William Gilmore Simms, The Yemassee

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Simms’s first colonial romance was published in the spring of 1835 to laudatory reviews in both the North and South. The story begins on the eve of the outbreak of the Yemassee War of 1715, and the characters are a mix of actual historical figures and Simms’s fictional creations. The colonial governor, Lord Charles Craven (posing through most of the book as Gabriel Harrison), sensing unrest among the Indians in coastal South Carolina, is traveling about the countryside, assisted by his faithful slave, Hector, and a farmer, Walter Grayson, attempting to discover the source of the Indians’ discontent. Grayson’s brother Hugh is Craven’s rival for the affections of Bess Matthews, daughter of a Christian missionary among the Indians. Craven, with his two helpers, discovers an…

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Citation: Meats, Stephen E.. "The Yemassee". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 January 2014 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8249, accessed 19 March 2024.]

8249 The Yemassee 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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