HUB History - Our Favorite Stories from Boston History - The City State of Boston: The Rise and Fall of an Atlantic Power, 1630-1865, with Mark Peterson (episode 155)

The City State of Boston: The Rise and Fall of an Atlantic Power, 1630-1865, with Mark Peterson (episode 155)

10/20/19 • 77 min

HUB History - Our Favorite Stories from Boston History

We’re joined this week by Yale history professor Mark Peterson to talk about his new book The City State of Boston: The Rise and Fall of an Atlantic Power, 1630-1865. In the interview, Professor Peterson will tell us why he believes that, from its settlement a century and a half before the US Constitutional government was founded until the end of the US Civil War, Boston had a political, economic, and social identity completely independent from the rest of what is now the United States. He’ll also tell us surprising stories about money in early Boston, a French-born British army officer who embodied Boston’s relationship with Acadia, and what it meant for Boston to be a slave society where the enslaved people were kept out of sight.

Please check out the full show notes at: http://HUBhistory.com/155/

And support the show on Patreon.

The Atlas of Boston History

Professor Mark Peterson will be appearing at the Charles River Museum of Industry in Waltham on November 13. Make sure to catch him there.

Here’s how the publisher describes the book:

In the vaunted annals of America’s founding, Boston has long been held up as an exemplary “city upon a hill” and the “cradle of liberty” for an independent United States. Wresting this iconic urban center from these misleading, tired clichés, The City-State of Boston highlights Boston’s overlooked past as an autonomous city-state, and in doing so, offers a pathbreaking and brilliant new history of early America. Following Boston’s development over three centuries, Mark Peterson discusses how this self-governing Atlantic trading center began as a refuge from Britain’s Stuart monarchs and how—through its bargain with slavery and ratification of the Constitution—it would tragically lose integrity and autonomy as it became incorporated into the greater United States.

Drawing from vast archives, and featuring unfamiliar figures alongside well-known ones, such as John Winthrop, Cotton Mather, and John Adams, Peterson explores Boston’s origins in sixteenth-century utopian ideals, its founding and expansion into the hinterland of New England, and the growth of its distinctive political economy, with ties to the West Indies and southern Europe. By the 1700s, Boston was at full strength, with wide Atlantic trading circuits and cultural ties, both within and beyond Britain’s empire. After the cataclysmic Revolutionary War, “Bostoners” aimed to negotiate a relationship with the American confederation, but through the next century, the new United States unraveled Boston’s regional reign. The fateful decision to ratify the Constitution undercut its power, as Southern planters and slave owners dominated national politics and corroded the city-state’s vision of a common good for all.

Peeling away the layers of myth surrounding a revered city, The City-State of Boston offers a startlingly fresh understanding of America’s history.

Here are some related past episodes

Professor Peterson talked about Sir William Phips and the attack on Quebec, as well as his treasure hunt.
The book concludes not long after Boston’s renditions of escaped slaves back into bondage.
We discussed radical abolitionist David Walker.
Professor Peterson’s book discusses the attack on Louisbourg.
We talked about the execution of King Charles I, after which two of his regicides escaped to Boston.
We briefly mention the 1789 Boston Revolt, which was the local expression of the Glorious Revolution.
Professor Peterson describes Boston’s slave economy.

Upcoming Event(s)

On October 30, the Massachusetts Historical Society will be hosting a Halloween-themed lunchtime talk. The 2015 movie ...

Please check out the full show notes at: http://HUBhistory.com/155/

And support the show on Patreon.

The Atlas of Boston History

Professor Mark Peterson will be appearing at the Charles River Museum of Industry in Waltham on November 13. Make sure to catch him there.

Here’s how the publisher describes the book:

Peeling away the layers of myth surrounding a revered city, The City-State of Boston offers a startlingly fresh understanding of America’s history.

