American Demons

Geniuses of the Uprising

Seymour Coogan returns to Paris. During his absence, the city has changed. In the National Assembly, the geniuses of the insurrection block the transitions to orderly processes. Like the kings before them, they claim to be destined to determine the fate of France. They add philosophy to politics in order to appear more grandiose. They conceal the cost of the uncertainty with which they consolidate their power. Coogan lists who is making money from the revolution. The Republic is not one of them. It is losing one colony after another.

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After the fall of Robespierre, George Washington sends his superman to Australia. On the crossing, Coogan studies a curiosity of colonial history - repeated discovery. In the centuries between Magellan and Cook, many a country was discovered sometimes by this European power, sometimes by that one, and sometimes several times by the same one. Australia was already a European destination in the 16th century, but remained a no-man's land from a European perspective for two hundred years.

In the spring of 1808, a convict in the Sydney district lifts a lump out of a field. He marvels a moment too long and the warden is already with him. I will pause for art at this point. Wait, the denouement is coming soon. 

 In the summer, William Paterson takes over as Governor of New South Wales. He succeeds the barely visible Foveaux, whose rumbling predecessor, the hapless Bill Bligh, bullied by corrupt officers, insists in vain on his royal mandate. He triggers a rum revolt. Rum is a currency in the colony. Bligh is an extraordinary nautical personality. His cartographic accuracy still helps sailors in the 20th century. Nevertheless, his reputation could hardly be worse. Paterson has Bligh arrested on a dubious charge, causing a scandal that does not bother him. The Scotsman immerses himself in botany. He identifies the plants in the bush Down Under. He is the last person to long for a gold rush. After learning of the discovery of the gold nugget, Paterson orders official silence for fear of a collapse of public order.