America embarked on a new development path in the late 18th century, declaring its independence after a long struggle with the English crown. The American Revolution changed history and the people’s consciousness, and the community began striving for national consciousness. It was justified by the need to separate itself from Great Britain and cope with the British’s oppression, who found it challenging to realize the loss and loss of so much territory. American culture was beginning to be born: it emerged from a gradual withdrawal from British values and an awareness of freedom as a central aspect of the nation. Literature became an essential aspect of the development of culture, and Susannah Rowson was one of the writers who attempted to understand American culture. In the novel Charlotte Temple, Rowson portrays America as a fledgling country in which the norms of morality are not formed, and there is no national core.
The novel Charlotte Temple was first published in England in 1791 and told the story of a young girl who could not find happiness after moving to America. In 1790, the U.S. Constitution was adopted, which was the first time the term “people of the United States” was used in the context of the population of America. The Constitution was the result of a long debate after discovering the imperfections of the Articles of Confederation, which did not enshrine the right to individual liberty. In a historical context, Rowson’s novel reflects the anxiety felt by the people of the United States about incomprehensible political and social changes. The nation was independent for the first time, and the principles of democracy seemed far removed from the population’s consciousness. Rowson’s novel demonstrates these imperfections, which is why the 1794 publication in the American Press was so interesting to America.
Rowson, first and foremost, respects America even though she is an Englishwoman. She was attracted to the spirit of freedom of Americans who were able to achieve revolution and escape from the patronage of the crown. In the novel, she worries that the perception of the English from America is so strong that it is a panacea. Having been transported to the United States as a child and being the daughter of a Loyalist, Rowson was able to see how much the British were disliked by Americans and realized that she deserved it. She knew that America’s moral order was not yet formed. In the novel, she reflected this in the profound experience of Charlotte Temple, who found herself abandoned in a free America that could not yet support her.
Charlotte’s story is unfortunate and moving, eliciting sympathy from the reader, even though literature was not accepted in the United States in the late 18th century. This non-acceptance did not prevent readers from getting into the story and trying to understand the female character. Rowson’s feminism is reflected in Charlotte: she has many difficulties but tries to use American ideas. The author tries to get away from the standard image of the abandoned woman.American women were more accessible than English women, though still limited in rights and opportunities. However, their thinking and ability to act were respected by Rowson, which is why this aspiration was born in Charlotte’s character as well. Charlotte’s pregnancy weighed on her, but she wanted what was best for the child and was willing to die to live in America and watch her become. Rowson’s novel shows a new philosophical idea at the American national core – the world’s position can only be taken through many reflective periods and the reworking of the device from within.
America in Rowson’s novel is a society that has just emerged from war and which is ready for a transformation. The culture is closely related to England, but the spirit of freedom, democracy, and anti-monarchy has allowed the community to evolve. There is no national core: Rowson shows this in the unfortunate Charlotte, who could not find support. The man she was leaving for America with quickly abandoned her to the glory of the new American life, striving to conform to the culture he aspired to. He did not understand her, so he never understood that America was about identity awareness, not a blind, senseless escape from English reality.
In presenting Charlotte’s story, some say that Rowson’s America reflects a very different idea: a place without opportunity in which immigrants will find nothing for themselves. This argument probably has to do with the fact that Americans did not like English. However, this argument does not reflect the cultural development of the United States, the recycling of historical experience, and the realization of the arrival of a new, free and democratic reality. America may have been violent, but only because it was just emerging and lacked social resources because of the difficulty of disseminating information. Rowson’s portrayal of America was just that: moral values were shifting, but democracy was already a founding principle of the system.
Charlotte Templereflects the idea of a developing America in which there are difficulties with forming national consciousness. English values are just being replaced by American freedom: the Constitution has already been adopted, and society is being transformed according to its principles. Americans are wary of the English, and Rowson felt this for herself and reflected it in Charlotte’s sad story. Charlotte is faced with the complex reality of the United States, unable to deal with it because of the just beginning reflection of the people of America as a whole. In Rowson’s novel, America is a complex culture in which it is difficult to find oneself in the late 18th century, but that is why it reflects reality so fully.