Gary Nash’s Book “The Urban Crucible” Report

Introduction and thesis

The urban crucible is set in the urban seaport of New York, Philadelphia, and Boston between 1690- 1776. The author, Dr. Gary Nash is incensed by the lack of focus on the colonial urban centers in American history and the lack of interest or discussion of the issue of the class by the past renown historians and scholars who seem to focus much on the chronological events of the historical aspects than the events of the cities during the years of revolution. He seems to single out the work of Carl Briddenbaug, great historians, who he considers as the only one with such concept of handling past events of the cities and class.

The book is taking us on the aspects of social inequalities in the urban centers during the era of revolution in American History, citing the laboring class Vs the ruling class. He states that individuals were trying to understand themselves during this period of social and political change that was just beginning to take place in all of the American cities. That these people began to notice that they occupied a special place in the society, based on their role in the pre-industrial era was one of Dr. Nash’s aspects of this book.

The economic aspect is also brought about by Growth and war, and conflict and revolution, under which saw the introduction of paper currency and its influence on the economic and social structures of the said cities during those years. Politics influence society’s way of doing things. This is illustrated by the way the laboring communities are influenced to participate in street demonstrations, boycotts, and other politically charged actions to press for a change in the cultural practice (Nash 223).

Discussion

1. Dr. Nash identifies the composition of the 17C towns as the laboring class and the ruling class who, economically could be referred to poor Vs the rich. To retain the already established order, the rich or the ruling class ensured that they had control of the economy and that there was stability in these towns. The social inferiors saw colonialism as the source of their suffering in a social and political aspect while the men of ‘rank’ simply saw it as a source of their economic frustrations.
2. The families of the laboring communities were congested in their areas of residence while those of the ruling class were living in leafy suburbs. The relationships were not cordial because as the poor community saw the class arrangements as the source of their problems, the richer class wanted to retain the class and status. The social order was being stressed by the works of the learned and well-educated in the society by the use of newspapers to ignore the plights of the struggling laboring communities. Lawyers used their intellectual might to reap from the rich in order to support every course they took to enrich themselves. The custom of difference was seen in the way people of different classes viewed each other. The men of ‘rank’ were comfortable with the arrangements and saw the laboring communities as their subjects. This difference led to rebellion among the laboring communities who used boycotts and demonstrations to drive their message home. They aspired to accomplish the economic class of their masters (men of ‘rank’) since they saw this as the only way to beat them. And this was the source of revolution according to Dr. Nash.
3. The urban seaport’s wealth was concentrated in the hands of the colonialists. There was a big gap between the rich and the poor. This was magnified in the aftermath of the war. The glorious revolution threatened the stability of the colonies as the laboring community began their protests and boycotts that threatened their economic stability.
4. After the war, Nash states that the three seaport cities experienced severe depression. However, the effect of the war was more evident in Boston than in New York and Philadelphia. This is because the First Great Awakening did not affect the two towns as much as it affected Boston. The gap between the poor and the rich became more visible and the laboring class began to notice their disparities. The colonial class did suffer as a result of this war as the laboring communities began to notice the other side of the life that the colonialists lived (Nash 227).
5. The Great Awakening that led people to question the individual who occupied the position of authority and the introduction of the Stamp Act were the factors that led to the popular politics in Boston. Boston experiences a greater sense of depression because of its involvement in the war. The laboring communities responded by using the press where they circulated anti-colonial government leaflets to enhance revolution. This was the source of revolution according to Nash.
6. The New York population did not participate in the wars directly. However they innovatively contributed to the war economically, i.e. they engaged in piracy hence sabotaged the colonial opponents. Philadelphia on the other hand refused to participate in the war hence leaving it the least affected town. The poor in this town refused to oblige to the demand of the colonialists.
7. There was an evident change in the political landscape and the economic understanding of the population among the laboring community. The population of the laboring class began to understand the political climate and how it functions thus prompting an eighty-year struggle for independence.
8. The indentured service became a concentrated labor force because people recruited in the war remained a good source of labor once the war ended. However, this was not the case in Boston as the poverty and the numerous war widows who were left behind burdened the society.
