Abstract
When George Hill asked W. Bayle Bernard to construct a play for him, the playwright was probably unsure of how to proceed. How was he, an English subject, to write a piece that was American in style and feeling? Bernard's answer to this quandary was brilliant: he turned to travelogues about America. Therein, he found ready source material as well as a means of constructing a sure-fire hit. Bernard took scenes, images, characters and dialogue straight from two travelogues. Moreover, he followed larger trends of the genre as well. He placed all of America on stage; he painted Americans as intrinsically Other, and offered pessimistic views on American notions of liberty and equality. In these ways, Bayle not only reinforced a specific understanding of Americans that was solidifying with each travel account published, but also took part in constructing the American imaginary.