Inn civility urban taverns and early American civil society

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Scribner, Vaughn.

Contributor:

Early American Places (Project)

NYU Press.

Series:

Early American Places ; 8

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Taverns (Inns)--United States--History.

Taverns (Inns).

United States--Social life and customs--18th century.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (223 pages)

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : New York University Press, [2019]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Examines the critical role of urban taverns in the social and political life of colonial and revolutionary America From exclusive “city taverns” to seedy “disorderly houses,” urban taverns were wholly engrained in the diverse web of British American life. By the mid-eighteenth century, urban taverns emerged as the most popular, numerous, and accessible public spaces in British America. These shared spaces, which hosted individuals from a broad swath of socioeconomic backgrounds, eliminated the notion of “civilized” and “wild” individuals, and dismayed the elite colonists who hoped to impose a British-style social order upon their local community. More importantly, urban taverns served as critical arenas through which diverse colonists engaged in an ongoing act of societal negotiation. Inn Civility exhibits how colonists’ struggles to emulate their British homeland ultimately impelled the creation of an American republic. This unique insight demonstrates the messy, often contradictory nature of British American society building. In striving to create a monarchical society based upon tenets of civility, order, and liberty, colonists inadvertently created a political society that the founders would rely upon for their visions of a republican America. The elitist colonists’ futile efforts at realizing a civil society are crucial for understanding America’s controversial beginnings and the fitful development of American republicanism.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1 / Coffeehouse Coteries: Civil Dreams of Exclusivity and Consumer Power

2 / “Citizens of the World?”: Coming to Terms with Cosmopolitanism

3 / “We that entertain travellers must strive to oblige every body”: Urban Taverns and the Messy Reality of Civil Society

4 / “Disorderly Houses”: Rakish Revelries, Unlicensed Taverns, and Uncivil Contradictions

5 / “They will begin to think their united power irresistible”: The Stamp Act and the Crisis of Civil Society

6 / “As far from being settled as ever it was”: The Revolutionary Transformation of Civil Society

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-4798-1520-9

OCLC:

1090728614