing Morton's own text: “[T]he field is there before the plowing starts; the city is there before the laborer begins the working day.”

• cites Linebaugh and RedikerNot matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Not yet classified.

Morton presents the Separatists as inept performers of an illegitimate class/status identity.

“Morton presents the Separatists as inept performers of an illegitimate class/status identity”

Not yet classified.

Morton erases the need for English labor, presenting colonists who will not work but rule over a land that already works for them.

“Morton is able to erase altogether the need for English labor, for Morton's colonists will not work but rule over a land that already works for them.”

Not yet classified.

New English Canaan's satirical critique of the Separatist Puritans' incapacity for enjoyment is interwoven with the book's sustained theory of English colonial economics.

“New English Canaan's satirical critique of the Separatist Puritans' incapacity for enjoyment-a relatively brief portion of the book that has been the nearly exclusive focus of literary criticism-is in fact interwoven with the book's sustained theory of English colonial economics.”

Not yet classified.

Morton's book invites its aristocratic readers to reproduce the colonial economy and restore Morton's land and trading privileges.

“Morton's book, which culminates with a traditional masque revels, invites its aristocratic readers to join with and reproduce the colonial economy summoned by the book's masque, and to restore to Morton the land and trading privileges denied him by the disordered antimasque of the Puritans.”

Not yet classified.

New English Canaan brings to light the abundant value of New England that has been hidden by the Separatist moles and their writers like William Wood.

“New English Canaan brings to light the abundant value of New England that has been hidden by the Separatist moles (and their writers like William Wood)Y The Puri-tans' class/status might prepare them to be able laborers of the soil but not competent traders of commodities.”

• cites William WoodNot matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Not yet classified.

In New English Canaan, Morton eliminates the conventional call for industrious colonists.

“In New English Canaan, however, Morton eliminates this rather conventional call for industrious colonists.”

Not yet classified.

New English Canaan appropriates colonial land for a specifically aristocratic English imperialism and imports pastoral aesthetics into the landscape of New England and colonial American travel writing.

“It appropriates colonial land for a specifically aristocratic English imperialism, but it also imports the pastoral aesthetics of the English court and countryside into the landscape of New England and into the genre of colonial American travel writing.”

Not yet classified.

Morton's inflated celebration of the New England landscape registers the discrepancy between his present loss and his former pleasure.

“Morton's inflated celebration of the New England landscape registers precisely the discrepancy between his present loss and his former pleasure.”

Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.

Morton's descriptions of the country's natural inflationary excess often exclude the presence of human beings altogether.

“Just as often, however, Morton's descriptions of the country's natural inflationary excess exclude the presence of human beings altogether.”

Probably not a substantial claim.

Morton offers an appealing vision of colonial land remarkably free of the need for labor to an audience of English gentlemen.

“Morton offers an appealing vision of colonial land remarkably free of the need for labor to an audience of English gentlemen.”

Probably not a substantial claim.

New English Canaan depends on a courtly reading model that, as Julie Solomon describes it, elicits readers' desire and encourages them to project themselves into and fashion themselves out of a text, much as aristocrats would have read Spenser and Sidney.

“New English Canaan therefore depends on a courtly reading model that, as Julie Solomon describes it, elicits readers' desir~ and encourages them to project themselves into and fashion themselves out of a text, much as aristocrats would have read Spenser and Sidney.”

• cites Julie SolomonNot matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. The paper may give no reason why it holds.

Morton's pastoral effectively blurs the dependence of his own leisure on the laboring bodies of Native American men and women who hunt, build, prepare exchangeable animal skins, and reproduce children.

“Morton's pastoral effectively blurs the dependence of his own leisure on the laboring bodies of Native American men and women who hunt, build, prepare exchangeable animal skins, and reproduce children.”

Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. It may state two separate claims as one.

The meaning of Morton's text cannot be accessed by common readers, no matter how hard they try, just as the abundance of New England cannot be enjoyed by labor.

“The meaning of Morton's text cannot be accessed by such common readers, no matter how hard they might try, just as the abundance of New England cannot be enjoyed by labor.”

Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence.

Morton's inflationary language is itself a site of fertility, reproducing readers as leisurely country gentlemen who watch as natural processes of commodity trade reproduce New England in the image of the English countryside.

“Morton's inflationary language is itself a kind of site of fertility, reproducing readers as leisurely country gentlemen who watch as the “natural” processes of commodity trade reproduce New England in the image of the English countryside.”

Probably not a substantial claim.

By including the texts and explications of his poems, Morton asks readers to locate their desire and fashion themselves as colonial aristocratic lords in response to his merchantable Catalogue of commodities.

“By including the texts and explications of his several poems, he asks readers to locate their desire and to fashion themselves as colonial aristocratic lords precisely in response to his merchantable “Catalogue of commodities.””

Probably not a substantial claim.

The abundant landscape of New England is for Morton there before the indentured servants and Native Americans work and hunt and build it.

“The abundant landscape of New England is likewise for Morton there, before the indentured servants and Native Americans work and hunt and build it.”

Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.

In Morton's representation, if the Puritans are moles, then the Indians are ants and bees.

“If the Puritans are moles, then the Indians are ants and bees.”

Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.

Part of what makes Morton's text unintelligible and interesting is that he mobilizes an earlier courtly reading model in the service of newer commercial content.

“Part of what makes Morton's text so unintelligible (and also so interesting) is that he mobilizes this earlier courtly reading model in the service of what is largely (though not exclusively) this newer commercial content.”

Probably not a substantial claim.

Morton's detailed accounts of Indian house-building and bedding dwell on the amount of labor expended by the Indians to transform the landscape's raw materials into useful products.

“While accounts such as these do contain a wealth of fascinating ethnographic detail, in their very detail they also seem to dwell on the amount of labor expended by the Indians to transform the landscape's raw materials into useful products.”

Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.

Morton deliberately bars from his dense and difficult text those moles doubly associated with cultural illiteracy and agrarian labor.

“Morton deliberately bars from his dense and difficult text those moles doubly associated with cultural illiteracy and agrarian labor.”

Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.

In his tale of the Barren Doe of Virginia, Grown Fruitful in New Canaan, Morton yokes wealth and eros together, insisting that profit and pleasure are simultaneous in a land as fertile as New England.

“In his tale of the “Barren Doe of Virginia, Grown Fruitful in New Canaan,” Morton yokes wealth and eros together, Solomon-like, by insisting that profit and pleasure are simultaneous in a land as fertile as New England.”

Probably not a substantial claim. The paper may give no reason why it holds.

Like aristocratic landowners in England, the colonial landowner can live in pastoral leisure, free from labor, collecting profits from trade in place of rents.

“Like aristocratic landowners in England, the colonial landowner can live in pastoral leisure, free from labor, collecting profits from trade in the place of rents.”

It may state two separate claims as one.

Morton is not suggesting that settlers and planters need themselves learn to become hard-working ants and bees like the Indians, but only that they need to trade with them to take advantage of the productivity and abundance that already flourishes in New England by virtue of the natives' naturalized labor.

“But Morton is not suggesting that settlers and planters need themselves learn how to become hard-working ants and bees like the Indians, but only that they need to trade with them in order to take advantage of the productivity and abundance that already, by virtue of the natives' entirely naturalized labor, flourishes in New England.”