Town Born

The Political Economy of New England from Its Founding to the Revolution

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, Colonial Period (1600-1775)
Cover of the book Town Born by Barry Levy, University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Barry Levy ISBN: 9780812202618
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc. Publication: July 6, 2011
Imprint: University of Pennsylvania Press Language: English
Author: Barry Levy
ISBN: 9780812202618
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
Publication: July 6, 2011
Imprint: University of Pennsylvania Press
Language: English

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, British colonists found the New World full of resources. With land readily available but workers in short supply, settlers developed coercive forms of labor—indentured servitude and chattel slavery—in order to produce staple export crops like rice, wheat, and tobacco. This brutal labor regime became common throughout most of the colonies. An important exception was New England, where settlers and their descendants did most work themselves.

In Town Born, Barry Levy shows that New England's distinctive and far more egalitarian order was due neither to the colonists' peasant traditionalism nor to the region's inhospitable environment. Instead, New England's labor system and relative equality were every bit a consequence of its innovative system of governance, which placed nearly all land under the control of several hundred self-governing town meetings. As Levy shows, these town meetings were not simply sites of empty democratic rituals but were used to organize, force, and reconcile laborers, families, and entrepreneurs into profitable export economies. The town meetings protected the value of local labor by persistently excluding outsiders and privileging the town born.

The town-centered political economy of New England created a large region in which labor earned respect, relative equity ruled, workers exercised political power despite doing the most arduous tasks, and the burdens of work were absorbed by citizens themselves. In a closely observed and well-researched narrative, Town Born reveals how this social order helped create the foundation for American society.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, British colonists found the New World full of resources. With land readily available but workers in short supply, settlers developed coercive forms of labor—indentured servitude and chattel slavery—in order to produce staple export crops like rice, wheat, and tobacco. This brutal labor regime became common throughout most of the colonies. An important exception was New England, where settlers and their descendants did most work themselves.

In Town Born, Barry Levy shows that New England's distinctive and far more egalitarian order was due neither to the colonists' peasant traditionalism nor to the region's inhospitable environment. Instead, New England's labor system and relative equality were every bit a consequence of its innovative system of governance, which placed nearly all land under the control of several hundred self-governing town meetings. As Levy shows, these town meetings were not simply sites of empty democratic rituals but were used to organize, force, and reconcile laborers, families, and entrepreneurs into profitable export economies. The town meetings protected the value of local labor by persistently excluding outsiders and privileging the town born.

The town-centered political economy of New England created a large region in which labor earned respect, relative equity ruled, workers exercised political power despite doing the most arduous tasks, and the burdens of work were absorbed by citizens themselves. In a closely observed and well-researched narrative, Town Born reveals how this social order helped create the foundation for American society.

More books from University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.

Cover of the book Translating Buddhist Medicine in Medieval China by Barry Levy
Cover of the book Confronting Suburban School Resegregation in California by Barry Levy
Cover of the book Parrot Culture by Barry Levy
Cover of the book Looking Inward by Barry Levy
Cover of the book Domestic Intimacies by Barry Levy
Cover of the book Zamumo's Gifts by Barry Levy
Cover of the book How Real Estate Developers Think by Barry Levy
Cover of the book Mayor by Barry Levy
Cover of the book Mother and Sons, Inc. by Barry Levy
Cover of the book Iraq at a Distance by Barry Levy
Cover of the book Race and the Cherokee Nation by Barry Levy
Cover of the book Divine Art, Infernal Machine by Barry Levy
Cover of the book Child Soldiers in Africa by Barry Levy
Cover of the book Islamist Parties and Political Normalization in the Muslim World by Barry Levy
Cover of the book Frontier Cities by Barry Levy
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy