ABSTRACT
In 1822, after a quarrel with the De Lanceys and after the sensational success of The Spy, William Cooper moved to New York City, where his regular associates were no longer the landed gentry but were, rather, other authors and artists, and newspaper editors. Cooper was neither a liberal nor an American gentleman in 1821; for in that year he expressed his full sympathy with the reactionary Federalist representatives who, at the state Constitutional Convention, tried to deny 'equal political rights' to all. It was rather as a European liberal than as an adopted son of the United States that Marquis de Lafayette sought to publicize American institutions and to circulate accurate information about the Americans' way of life. Personal observation of European conditions, supported by the information and interpretations of Lafayette, had prepared him for the acceptance of Jeffersonian doctrines.
