ABSTRACT In December 1763, a group of Pennsylvania frontiersmen known as the Paxton Boys systematically massacred twenty Christianized Conestoga natives before marching on the colony’s remaining Indigenous converts in Philadelphia. The Paxton Boys’ actions have often been linked to preexisting ideological differences between colonial Pennsylvania’s frontiersmen, Indigenous populations, and provincial government that were exacerbated by the French and Indian War. These issues prompted the rise of broader ethnic solidarities that shaped the Paxton Boys’ ideology but alone fail to capture the local stressors behind the group’s particularly radical ideology. Paxton Township’s geographic location on the northern edge of Lancaster County played a significant role in informing their extreme beliefs and actions. While their ideology did not reflect that of the entire colony, their march on Philadelphia did prompt divisive political discourse that put their ideology into the limelight, framing natives as antithetical to landownership and marginalizing their place in the British Empire.
ABSTRACT The following articles explore the difference between something “hidden” and something “hidden in plain sight.” Each article addresses this theme by referring to historians’ and curators’ recent treatment of slavery at the President’s House, the Cliveden historic site, and the University of Pennsylvania, all in Philadelphia, as well as sites across the Commonwealth. They point toward the overall social and political implications of bringing American slavery out of “hiding” and into public discourse. The articles derive from panel discussions given at various history conferences in the past few years.
ABSTRACT On November 17, 1967, thousands of African American public school students in Philadelphia exercised their right to protest against educational inequality while demanding that city institutions fulfill their responsibilities to provide equitable education. The violent response to their peaceful demonstration would expose deep-seated racial tensions and become a pivotal moment in the city’s civil rights movement. Their collective action was met with a brutal response from Philadelphia Police under the leadership of Frank Rizzo.
