Roney Governed by a Spirit of Opposition

The Origins of American Political Practice in Colonial Philadelphia
Erscheinungsjahr 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4214-1528-4
Verlag: Johns Hopkins University Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 0 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm

Reihe: Studies in Early American Economy and Society from the Library Company of Philadelphia

Civic engagement in the City of Brotherly Love gave birth to the American Revolution.

Winner of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia Literary Award of The Athenaeum of Philadelphia

During the colonial era, ordinary Philadelphians played an unusually active role in political life. Because the city lacked a strong central government, private individuals working in civic associations of their own making shouldered broad responsibility for education, poverty relief, church governance, fire protection, and even taxation and military defense. These organizations dramatically expanded the opportunities for white men—rich and poor alike—to shape policies that immediately affected their communities and their own lives.

In Governed by a Spirit of Opposition, Jessica Choppin Roney explains how allowing people from all walks of life to participate in political activities amplified citizen access and democratic governance. Merchants, shopkeepers, carpenters, brewers, shoemakers, and silversmiths served as churchwardens, street commissioners, constables, and Overseers of the Poor. They volunteered to fight fires, organized relief for the needy, contributed money toward the care of the sick, took up arms in defense of the community, raised capital for local lending, and even interjected themselves in Indian diplomacy. Ultimately, Roney suggests, popular participation in charity, schools, the militia, and informal banks empowered people in this critically important colonial city to overthrow the existing government in 1776 and re-envision the parameters of democratic participation.

Governed by a Spirit of Opposition argues that the American Revolution did not occasion the birth of commonplace political activity or of an American culture of voluntary association. Rather, the Revolution built upon a long history of civic engagement and a complicated relationship between the practice of majority-rule and exclusionary policy-making on the part of appointed and self-selected constituencies.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Roney, Jessica Choppin

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Amerikanische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Volkswirtschaftslehre Allgemein Geschichte der VWL
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Theorie, Politische Philosophie
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftsgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Series Editor's Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. "Named Before Thou Wert Born": A City Imagined and Realized
2. Intoxicated with Power: Chartering the Philadelphia Corporation
3. For a General Benefit: Developing Popular Voluntary Associations
4. Amidst "Rancour and Party Hatred": Association by Exclusion
5. Lending in Plain Sight: Covert Banks
6. Private Men Interfering with Government: Taking Over from the State
7. Mars Ascendant: The Military Association and the Reconstitution of Government
Epilogue
Notes
Essay on Sources
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Roney, Jessica Choppin
Jessica Choppin Roney is an assistant professor of early American history at Temple University.