The Posthumous Americanization of Jason Lee, 'Prophet of Oregon'

Type of resource
Author/collaborator
Title
The Posthumous Americanization of Jason Lee, 'Prophet of Oregon'
Abstract
Known as the "Prophet of Oregon," the Reverend Jason Lee was born in Stanstead Township, in Quebec's Eastern Townships, in 1803 and died there in 1845. The author examines how Lee's Canadian origins were long denied by nationalistic American historians in their effort to portray him as a heroic exponent of their country's expansionism. The author points out that even though American historical revisionists of the 1960s and 1970s shifted the emphasis to Lee's religious mission, they continued to discount the fact that he spent three-quarters of his life in a British colony, assuming that this experience was of little or no relevance. The lack of material on Lee's earlier years makes it difficult to demonstrate otherwise, but the author argues that he could hardly have avoided being influenced by the British Wesleyan missionaries who converted him, and by the increasingly conservative nature of the colonial society that he lived in. The author concludes that that influence helps explain why Lee was more interested in saving Native American souls than in wresting the Oregon Territory from British control.
Publication
Journal of Eastern Townships Studies/Revue d’études des Cantons de l’Est
Volume
Vol. 32 / 33
Pages
9-22
Date
Spring-Fall 2008
Language
en
URL
Citation
Little, J. I. “The Posthumous Americanization of Jason Lee, ‘Prophet of Oregon.’” Journal of Eastern Townships Studies/Revue d’études des Cantons de l’Est Vol. 32 / 33 (Spring-Fall 2008): 9–22. http://www.etrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/JETS_32-33_Spring-Fall_2008.pdf.
Find in a library
Permalink