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.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 265-284) and index.
Contents
pt. 1. False dawn -- Newcomers -- Settlers and squatters -- Expansion -- Fraud -- A hunger for land -- pt. 2. Theatre of bloodshed and rapine -- Braddock's defeat -- Pennsylvania goes to war -- Negotiations -- Westward journeys -- Conquest -- pt. 3. Zealots -- Indian uprising -- Rangers -- Conestoga Indiantown -- Lancaster workhouse -- Panic in Philadelphia -- pt. 4. A war of words -- The Declaration and Remonstrance -- A proper spirit of jealousy and revenge -- Christian white savages -- Under the tyrant's foot -- pt. 5. Unraveling -- Killers -- Mercenaries -- Revolutionaries -- Appendix : Identifying the Conestoga Indians.
Summary
"William Penn established Pennsylvania in 1682 as a "holy experiment" in which Europeans and Indians could live together in harmony. In this book, historian Kevin Kenny explains how this Peaceable Kingdom--benevolent, Quaker, pacifist--gradually disintegrated in the eighteenth century, with disastrous consequences for Native Americans ... Based on extensive research in eighteenth-century primary sources, this ... history offers an eye-opening look at how colonists--at first, the backwoods Paxton Boys but later the U.S. government--expropriated Native American lands, ending forever the dream of colonists and Indians living together in peace."--Jacket.
