Shakespeare is American, Actually

America and Shakespeare are an unlikely pair, considering how much of the American identity formed out of the rejection of Britishness. But in spite of this, an incredible range of Americans — from Thomas Jefferson to P.T. Barnum to Mark Twain — helped transform Shakespeare from a keystone of English culture to an American icon. This is by far the longest (and most ambitious) video I’ve made yet, and has been nearly a year in the making. I hope you all enjoy! ———— patreon:   / 1c2   tweeter:   / 1c2yt   ———— By far, the most helpful resources I found while researching are the following books and article. Research from these make up a bulk of the script. If you’re curious about this topic, I highly encourage you to give them a read! Lots in there that I didn’t cover. Shakespeare and the American Popular Stage Frances Teague https://archive.org/details/shakespea... Shakespeare and the American Nation https://archive.org/details/shakespea... Kim Sturgess West side story: how Shakespeare stormed America's frontier Andrew Dickson https://www.theguardian.com/stage/201... Other Sources (with links where available): Struggles and Triumphs, or, The Recollections of P.T. Barnum P.T. Barnum https://archive.org/details/22589411.... Proposed Shakespeare Memorial Mark Twain New York Times (April 29, 1875), p. 6 Following the Equator Mark Twain https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2895/... The Plays and Poems of William Shakespeare Edited by Joseph Hopkinson https://archive.org/details/bim_eight... Democracy in America, Vol. 2 Alexis de Tocqueville https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/... The Philosophy of the Plays of Shakspere Unfolded Delia Bacon https://archive.org/details/philosoph... Representative Men: Shakespeare; or, the Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson https://emersoncentral.com/texts/repr... Dissertations on the English Language Noah Webster https://www.gutenberg.org/files/45738... The Authorship of Shakespeare Nathaniel Holmes https://archive.org/details/authorshi... The Great Cryptogram Ignatius L. Donnelly https://archive.org/details/greatcryp... Words and Their Uses, Past and Present Richard Grant White https://archive.org/details/wordsthei... Letter from Thomas Jefferson to John Trumbull https://founders.archives.gov/documen... The Significance of the Shakespeare Memorial William Adams Slade David Crystal - Original practices in Shakespeare Hay Levels    • Video   A Northern US Accent from the 18th to the 21st Centuries Simon Roper    • A Northern US Accent from the 18th to the ...   ------- Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 5:28 Shakespeare in the Colonies 10:15 Shakespeare in the New Republic 13:38 American Claims to Shakespeare 24:19 The Authorship Question 28:04 Epilogue