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Life
in Early Philadelphia Documents from the Revolutionary and Early National
Periods
Edited by Billy G. Smith
1995
History - American
Paperback: $22.00 SH
ISBN: 978-0-271-01455-5
The
meaning of American history has rarely been contested more fiercely
than during the current "culture wars" as Americans battle to define
their past. Life in Early Philadelphia can contribute much
to a reasoned discussion by giving readers the rare opportunity to
interpret and reconstruct life in the country's premier urban center
at a time when Americans struggled to establish their independence
and to create a new nation. Covering the period from about 1775 to
1810, these remarkable documents reveal glimpses of the lives of everyday
men and women—from the impoverished, imprisoned, and enslaved to
the "middling sort" and the wealthy.
Each document is prefaced by a helpful introduction and is extensively
annotated. A general introduction, glossary, bibliography, and guide
to further reading make the book ideal for students and general
readers. Taken as a whole, this collection reveals much about the
shaping of American society.
Billy
G. Smith is Professor of History at Montana State University.
He is the author of The "Lower Sort": Philadelphia's Laboring People,
1750-1800 (Cornell, 1990) and the co-editor of Blacks Who Stole
Themselves: Advertisements for Runaways in the Pennsylvania Gazette,
1728-1790 (Penn, 1989) and The Infortunate: The Voyage and
Adventures of William Moraley, an Indentured Servant (Penn State,
1992).
