Ebenezer Cook
Ebenezer Cook was a notable figure in early American literature and law, born in London around 1667 and immigrating to Maryland around 1694. He practiced law in Prince George's County and began his legal career around 1700, eventually becoming a deputy for a receiver-general in 1720 and working as a land agent. Cook is best remembered for his satirical poem, "The Sot-Weed Factor," which critiques the romanticized perceptions of America held by British immigrants. This poem, narrated from the perspective of a British tobacco merchant, explores themes related to the law, society, and the customs of the time, revealing both the allure and the reality of life in colonial America. Throughout his life, Cook published four notable works, including "Sotweed Redivivus: Or, The Planter's Looking Glass" in 1730. His body of work also includes elegies for significant figures and a satirical recounting of Bacon's Rebellion in "The History of Colonel Nathaniel Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia." Cook's writings provide valuable insight into the cultural and social dynamics of 18th-century America, blending humor with critical observation.
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Subject Terms
Ebenezer Cook
Poet
- Born: c. 1677
- Birthplace: London, England
- Died: c. 1732
Biography
Born in London around 1667, Ebenezer Cook immigrated to America around 1694, arriving in Maryland. He was admitted to the bar in Prince George’s County and worked as a lawyer from 1700 on. In 1720, he became a deputy for a receiver-general in Maryland. He also worked as a land agent.
A poet and satirist, Cook is best known for his poem The Sot-Weed Factor, which lampooned the idea held by many would-be British immigrants that America was the new Eden. Told from the point of view of a British tobacco merchant,The Sot-Weed Factor carries the lengthy subtitle, “The Laws, Government, Courts, and Constitution of the Country; and also the Buildings, Feasts, Frolics, Entertainments, and Drunken Humours of the Inhabitants of that Part of America.”
Cook published four works during his lifetime, including Sotweed Redivivus: Or, The Planter’s Looking Glass,, published in 1730. Another of his poems about the tobacco industry is not categorized as satire, but rather is viewed as a cautionary piece. Cook also wrote several elegies eulogizing the lives of individuals such as William Lock and Benedict Leonard Calvert, who was the lieutenant governor of Maryland. In 1731, he published the satire The History of Colonel Nathaniel Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia, a mocking epic recounting the 1696 Bacon’s Rebellion.