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Morgan, Kelly

History

2012

MA

The Confederation period emerged as a time of distinct change in the political, economic, and social structure of the new American republic. The American public sought to establish an egalitarian class structure and preserve the political rights of all enfranchised citizens. Newspapers provided a means to for American inhabitants to interact with their legislators as well as their fellow constituents through political and social debate. This engagement between and among Pennsylvanian inhabitants and engage with the current political, economic, and social events in Philadelphia and the surrounding area. Further, with the interaction of American inhabitants, including legislators, women, immigrants and fully enfranchised citizens, allowed for the evolution and conceptualization of an American identity and a distinct Amencan class structure.
This paper examines Philadelphian newspapers from 1784 through 1785 in an effort to uncover the common American's perception of their placement in American society and politics. Through a close study of a broad range ofnewspapers, I have determined that the European emphasis on wealthy aristocracy as the sole participants in politics faltered in favor of a more egalitarian American class structure. This new American system disregarded classical education and wealth as a necessary prerequisite for political participation, yet still retained European economic and social stratification, preventing women and indentured servants from achieving fully enfranchised citizenship. Ultimately, Pennsylvanian newspapers portrayed this shift from hierarchical to egalitarian from the perception of the common American inhabitant, allowing further insight into the early American republic beyond the existing historiography.