Approaching enlightenment: Environment and popular thought in Philadelphia and Mexico City during the Age of Reason

This study compares Philadelphia and Mexico City through the dual lens of environment and Enlightenment during the Age of Reason. Philadelphia and Mexico City were selected for comparison because, despite their different histories and social composition, they filled the same function within their respective empires. During the eighteenth-century, the two cities were the principal political, social, cultural, economic and intellectual centers of the British and Spanish colonies.;My research led to three overriding conclusions. First, a comparison of Philadelphia and Mexico City yields much information relative to the colonial experience in the New World. Second, the environment, defined as both the natural setting and the interaction among groups of differing ethnic, racial, religious and cultural backgrounds in an urban setting, became more important than Old World heritage and gradually converted Europeans into Americans. Eventually, this growing self-awareness lead to the rejection of European domination in the wars for independence. Finally, a strong Enlightenment, molded by New World conditions, thrived in the Americas.;Chapter 1 examines the demographics, historical development, social conditions and institutions of eighteenth-century Philadelphia and Mexico City. Chapter 2 explores the penetration and dissemination of the Enlightenment in Philadelphia and Mexico City. Chapter 3 examines religion in the two cities through the lens of pluralism, toleration and syncretism. Chapter 4 treats occult notions and practices that survived in the eighteenth century and existed side-by-side with the ideas of the Enlightenment. Chapter 5 considers pain, medicine and death as challenges and limitations to the Enlightenment agenda of human self-mastery. The final chapter centers on notions of independence in Mexico City and Philadelphia and discusses the different manner in which self-rule came to each. Conclusions in this study are based on a wide range of primary and secondary sources, including newspapers, diaries, almanacs, pamphlets, and Inquisition records.