Early American elites defined the republic against perceived Ottoman despotism

Evidence

At the same time, knowledge was produced inside the United States about the religion and its prophet. Shaban suggests that nineteenth century attitudes toward the Prophet Mohammad in literary circles were ambivalent and included both condemnation and admiration. … In the American mindset, or at least that of the educated classes, the Ottomans were a major imperial power even if during this period they had lost some of their power. The political elite that founded and oversaw the American nation “after 1776 regarded the Muslim world, beset by oriental despotism, economic squalor, and intellectual stultification, as the antithesis of the republicanism to which they had pledged their sacred honor.” — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 211

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Early America defined its republican identity against imagined Ottoman despotism — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 212; Capitalist values shaped how Americans contrasted their republic with Ottoman despotism — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 212; American founders saw the Muslim world as the republic’s opposite — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 211

Broader Connections

• Capitalist values shaped how Americans contrasted their republic with Ottoman despotism #expands (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 212
• American founders saw the Muslim world as the republic’s opposite #corroborates (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 211