Description
Book SynopsisAward-winning historian Susan Pearson traces the birth certificate’s two-hundred-year history to explain when, how, and why they came to matter so much in the United States. This is a fascinating biography of a piece of paper that grounds our understanding of how those who live in the United States are considered Americans.
Trade ReviewAbsorbing...An accessible, lively study of how a now-standard record came about."—
Kirkus Reviews"This impeccable and captivating work of historical scholarship will appeal to any historian of the postbellum United States, but particularly to social historians, intellectual historians, and historians of science and technology...In
The Birth Certificate, Pearson brilliantly weaves together a variety of archival sources to elucidate the intersection between lived experience, state bureaucracy, and systems of epistemic authority."—
Journal of Interdisciplinary History"Richly researched, beautifully written. . . . [A] crucial historical analysis of the vital bureaucratic document that establishes American identity" —
American Journal of Legal History"A crucial contribution to the study of age as a category of analysis. . . . Pearson's work will be thought-provoking for scholars and students alike."—
Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth
