Joel Barlow (March 24, 1754 – December 26, 1812) was an American poet, and diplomat, and politician. In politics, he supported the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

and was an ardent Jeffersonian republican. He worked as an agent for American speculator William Duer to set up the

Scioto Company The proposed purchase by the Scioto Company is shown in red. The proposed purchase by the Ohio Company is in blue. The final purchase by the Ohio Company is in green. The 350px The Scioto Company was led by American colonel William Duer, a ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1788, and to sell worthless deeds to land in the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

which it did not own. Scholars believe that he did not know the transactions were fraudulent. He stayed in Paris, becoming involved in the French Revolution. He was elected to the Assembly and given French citizenship in 1792. In his own time, Barlow was known especially for the epic poem '' The Columbiad'', a later version of the ''Vision of Columbus'' (1807),Brian Pelanda
Declarations of Cultural Independence: The Nationalistic Imperative Behind the Passage of Early American Copyright Laws, 1783-1787
'' Journal of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A.'' Vol. 58 (2011), pp. 431, 442-448 . though modern readers rank '' The Hasty-Pudding'' (1793) more highly. As American consul at

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

, he helped draft the

Treaty of Tripoli The Treaty of Tripoli (''Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoli of Barbary'') was signed in 1796. It was the first treaty between the United States and Tripoli (now Libya) to secur ...

in 1796, to end the attacks of

Barbary pirates The Barbary pirates, or Barbary corsairs or Ottoman corsairs, were Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Salé, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli. This area was known i ...

of North Africa city states. He also served as U.S. minister to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

from 1811 to his death on December 26, 1812, in Żarnowiec, Poland.

Early life and education

Barlow was born in Redding,

Fairfield County Fairfield County is the name of three counties in the United States: * Fairfield County, Connecticut * Fairfield County, Ohio Fairfield County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,921. ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. He briefly attended

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

before he graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1778, where he was a member of

Brothers in Unity Brothers in Unity (formally, the Society of Brothers in Unity) is an undergraduate society at Yale University. Founded in 1768 as a literary and debating society that encompassed nearly half the student body at its 19th-century peak, the group di ...

. In 1778, he published an anti-slavery poem entitled "The Prospect of Peace".

Career

Barlow was an ardent

patriot A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American Revolution * Patriot m ...

in the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. He was engaged in the

Battle of Long Island The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn, New Yo ...

and served as a chaplain for the 4th Massachusetts Brigade from September 1780 until the close of the Revolutionary War.Goetzmann, William H. (2009) ''Beyond the Revolution: A History of American Thought from Paine to Pragmatism'', New York: Basic Books, Perseus Books Group, p. 142 He was an original member of the

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...

in the State of Massachusetts (and Connecticut). He was a Mason and he became a good friend to

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...

. In 1809, Barlow was elected as a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. In 1783, Barlow moved to

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

. In July 1784, he established a weekly paper called ''

American Mercury ''The American Mercury'' was an American magazine published from 1924Staff (Dec. 31, 1923)"Bichloride of Mercury."''Time''. to 1981. It was founded as the brainchild of H. L. Mencken and drama critic George Jean Nathan. The magazine featured wri ...

'', with which he was connected for a year. After "reading the law" in an established office, in 1786 he was admitted to the bar. In Hartford, Barlow became a member of a group of young writers including

Lemuel Hopkins Lemuel Hopkins (June 19, 1750 – April 14, 1801) was an American poet and physician who was a member of the Hartford Wits, a group of literary satirists active in the late eighteenth century. A politically conservative Federalist, he coauthored ...

, David Humphreys, and

John Trumbull John Trumbull (June 6, 1756November 10, 1843) was an American artist of the early independence period, notable for his historical paintings of the American Revolutionary War, of which he was a veteran. He has been called the "Painter of the Rev ...

, known in American literary history as the "

Hartford Wits The Hartford Wits were a group of young writers from Connecticut in the late eighteenth century and included John Trumbull, Timothy Dwight, David Humphreys, Joel Barlow and Lemuel Hopkins. Originally the Connecticut Wits, this group formed in t ...

". He contributed to ''The'' ''Anarchiad'', a series of satirico-political papers. In 1787, he published a long and ambitious poem, ''The Vision of Columbus'', which gave him a considerable literary reputation and was once much read.

Land speculator

In 1788, he went to France as the agent of Colonel William Duer and the Scioto Land Company, which had been registered in

the year before. He was to sell lands in part of the newly organized

(this section is now in Ohio), and recruit immigrants for new settlements. He seems to have been ignorant of the fraudulent character of the company, which did not hold title to the lands it sold and failed disastrously in 1790. He had previously recruited a group of French to emigrate to America. Known as the French 500, most of them were among the founders of

Gallipolis, Ohio Gallipolis ( ) is a chartered village in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Gallia County. The municipality is located in Southeast Ohio along the Ohio River about 55 miles southeast of Chillicothe and 44 miles northwest of Charlesto ...

, the second-oldest European-American city founded in the new

.John Gladden, "Best Hometowns 2012: Gallipolis"
''Ohio Magazine'', November 2012; accessed 06 September 2018

French politics and citizenship

, Barlow became a liberal in religion and an advanced republican in politics. He believed that "American civilization was world civilization", and was enthusiastic about the cause of world republicanism. He became involved with the

, going so far as to be elected to the French Assembly, and being granted

French citizenship French nationality law is historically based on the principles of ''jus soli'' (Latin for "right of soil") and ''jus sanguinis'', according to Ernest Renan's definition, in opposition to the German definition of nationality, ''jus sanguinis'' ( ...

in 1792. Although he dedicated his "Vision of Columbus" to

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

, he joined royal opponents in calling for the execution of the king.Goetzmann (2009) ''Beyond the Revolution'', p144. Barlow helped

publish the first part of ''

The Age of Reason ''The Age of Reason; Being an Investigation of True and Fabulous Theology'' is a work by English and American political activist Thomas Paine, arguing for the philosophical position of deism. It follows in the tradition of 18th-century Briti ...

'' while Paine was imprisoned during The Reign of Terror in France. Barlow remained abroad for several years, spending much of his time in London. There he was a member of the London Society for Constitutional Information. He also published various radical essays, including a volume entitled ''Advice to the Privileged Orders'' (1792). This was proscribed by the British government.

Diplomacy

Barlow served as American consul in

from 1795 to 1797, during the period when

were preying on United States and European shipping. He used

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

funds for bribes and ransoms to free more than 100 American merchant sailors held by pirates. He helped negotiate treaties with the Barbary states of Algiers,

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

, and Tunis to avert future seizures of American ships. He returned to the United States in 1805, where he lived in the national capital at his mansion, known as Kalorama, now the name of a neighborhood in Northwest

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

In 1811, Barlow was appointed as U.S. minister to France; he sailed across the Atlantic on the ''

USS Constitution USS ''Constitution'', also known as ''Old Ironsides'', is a three-masted wooden-hulled heavy frigate of the United States Navy. She is the world's oldest ship still afloat. She was launched in 1797, one of six original frigates authorized ...

''. His task was to negotiate an end to the

Berlin Decree The Berlin Decree was issued in Berlin by Napoleon on November 21, 1806, after the French success against Prussia at the Battle of Jena, which led to the Fall of Berlin (1806), Fall of Berlin. The decree was issued in response to the British Order- ...

and the

Milan Decree The Milan Decree was issued on 17 December 1807 by Napoleon I of France to enforce the 1806 Berlin Decree, which had initiated the Continental System, the basis for his plan to defeat the British by waging economic warfare. The Milan Decree st ...

, as well as obtain the release of American ships and crews held by the French during the Napoleonic wars. He befriended, and was served as consul and prize agent, by the United-Irish exile

David Bailie Warden David Bailie Warden was a republican insurgent in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and, in later exile, a United States consul in Paris. While in American service Watson protested the corruption of diplomatic service by the "avaricious" spirit of com ...

. In October 1812, Barlow set off for

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

to negotiate a treaty with the French foreign minister, who was based in

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

to prepare for the

French invasion of Russia The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon Bonaparte to force the Russian Empire back into the continental block ...

