Sober frugality and siren luxury: The transformation of elite culture in Philadelphia, 1750-1800

This dissertation examines elite culture in Philadelphia between 1750 and 1800 through a discussion of the ideas and institutions that shaped this culture before, during, and after the Revolution. An analysis of diaries, letters, sermons, prescriptive literature, periodicals, and elite material culture reveals that wealthy Philadelphians began to develop a distinct culture in the 1750s based on the ideals of industriousness, benevolence, and gentility. These ideals were reflected in the civic and cultural institutions established by the elite such as the Philadelphia Academy, the Pennsylvania Hospital, their houses, the Dancing Assembly, and the theater.;During the Revolution, and particularly in 1776 to 1779 when the war was fought in the middle colonies, the most conspicuous aspects of elite culture, fine clothes and houses, dancing and extravagant entertainments, came under attack in Philadelphia. In addition to patriotic attacks on elite social activities, the British occupation of the city brought great hardships for the politically divided elite. At the same time, however, the British introduced a new, more extravagant cultural life into the city.;In the 1780s and 1790s wealthy Philadelphians responded to the confusing legacy of the war by narrowing and focusing their cultural energies and activities. The elite devoted more attention to the consumption and display of expensive material goods in an effort to reinforce their claim to high social status in the increasingly confusing social climate after the Revolution. In the late eighteenth century elite culture in Philadelphia emulated the culture of the European aristocracy like never before. And the elite accepted the challenge of the revolutionary debate over their culture in the public sphere by actively claiming their right to enjoy cultural institutions such as the theater. In the end, the elite won the battle but lost the war: the positive social and cultural value of consumption became widely accepted in Philadelphia, as did the idea of a culture of pleasure. The elite itself, however, with its aristocratic pretensions, became irrelevant as the city grew more culturally and politically democratic.