Profs and Pints Online presents: “Colonial Philly's Organized Chaos,” a look at the city's progression from mob-ruled to model for a new nation, with Jessica Chopin Roney, associate professor of history at Temple University and author of Governed by a Spirit of Opposition: The Origins of American Political Practice in Colonial Philadelphia.

[This talk will remain available in recorded form at the link given here for tickets and access. ]

When, in the spring of 1775, a Philadelphia militia mobilized almost overnight in response to news of fighting in Lexington, John Adams wrote: “So sudden a formation of an Army never took Place anywhere.”

Adams was wrong, though. “So sudden a formation of an Army” had in fact taken place multiple times, right in Philadelphia during its pre-revolutionary days.

Well before the American Revolution dawned, Philadelphia had a long history of independently organizing, mainly in response to British misrule and absentee governance. It got done what needed to get done, becoming the birthplace of America's first fire companies, first public library, first hospital, first non-sectarian college, and first scientific organizations. It was home to the America's only extralegal militias, giving rise to three of them. With innovators like Benjamin Franklin and John Bartram pioneering hitherto unknown ways of societal formation, Philadelphia rewrote the playbook of democratic governance in the New World.

Understanding how Philly became a self-made city is essential to understanding the American Experiment itself. It's a great story for tourists to learn as they explore historic sites around the city, and it's a story likely to evoke among city residents as much pride as cheesesteaks, Rocky, and the Eagles' “Philly Special.” Professor Jessica Chopin Roney is the perfect person to tell it.

Profs & Pints Online: Colonial Philly's Organized Chaos