. By the time he arrived, the French army was already in full retreat from

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. Barlow chose to take the southerly route to return to Paris, by way of Krakow and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He became ill and died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

on December 26, 1812, in the Polish village of Żarnowiec. A monument was later erected to him there.

Poetry and writing

In 1807, he published the epic ''Columbiad'', an extended edition of his ''Vision of Columbus''. It added to his reputation in some quarters, but on the whole it was not well received. The poem for which he is now best known is his mock heroic ''The Hasty-Pudding'' (1793), first published in ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...

'' and now a standard item in literary anthologies. In addition, Barlow published ''Conspiracy of Kings, a Poem addressed to the Inhabitants of Europe from another Quarter of the Globe'' (1792). He continued writing political essays, publishing ''Political Writings of Joel Barlow'' (2nd ed., 1796) and ''View of the Public Debt, Receipts and Expenditure of the United States'' (1800). But much of his political speculation never passed beyond his voluminous notebooks, many of which are conserved in Harvard's

Houghton Library Houghton Library, on the south side of Harvard Yard adjacent to Widener Library, is Harvard University's primary repository for rare books and manuscripts. It is part of the Harvard College Library, the library system of Harvard's Faculty of Art ...

. He also composed a satirical version of the British national anthem "

God Save the King "God Save the King" is the national anthem, national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in ...

", called " God Save the Guillotine". Historian William H. Goetzmann describes Barlow as a

cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

, along with

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

, engineer

Robert Fulton Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the (also known as ''Clermont''). In 1807, that steamboat ...

, and

, the last two of whom Barlow befriended in France. Barlow believed that the new country of America was a model

civilization A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system). Ci ...

that prefigured the "uniting of all mankind in one religion, one language and one Newtonian harmonious whole"Goeztmann (2009), ''Beyond the Revolution'', p. 143 and thought of "the American Revolution as the opening skirmish of a world revolution on behalf of the rights of all humanity." An optimist, he believed that scientific and republican progress, along with religion and people's growing sense of humanity, would lead to the coming of the Millennium. For him, American civilization was world civilization. He projected that these concepts would coalesce around the rebuilding of the temple in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Legacy

*Barlow was painted by

and

John Vanderlyn John Vanderlyn (October 18, 1775September 23, 1852) was an American neoclassicist painter. Biography Vanderlyn was born at Kingston, New York, and was the grandson of colonial portrait painter Pieter Vanderlyn. He was employed by a print-sell ...

(1798).Illustrated in Schama 1995:246. *

Barlow, Ohio Barlow is an unincorporated community in western Barlow Township, Washington County, Ohio, United States. Although it is unincorporated, it has a ZIP code 45712. It lies at the intersection of State Routes 339 and 550 near the South Fork ...

, is named in his honor. * He was one of the contributing editors of the first agricultural magazine in America, the ''

Agricultural Museum An agricultural museum is a museum dedicated to preserving agricultural history and heritage. It aims to educate the public on the subject of agricultural history, their legacy and impact on society. To accomplish this, it specializes in the di ...

''. *

Joel Barlow High School Joel Barlow High School is a public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in Redding, Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The school serves Easton and Redding students. The school is the sole institution in the ...

in Redding, Connecticut, is named for him. * A monument to him was installed in the village of Żarnowiec, now in Poland, where he died.

References

External links

* * *
The Conspiracy of Kings; A Poem: Addressed to the Inhabitants of Europe, from Another Quarter of the World
(London, 1792) online PDF edition.
Guide to Joel Barlow's works
a
Houghton Library
Harvard University * Joel Barlow Collection. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Society of the CincinnatiThe American Revolution Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barlow, Joel 1754 births 1812 deaths War-related deaths Clergy in the American Revolution People of Connecticut in the American Revolution Dartmouth College alumni Yale College alumni Hartford Wits People from Redding, Connecticut Ambassadors of the United States to France Epic poets Poets from Connecticut 18th-century American diplomats 19th-century American diplomats 18th-century American poets 18th-century American male writers American male poets