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I argue that the swift rise of the English abolitionist movement in conjunction with the successful career of the black American actor Ira Aldridge in England were essential catalysts to the rise of Yankee Theatre, which began a new era in American professional theatre that for the first time promoted American-born actors in American-written plays. Aldridge's influence on nineteenth-century American theatre history has been unexplored, as he never returned to the United States after 1825, however I argue his career in England was a key factor in these radical changes in American theatre in the 1820s-30s.","abstract_html":"This dissertation complicates the accepted theory that the vogue for Yankee Theatre in the nineteenth-century developed primarily in response to negative English stereotypes and stage representations of the Yankee character. I argue that the swift rise of the English abolitionist movement in conjunction with the successful career of the black American actor Ira Aldridge in England were essential catalysts to the rise of Yankee Theatre, which began a new era in American professional theatre that for the first time promoted American-born actors in American-written plays. Aldridge&#x27;s influence on nineteenth-century American theatre history has been unexplored, as he never returned to the United States after 1825, however I argue his career in England was a key factor in these radical changes in American theatre in the 1820s-30s.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Roark, Kathleena Lucille"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Theatre","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Kim Lee, Esther"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-09-28T15:11:49Z","date_published":"2015-09-28T15:11:49Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:26:27Z","subjects":["Black Studies"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["(MiAaPQ)AAI3290361"],"render_values":[{"text":"(MiAaPQ)AAI3290361","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/86498","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Kim Lee, Esther"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Roark, Kathleena Lucille"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2015-09-28T15:11:49Z","10000-01-01","2007"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Theatre"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Black Studies"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/86498","(MiAaPQ)AAI3290361"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["This dissertation complicates the accepted theory that the vogue for Yankee Theatre in the nineteenth-century developed primarily in response to negative English stereotypes and stage representations of the Yankee character. 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