Unsettling the West
Unsettling the West

Author: Rob Harper

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 2018-01-19

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 081224964X

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In Revolutionary America, colonists surged across the Appalachians, Indians fought to preserve their land, and a bloodbath ensued—but why? Breaking with previous interpretations, Unsettling the West tells the story of a frontier where government initiatives, rather than pioneer independence, drove violence and colonization.

Redemption from Tyranny
Redemption from Tyranny

Author: Bruce E. Stewart

Publisher: University of Virginia Press

Published: 2020-02-04

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 081394371X

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For many common people, the American Revolution offered an opportunity to radically reimagine the wealth and power structures in the nascent United States. Yet in the eyes of working-class activists, the U.S. Constitution favored the interests of a corrupt elite and betrayed the lofty principles of the Declaration of Independence. The discontent of these ordinary revolutionaries sparked a series of protest movements throughout the country during the 1780s and 1790s. Redemption from Tyranny explores the life of a leader among these revolutionaries. A farmer, evangelical, and political activist, Herman Husband (1724-1795) played a crucial role in some of the most important anti-establishment movements in eighteenth-century America--the Great Awakening, the North Carolina Regulation, the American Revolution, and the Whiskey Rebellion. Husband became a famous radical, advocating for the reduction of economic inequality among white men. Drawing on a wealth of newly unearthed resources, Stewart uses the life of Husband to explore the varied reasons behind the rise of economic populism and its impact on society during the long American Revolution. Husband offers a valuable lens through which we can view how "labouring, industrious people" shaped--and were shaped by--the American Revolution.

Making the Frontier Man
Making the Frontier Man

Author: Matthew C. Ward

Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press

Published: 2023-11-14

Total Pages: 311

ISBN-13: 0822990024

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For western colonists in the early American backcountry, disputes often ended in bloodshed and death. Making the Frontier Man examines early life and the origins of lawless behavior in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio from 1750 to 1815. It provides a key to understanding why the trans-Appalachian West was prone to violent struggles, especially between white men. Traumatic experiences of the Revolution and the Forty Years War legitimized killing as a means of self-defense—of property, reputation, and rights—transferring power from the county courts to the ordinary citizen. Backcountry men waged war against American Indians in state-sponsored militias as they worked to establish farms and seize property in the West. And white neighbors declared war on each other, often taking extreme measures to resolve petty disputes that ended with infamous family feuds. Making the Frontier Man focuses on these experiences of western expansion and how they influenced American culture and society, specifically the nature of western manhood, which radically transformed in the North American environment. In search of independence and improvement, the new American man was also destitute, frustrated by the economic and political power of his elite counterparts, and undermined by failure. He was aggressive, misogynistic, racist, and violent, and looked to reclaim his dominance and masculinity by any means necessary.

Bedford County, Pennsylvania, Quarter Sessions, 1771-1801
Bedford County, Pennsylvania, Quarter Sessions, 1771-1801

Author: Gerald H. Smith

Publisher:

Published: 2010-01-01

Total Pages: 351

ISBN-13: 9780788452536

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Courts of Quarter Sessions derive from British common law. Pennsylvania's 1715 statute to establish a Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace, gave these courts broad jurisdiction in a variety of areas. Quarter Sessions dockets contain administrative entries, such as oaths of office; governmental entries, such as petitions for roads; petty criminal offenses such as nuisance and keeping a tipling house (unlicensed sale of alcoholic beverages); as well as more serious criminal offenses, such as assault and battery, riot, forcible entry, house burning, and horse stealing. The dockets name husbands and wives, associate individuals with their township of residence, and clarify parentage in cases of illegitimate children. Illegitimate children and illicit relationships are found with charges of fornication, bastardy, and bigamy. Individuals from all social strata appear in these records: elected county officials, appointed township officials, common citizens as jurors or witnesses, and, of course, the miscreants. This volume includes abstracts of Docket 1 (1771-1789) and Docket 2 (1771-1801) which both begin with events at the formation of the county. Docket 1 begins with case entries and Docket 2 begins with oaths of office and oaths of allegiance. Thus, at the formation of the county two registers were kept concurrently. The dockets offer insight into history and the times. Oaths of office at the formation of the county reflect the political and religious climate in Britain, while the oaths used after the American independence have nothing to say about claimants to the British throne or religion. While most of this work abstracts court case information, certain items of historical interest, such as these oaths, are fully transcribed. Terms and Definitions and a full-name index add to the value of this work.