American Artisans: Crafting Society Identity, 1750-1850

Given the fundamental changes that transformed American society in the years between Benjamin Franklin's apprenticeship in a printer's shop and mid-19th-century efforts to organize labouring men and women, no social group offers a more interesting spectacle than skilled tradesmen or artisans. They came from various ethnic backgrounds (some worked in slavery), took their religion and politics seriously, lived mostly in cities but also in the countryside, and in many cases became pillars of their communities. This book examines the role of artisans in the American economy and society in the 18th and 19th centuries. Going beyond the traditional story of the decline of journeyman status, it explores a variety of themes loosely centred around opportunities in the developing economy. Indeed, many of these essays explore entrepreneurial ideals among many artisans competing in the marketplace. This collection also examines the interaction of race and the artisan economy in southern cities. It traces the economic relationships from father to son or between merchant and artisan, and explores the culture and politics of artisans, including religion, third-party politics, and the interaction of gender and reform.

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments
Introduction, Identity and Independence: The American Artisan, 1750-1850
Part I. Studies of the Southern Experience
1. From Father to Son: Economic Roots of Craft Dynamics in Eighteenth-Century Maryland
2. Freeman, Servants, and Slaves: Artisans and the Craft Structure of Revolutionary Baltimore Town
3. Planters in the Making: Artisnal Opportunity in Georgia, 1790-1830
4. Slave Artisans in Richmond, Virginia, 1780-1810
Part II. Explorations of Class and Politics
5. Alternative Communities: American Artisans and the Evangelical Appeal, 1780-1830
6. The Petitoning of Artisans and Operatives: Means and Ends in the Struggle for a Ten-Hour Day
7. "Spavined Ministers, Lying Toothpullers, and Buggering Priests": Third-Partyism and the Serch for Security in the Antebellum North
Part III. Biographical Approaches
8. Becoming Joseph T. Buckingham: The Struggle for Artisanal Independence in Early-Nineteenth-Century Boston
9. From Artisan to Alderman: The Career of William W. Moore, 1803-1886
Part IV. Iconographic Interpretations
10. "All Her Sons Join as One Social Band": New York City's Artisanal Societies in the Early Republic
11. With Hammer in Hand: Working-Class Occupational Portraits
Notes
Contributors
Index

Howard B. Rock taught American History from 1973 to 2009. He is the author of Artisans of the New Republic, Haven of Liberty: New York Jews in the New World, 1654-1865, and The New York City Artisan, and is co-author of Keepers of the Revolution and Cityscapes: A History of New York in Images. Paul A. Gilje is the George Lynn Cross Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Oklahoma and co-author of Keepers of the Revolution. Robert Asher is the author of the Immigration to the United States series