During the eighteenth century learned and wealthy colonials gradually became more aware of Shakespeare's plays. Reflecting this interest, a number of amateur actors informally performed Shakespeare in several American cities. However, the first professional performance recorded was of Richard III in New York on 5 March 1750. It is from this date and this performance that the gradual process of appropriation can be traced, assimilating the man and the plays into the myths and traditions of the American nation.

It is not the purpose of this book to provide a detailed history of Shakespeare on the American stage, as this has been offered by many other publications. While theatre was central to the development of popular culture in the nineteenth century, it is the aspect of presentation or publication of Shakespeare directly associated with the social and political development of an American national consciousness that concerns this book, the process by which Shakespeare was appropriated to the cause of nation building.

The process of appropriation has been defined by Jean I. Marsden as ‘to take possession of for one's own’. For this book, ‘appropriation’ denotes the process whereby American society can be seen as ‘imprinting [its own] ideology on the plays and the mythological construct of Shakespeare’.