Reading Domestic Manners of the Americans | Alexandria
Read Domestic Manners of the Americans by Frances Trollope. Skewering American hypocrisy, Trollope's scathing 1832 critique reveals uncomfortable truths about performative democracy that still sting today. Her bold takedown of self-righteous patriotism exposed how grand ideals of equality masked deep social divisions - a tension we haven't resolved. Far ahead of her time, she saw through America's moral theater.