James Kennard - author of "Who Are Our National Poets" (1845)

"The Agony and the Ecstasy of James Kennard Jr" by J. Dennis Robinson SeacoastNH.com

Disgusted by the institution of slavery, Kennard published an 1845 essay in which he proposed that African Americans in the South were "our only truly national poets". Superstar poets Walt Whitman and John Greenleaf Whittier made note of Kennard’s essay, which is still debated today. ...

--- Ebook and Texts Archive > California Digital Library > Selections from the writings of James Kennard, Jr. : with a sketch of his life and character http://www.archive.org/stream/selectionsfromwr00kennrich/selectionsfromwr00kennrich_djvu.txt Author: Kennard, James, 1815-1847; Peabody, Andrew P. (Andrew Preston), 1811-1893 Publisher: Boston : William D. Ticknor Possible copyright status: NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT Language: English Call number: nrlf_ucb:GLAD-17166991 Digitizing sponsor: MSN Book contributor: University of California Libraries Collection: cdl; americana "Who Are Our National Poets" (1805-127) also essays on transcendentalism and an Alabama black code law, as well as a memoir of Kennard's life From profile by A.P Peabody, a friend

Sympathies thus active could not be confined within the circle immediately around him. He kept himself constantly informed of every phasis and movement of social and political life, and took a deep interest in all plans and measures of reform and phi- lanthropy. His ethics were entirely of the Christian school. He called evil, wrong, and sin by their own names, and admitted in justification of them neither ancient prescription, nor venerable authority, nor the most plausible grounds of expediency. Yet he was most tolerant in his judgment of the motives both of individuals and bodies of men ; and, while he strikingly verified that portion of St. Paul's des- cription of charity, "rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth," his considerate candor and his confidence in the ultimate triumph of the Right and the Good reminded us of those other traits in the same sketch, " believeth all things, hopeth all things." He early became warmly interested in the cause of the slave, not as an Ishmaelitish partisan of some one idea of emancipation or some one unvary- MEMOIR. XXX111 ing mode of agitation, but in communion of spirit with all who, with the slightest measure of sincerity, gave their efforts, influence, or simple Godspeed, to the work. On all subjects of this class, as well as on the politics of the nation, he united, to a degree perhaps almost unattainable by one not withdrawn from the turmoil of active life, decided opinions, strong preferences, and the most comprehensive fel- lowship for all of every party whose aims and pur- poses seemed patriotic, philanthropic, and benevolent. Nor were his judgments on such matters those of a secluded theorist, or founded on a defective and one- sided acquaintance with facts and circumstances. The accuracy with which he kept himself informed as to all the significant transactions, movements, and speculations of the passing day, in fine, of every thing worthy of a benevolent curiosity, alike in the larger and the narrower circle, excited our contin- ual surprise. It seemed as if the figures of all the prominent actors in the great drama and in all the little by-plots were perpetually passing and repassing before his eye, as in the mirror of a camera obscura. Mr. Kennard's literary attainments and activity, though by no means the most interesting, present one of the most extraordinary aspects of his charac- ter. From the preceding sketch of his life, it will be seen that he was far from having received a schol- d XXXIV MEMOIR. arly education. The studies of his boyhood had been chiefly directed with reference to his destination for the counting-room ; and, though faithfully pursued, they were closed at too early an age for extensive ac- quisition. But, during the last nine years of his life, he made himself a thorough proficient in many de- partments of historical, critical, and elegant literature. He was satisfied only with the most accurate knowl- edge. If an unfamiliar location was referred to, he inquired at once its place on the map. If an un- known historical personage was named, he sought out his history. If a new word occurred, he never passed it by, without ascertaining its etymology and its exact significance. He was master of that most essential element in the acquisition of knowledge, the art of shaping questions. On every subject, he seemed to understand intuitively just what to ask, what were the points really at issue, what the prime topics of investigation, what the collateral sources of evidence or illustration. The impulse which made him an author it is not difficult to define, yet to some minds it may be hard to understand. He had no thought of fame, nay, seemed unconscious to the last of the degree to which his productions had attracted notice and found circulation. He was led to write, we believe, solely from the desire to be useful. He felt the importance MEMOIR. XXXV of his own opinions, and was solicitous to make others feel them. The editor of the Portsmouth Journal was his friend and neighbour, and that quite extensively circulated paper was his first, and for some time his only, medium of communication with the public. He commenced by furnishing articles almost every week, under the signature of " Vattel," on such subjects as from time to time occupied a prominent place in the general mind, especially on the moral bearings of the great political questions, and on the reformation of existing wrongs and evils. Many of these pieces were extensively copied, and read by thousands. Some of them were among his choicest productions, and might have occupied a place in this volume to the exclusion of much of the excellent matter that we have inserted, had not the occasions on which they were written, and the ques- tions which they discussed, so far passed out of mind, as to deprive them of much of their original interest. When he became known as a writer, he was solicited to furnish articles to be read before the literary asso- ciations of the town. Subsequently he was urged to become a writer for several of the leading literary publications of the day, especially for the Knicker- bocker, the editor of which repeatedly expressed a high sense of obligation to him for his valuable con- tributions.

See also "Our Only Truly National Poets": blackface minstrelsy and cultural nationalism" ATQ (The American Transcendental Quarterly), March, 2006 by Robert C. Nowatzki http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7008/is_1_20/ai_n28347893/ Nowatzki says he's "sarcastic" - I'm not so sure, for reasons suggested by my cursory reading of the essays cited above ...

Intro: In his 1845 essay "Who Are Our National Poets?",
which sarcastically celebrates American literary nationalism, James Kennard, Jr.
argues that a truly American poet must reject European tastes, remain at home,
and develop a strong provincial identity. He asks:

What class is most secluded from foreign
influences, receives the narrowest education, travels the shortest distance from
home, has the least amount of spare cash, and mixes least with any class above
itself? Our negro slaves, to be sure! That is the class in which we must expect
to find our original poets, and there we do find them. From that class come the
Jim Crows, the Zip Coons, and the Dandy Jims, who have electrified the world.
From them proceed our ONLY TRULY NATIONAL POETS. (332)

Kennard's ridicule of American literary nationalism stems not only from his
Eurocentrism, racism, and contempt for blackface minstrelsy, but also from the
nationalist discourses within and surrounding minstrelsy. Thus, understanding
his essay requires that we understand its contexts of cultural nationalism and
minstrelsy. While Ralph Waldo Emerson, Herman Melville, and other American
authors and cultural critics were obsessed with forging a uniquely American
culture, American theatres were overrun by minstrelsy, a form of entertainment
that promoted nationalism and that American cultural critics often described in
nationalist terms. Kennard combines these cultural trends and raises the
question (though sarcastically) of whether black culture, or white
representations of it, could fit into American culture in ways that would set
America apart from Europe. Indeed, minstrelsy was thematically linked to the
cultural nationalism of Emerson and Melville with its coarse brand of
anti-British and anti-European patriotism and hypermasculinity.