Here are some related past episodes

Professor Peterson talked about Sir William Phips and the attack on Quebec, as well as his treasure hunt.
The book concludes not long after Boston’s renditions of escaped slaves back into bondage.
We discussed radical abolitionist David Walker.
Professor Peterson’s book discusses the attack on Louisbourg.
We talked about the execution of King Charles I, after which two of his regicides escaped to Boston.
We briefly mention the 1789 Boston Revolt, which was the local expression of the Glorious Revolution.
Professor Peterson describes Boston’s slave economy.

Upcoming Event(s)

On October 30, the Massachusetts Historical Society will be hosting a Halloween-themed lunchtime talk. The 2015 movie ...

Previous Episode

Race Over Party: Black Politics and Partisanship in Late Nineteenth-Century Boston, with Millington Bergeson-Lockwood (episode 154)

Historian Millington Bergeson-Lockwood, author of Race Over Party: Black Politics and Partisanship in Late Nineteenth-Century Boston, joins us this week to talk about the evolution of partisanship and political loyalty among Boston’s African American community, from just after the Civil War until the turn of the 20th century. It was a period that at first promised political and economic advancement for African Americans, but ended with the rise of lynching and codified Jim Crow laws. It was also a period that began with near universal support for Lincoln’s Republican party among African Americans, with Frederick Douglass commenting “the Republican party is the ship and all else is the sea.” However, after decades of setbacks and roadblocks on the path of progress, many began to question their support of the GOP, and some tried to forge a new, non-partisan path to Black advancement. Dr. Bergeson-Lockwood will tell us how the movement developed and whether it ultimately achieved its goals.

Please check out the full show notes at: http://HUBhistory.com/154/

And support the show on Patreon.

Race over Party

Dr. Millington Bergeson-Lockwood describes himself as a “historian of race, politics, and the law in United States history.” Though he completed his PhD at the University of Michigan, he became interested in Boston’s complex history of race and politics while living here as an undergraduate. He joined us from Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to discuss his book Race Over Party: Black Politics and Partisanship in Late Nineteenth-Century Boston.

Here’s how the UNC Press describes the book:

In late nineteenth-century Boston, battles over black party loyalty were fights over the place of African Americans in the post–Civil War nation. In his fresh in-depth study of black partisanship and politics, Millington W. Bergeson-Lockwood demonstrates that party politics became the terrain upon which black Bostonians tested the promise of equality in America’s democracy. Most African Americans remained loyal Republicans, but Race Over Party highlights the actions and aspirations of a cadre of those who argued that the GOP took black votes for granted and offered little meaningful reward for black support. These activists branded themselves “independents,” forging new alliances and advocating support of whichever candidate would support black freedom regardless of party.

By the end of the century, however, it became clear that partisan politics offered little hope for the protection of black rights and lives in the face of white supremacy and racial violence. Even so, Bergeson-Lockwood shows how black Bostonians’ faith in self-reliance, political autonomy, and dedicated organizing inspired future generations of activists who would carry these legacies into the foundation of the twentieth-century civil rights movement.

Upcoming Event

The Partnership of Historic Bostons is a local group focusing on the historical relationship between Boston, Massachusetts and Boston, Lincolnshire. Charter Day is celebrated on September 7, commemorating the day in 1630 when Boston, Dorchester, and Watertown were all officially named. The partnership has a series of lectures and walking tours throughout September and October as part of their celebration, which you can find at .

One of the last events in this year’s series is a talk by Peter Drummey of the Massachusetts Historical Society on October 23 called “PURITANS IN PRINT: Historiography of the Puritans in Literature.” I’ve seen Drummey present a few times at MHS on topics like the relationship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson or the legacy of Abraham Lincoln in Boston, so this should be an event to look forward to.

