Description
Book SynopsisIn A Town In-Between, Judith Ridner reveals the influential, turbulent past of a modest, quiet American community. Today Carlisle, Pennsylvania, nestled in the Susquehanna Valley, is far from the nation''s political and financial centers. In the eighteenth century, however, Carlisle and its residents stood not only at a geographical crossroads but also at the fulcrum of early American controversies. Located between East Coast settlement and the western frontier, Carlisle quickly became a mid-Atlantic hub, serving as a migration gateway to the southern and western interiors, a commercial way station in the colonial fur trade, a military staging and supply ground during the Seven Years'' War, American Revolution, and Whiskey Rebellion, and home to one of the first colleges in the United States, Dickinson.
A Town In-Between reconsiders the role early American towns and townspeople played in the development of the country''s interior. Focusing on the lives of the ambi
Trade Review
"Ridner creates a compelling portrait of the physical space of Carlisle, the economic and political activities of its residents, and the conflicting schemes and hopes of the people outside as well as inside the community. A Town In-Between conveys a rich sense of the texture of life in early America." * Daniel K. Richter, University of Pennsylvania *
Table of Contents
List of Maps and Illustrations
Introduction
Chapter 1. Creating a Town In-Between
Chapter 2. Negotiating the Boundaries
Chapter 3. New Lines Drawn
Chapter 4. War and Revolution
Chapter 5. Still In-Between
Chapter 6. Adapting to the Next Century
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Index
