Includes bibliographical references (pages 357-361).
Summary
Examines how the spiritual beliefs and vision of America's founders shaped the country's history and culture and assesses the influence of the spiritual traditions of African slaves, Native Americans, and early mystical communities on colonial America.
"An eclectic mixture of autobiography, U.S. intellectual history, philosophical inquiry, and spiritual wonderment, this extended meditative essay examines "America as an Idea" by uncovering the latent wisdom of many of its shining lights: Benjamin Franklin, William Penn, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Walt Whitman. Needleman, a philosophy professor and author of Money and the Meaning of Life, reinterprets the lives of each of these leaders in the context of their strong spiritual beliefs and their contributions to unifying a deeply divided body politic. The author liberally quotes classical philosophers, historians, biographers, and the subjects themselves, and he often interjects his own life experiences and spiritual beliefs into his loosely structured narrative. Needleman also tackles what he considers to be America's two most grievous historical blemishes: the murder of Native American culture and slavery and suggests how America should confront these wrongs." [from the "Library Journal"]
The first three volumes of the Colonial records are from the first edition. Their pagination does not correspond to the references from Dunn's "Index to the Colonial Records". Dunn's index refers to the second edition. Patrons can find the second editions of volumes 1-3 online at https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/010447960. A link to this webpage is near the bottom of this library record. Look for the field "Electronic Location".
Collection of documents, supplemented by the companion series "Pennsylvania archives". (See preliminary reports of the committees, and of the editors, S. Hazard, and the Act providing for the publication, 1837, in Pennsylvania archives, v. 1, p. 1-23, especially p. 7 and 17-23, where the present collection is officially designated as the "Colonial records", a title not used in printing, the volumes having special titles only, as given in "Contents" below).
Errors in paging: nos. 158-167, 499 ommitted, v. 3; nos. 209-224 repeated, v. 16; numerous other errors.
V. 12, minutes of the Supreme executive council from May 21, 1779-July 12, 1781; v. 13, July 13, 1781-Dec. 31, 1783; v. 14, Jan. 1, 1784-Apr. 3, 1786; v. 15, July 4, 1786-Feb. 6, 1789; v. 16, Feb. 7, 1789-Dec. 20, 1790.
Contents
v. 1-10. Minutes of the Provincial council of Pennsylvania, from the organization to the termination of the proprietary government: v. 1, Mar. 10, 1683-Nov. 27, 1700; v. 2, Dec. 18, 1700-May 16, 1717; v. 3, May 31, 1717-Jan. 23, 1735-6: v. 4, Feb. 7, 1735-6-Oct. 15, 1745: v. 5, Dec. 17, 1745-Mar. 20, 1754: v. 6, Apr. 2, 1754-Jan. 29, 1756: v. 7, Jan. 29, 1756-Jan. 11, 1758: v. 8,Jan. 13, 1758-Oct. 4, 1762; v. 9, Oct. 15, 1762-Oct. 17, 1771; v. 10, Oct. 18, 1771-Sept. 27, 1775, with minutes of the Council of safety from June 30, 1775, to Nov. 12, 1776.--v. 11-16. Minutes of the Supreme executive council of Pennsylvania, from its organization to the termination of the revolution: v. 11, Proceedings of Council of safety, Nov. 13, 1776-Mar. 17 [i.e. 13] 1777, Oct. 17-Dec. 4, 1777; memorandum from Dec. 31, 1776-Mar. 17, 1777; minutes of the Supreme executive council Mar. 4, 1777-May 20, 1779.
xix, 321 p., [8] leaves of plates : ill., maps ; 25 cm.
Notes
Includes bibliographical references (p. 293-308) and index.
Contents
The Gettysburg campaign : a brief chronology -- Prologue : the lay of the land; a sign of the times -- An afternoon in the badlands -- The season of disbelief -- Desolation's edge -- Flying thick like blackbirds -- Bold acts -- The wide eye of the storm -- The aftermath -- The seesaw of honor, or, How the pigpen was mightier than the sword -- Women and remembrance -- Making a living on hallowed land.
Summary
"In the summer of 1863, as Union and Confederate armies marched on southern Pennsylvania, the town of Gettysburg found itself thrust onto the center stage of war. The three days of fighting that ensued decisively turned the tide of the Civil War. In The Colors of Courage, Margaret Creighton narrates the tale of this crucial battle from the viewpoint of three unsung groups - women, immigrants, and African Americans - and reveals how wide the battle's dimensions were."
"Creighton draws on memoirs, letters, diaries, and newspapers to bring to life the individuals at the heart of her narrative. In telling the stories of these participants, Margaret Creighton has written a work of original history - a narrative that is sure to redefine the Civil War's most remarkable event."--Jacket.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 237-253) and index.
Contents
Introduction: a country storekeeper and his network of relationships -- Beyond "wild forest people": Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania -- The Rex Store and its local customers -- Feeding the furnaces: the iron community and the Rex Store -- "Orders thankfully received, and carefully executed": Rex and the Philadelphia merchants -- A life of "comparative ease" -- Epilogue: Rex's network and its significance.
Summary
"Examines the role that country storekeeper Samuel Rex of Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania, played in the society and economy of the mid-Atlantic region from 1790 to 1807. Studies consumption patterns of one typical Pennsylvania-German community"--Provided by publisher.
The crucible of conflict -- 1. Background to the struggle : the federalist challenge and the origins of Pennsylvania's Jeffersonian conflict -- 2. The radicals emerge : "The European condition of society" and the promise of democracy -- 3. The quid challenge : political economy, politics, and the fault lines of conflict -- 4. The crucible of conflict : 1805 -- 5. "Perpetual motion--perpetual change--a boundless ocean without a shore" : the final meaning of democracy in Pennsylvania -- History and historiography.
Summary
"Pennsylvania Jeffersonians were the first American citizens to attempt to translate idealized speculations about democracy into a workable system of politics and governance. In doing so, they revealed key assumptions that united other national citizens regarding democracy and the conditions necessary for its survival. In particular, they assumed that democracy required economic autonomy and a strong measure of economic as well as political equality among citizens. This strong egalitarian theme was, however, challenged by Pennsylvania's precociously capitalistic economy and the nation's dynamic economic development in general, forcing the Jeffersonians to confront the reality that economic and social equality would have to take a back seat to free market forces.".
"Shankman's exploration of the Pennsylvania experience reveals how democracy arose in America, how it came to accommodate capitalism, at the same time marginalizing egalitarian assumptions and dreams. A work of intellectual and political history, his study also mirrors the aspirations, fears, hatreds, dreams, generous impulses, noble strivings, selfish cant, and enormous capacity to imagine of those who first tried to translate the blueprint for democracy into a tested foundation for the nation's future."--BOOK JACKET.