Here’s how the Partnership describes this one:

From the 1630’s to the 1930’s, the Puritans were stigmatized and chastised in literature as dour, joyless and oppressing. H.L. Menckin’s epigram, “Puritanism is the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy,” summarizes much of the first 300 years of Puritan historiography. But against the background of the Great War, Depression and Prohibition, the heavens began to open and Puritan society was examined in a new light. In 1930, historian S.E. Morison wrote “My attitude toward seventeenth-century puritanism has passed through scorn and boredom to a warm interest and respect.” How did the literary portrayal of the Puritans change, and how does that change help us understand our national history?

Note that even though Mr Drummey ...

Next Episode

The Atlas of Boston History, with Nancy Seasholes (episode 156)

We’re joined this week by Nancy Seasholes, editor of the new book The Atlas of Boston History, which just came out on Thursday. It’s a historic atlas of Boston that covers the period from the last ice age, right up to the present day. It contains essays contributed by a wide range of well regarded local historians, as well as many written by Seasholes herself. However, what sets this book apart is its beauty. As the name Atlas indicates, it is richly illustrated with maps, charts, diagrams, infographics, historical photos, paintings, and more. It’s a book that I will use as a reference far into the future, and one that any of my fellow Boston history nerds will love.

Please check out the full show notes at: http://HUBhistory.com/156/

And support the show on Patreon.

The Atlas of Boston History

Nancy Seasholes is a historian and a historical archaeologist. She’s the past author of Walking Tours of Boston’s Made Land and Gaining Ground: a History of Landmaking in Boston, which is a favorite reference for your humble hosts. Since the book has such a heavy emphasis on visual elements, you may want to follow along at the Atlas of Boston History website as you listen to our conversation this week. It includes sample pages from each of the book’s eleven sections, giving you a much better idea of why I’m so enthusiastic about this beautiful book.

Make sure to catch Nancy’s upcoming local appearances:

If you’re still on the fence, here’s how the publisher describes the Atlas:

Few American cities possess a history as long, rich, and fascinating as Boston’s. A site of momentous national political events from the Revolutionary War through the civil rights movement, Boston has also been an influential literary and cultural capital. From ancient glaciers to landmaking schemes and modern infrastructure projects, the city’s terrain has been transformed almost constantly over the centuries. The Atlas of Boston History traces the city’s history and geography from the last ice age to the present with beautifully rendered maps.

Edited by historian Nancy S. Seasholes, this landmark volume captures all aspects of Boston’s past in a series of fifty-seven stunning full-color spreads. Each section features newly created thematic maps that focus on moments and topics in that history. These maps are accompanied by hundreds of historical and contemporary illustrations and explanatory text from historians and other expert contributors. They illuminate a wide range of topics including Boston’s physical and economic development, changing demography, and social and cultural life. In lavishly produced detail, The Atlas of Boston History offers a vivid, refreshing perspective on the development of this iconic American city.

Upcoming Historical Event(s)

Douglas Egerton will give a lunchtime talk at the Boston Athenaeum on November 8, titled “Heirs of an Honored Name: the Decline of the Adams Family and the Rise of Modern America.” Anyone who’s been listening to our show for a while will realize that I’m a big admirer of the Adams family. I often use the letters of John and Abigail Adams as primary sources, we quoted passages from the letters and diaries of John Quincy in our show about early Charles River bridges, and we’ve even outlined how two of John Quincy’s brothers were involved in a riot at Harvard. John Quincy Adams’ son (and John Adams’ grandson) Charles Francis Adams was a respected historian in his own right, whom we’ve quoted in our episode about the epidemics that decimated Boston’s Native American population.

After those three generations, however, Professor Egerton would argue that the Adams family in America entered an irreversible decline, always living in the shadow of its famous past. Here’s how the Athenaeum describes his talk:

John and Abigail Adams founded a famous political family, but they would not witness its calamitous fall from grace. When John Quincy Adams died in 1848, so began the slow decline of the family’s political legacy. In Heirs of an Honored Name, award-winning historian Douglas R. Egerton depicts a family grown famous, wealthy, but...