A holy experiment: History and memory in Pennsylvania, 1682--1800

This dissertation explores the construction and use of history in early Pennsylvania. Using a broad definition of history, I look at how different ethnic, religious, and politic groups marshaled the past to serve their particular needs. The dissertation examines the various ways historical understanding was relevant to these groups. Native Americans and the English invoked competing visions of William Penn as both sides attempted to negotiate a continued peace in the face of European expansion. The Quaker Party and the Proprietary Party used political histories to justify their attempts to remove each other from power. Quakers and Presbyterians used sectarian histories to blame each other for catalyzing the Seven Years' War and to vilify each other after the Paxton Raids. During the Revolutionary War, the Quakers erred by invoking a loyalist history just days after Thomas Paine rejected such a history in Common Sense. During the Early Republic, historians struggled to rewrite colonial history in light of the new nation. Shifting identities led to shifting understandings of the past, and history was recast after each crisis.;A usable past speaks to the concerns of the present. All the people who invoked history in Pennsylvania were searching for a usable past and that search gives us insight into their concerns. None of these people debated what history was, or how they could know what happened in the past. They knew the practical applications of history and did not seem to worry about the theoretical underpinnings. But their lack of critical distance that professional historians claim today is actually a great benefit. They were less reflective, which means that they used history without getting caught up in what that meant. This gives us, two hundred years later, easier access to how they understood themselves in colonial Pennsylvania. They lived full lives, they fought for what they wanted, and they changed their minds. And by following how they invoked and changed their history, we can peak behind the curtain and get a healthy glimpse of what made them tick.