9. From this chapter, the seaport towns in the north survived in the great economic depression simply because they were not deeply involved in the war as the southerners. They formed a political party to protect them economically.
10. The people of these seaport towns became more conscious of their economic prosperity as they saw the benefit of individual capitalism as the only source of becoming equals with the colonialists.
11. The wars boosted the economy of these towns since they prompted the struggle for the economic wellbeing of individuals rather than working on the public interests.
12. The pumping of paper money to facilitate war in those cities brought about prosperity as they were attempting to assert their presence in the cities.
13. The war on poverty in Boston was initiated by the colonialists who wanted to thrive on the poverty aspect by introducing intense labor among the population to in the rebuilding of the economy. However, the masses resisted when they demonstrated and Nash calls them “awakened sinners and political dissidents”. This is because the colonialist branded them, sinners and dissidents.
14. When war resumed between the British and French by the 1750s, it positively boosted the economy as each of these nations wanted their presence to be felt hence they brought a lot of foreign exchange into the economy.
15. After the Seven years war was over, the plight of the colonialists came as a result of an effort to refund the war debts. The challenge came in making the poor labor class who were mostly composed of widows to work and regenerate the economy. Poverty became widespread and this was exposed in the harsh winter of 1764-5 when hospitals were overwhelmed by the large number of the sick who suffered from opportunistic diseases.
16. The colony of Pope’s Day was a culmination of a beginning of resistance and the social roles reversed as women became the center stage of new ways of protests. The women staged protests and the husbands were lefts at homes to care for the young ones.
17. The colonial elite illustrates their accumulating wealth (rituals, displays, etc) by attempting to use the poor to showcase their wealth by instructing them to perform some activities like the Quaker’s Betting House.
18. The poor people of Philadelphia refused to obey the strictures and toil of the Quaker’s Betting House. The New York artisans voted for the men of their ‘rank’ in large numbers, and the defeat of the gentry’s power in Boston like the successful defeat of public market instituted and regulated by the rich.
19. Acts of violence and revolution in Boston and New York City against the Stamp Tax also allowed the working class and poor to illustrate undercurrents of social unrest in the colonial economy. The Stamp Act crisis widened further the gap between the classes in terms of socio-economic perspectives. The people resisted bitterly against this Act and the authority had to oblige to their demands.
20. Philadelphia was not affected much by this Stamp Act enforcement because they were adamant in the fight for its withdrawal. Just like they never actively participated in the war, they remained silent as the social class difference was not as wide as the other two port cities
21. With growing colonial populations and a rise in the building trades in Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia what were the similarities and differences between shipbuilding, commercial centers, and their difficulties with unemployment in a time of transition from bound labor. Boston faced the greatest shortage of labor due to its huge widowed population hence slowed in its infrastructure development. New York and Philadelphia thrived due to external influence on the economy by other countries who participated in the war. The lack of slaves in Boston was a great impediment to its development.
22. The boycotting of British goods affected the availability of work in port towns. This boycott seriously impacted negatively on the flow of work as people never worked. So the labor market remained docile and food prices went down tremendously
23. poverty became rampant. The people of means insisted on labor as the solution as they believed that the source of wealth would be having as many workers or slaves as possible to work and bring wealth.
24. President Benjamin Franklin attempted to better each house by subsidizing the price of household goods so that people could afford them. However, in Philadelphia, the situation was not received well because widespread poverty was not rampant as compared to other cities. Furthermore, this was going to interfere with their growing profits of trade in these extremely poor states
25. Dr. Nash conclusion is that the colonial situation is not able to withstand the internal pressure that comes with poverty as a social tool for the poor and that political reactions are directly linked to the political reactions

Conclusion

The book has shown a lot of class issues and it regards the class phenomenon seriously. It also elaborately illustrates how war and peace can affect both the upper class and the lower class of society. This was the scenario in Boston, New York and Philadelphia. The book is sad and heartbreaking and at the same time funny in its approach to handling the themes of Growth and war, and conflict and revolution.

Work cited

Nash, B. 1979. The Urban Crucible: Social Change, Political Consciousness, and the origins of the American Revolution. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.