What was the demand of the paxton boys

This article argues that these efforts to articulate the civic rights and duties in the aftermath of the massacre represented a subtle attempt to redefine imperial authority on the frontier. The Paxton rioters, in their actions and their post-hoc justifications, seized sovereign power of life and death and the ability to delimit the meanings of allegiance, casting themselves as sovereign subjects on the frontier.

William Pencak and Daniel K. Richter University Park, , ; James H. Franklin , Narrative , 3. Franklin , Narrative , 3, 5, 7, Franklin , Narrative , 7, 10, Franklin , Narrative , 25, 13, Franklin , Narrative , Franklin , Narrative , , Katherine A. Hermes has developed this idea more fully in Katherine A. Christopher L. Tomlins and Bruce H. Mann Chapel Hill, , Alden T. Pulsipher , Subjects unto the Same King , Daniel K Richter and James H.

Jonathan A. See N. Barton , Conduct of the Paxton-Men , 6, John R. Dunbar, ed. Barton , Conduct of the Paxton-Men , Smolenski , Friends and Strangers , , ; James H.

Kettner , Development of American Citizenship , Franklin , Narrative , ; Read, Copy of a Letter , 2. Barton , Conduct of the Paxton-Men , 29, Smith , Declaration and Remonstrance , Barton , Conduct of the Paxton-Men , 5, Griffin , The People with No Name , The presence of the mob of Paxton Boys in Philadelphia excited some and horrified many. In John R. Business stopped, shops remained closed, couriers charged back and forth through the streets, the citizens gathered to gape and gossip For several weeks from January to February of , all eyes were on them.

After that period of tension, the standoff ended diplomatically and not militarily. Benjamin Franklin was called in to resolve the conflict. After many hours of deliberation, a non-violent solution to the problems was reached when the Paxton Boys agreed to formally declare their grievances to the court and return home. However, their impact on society remained.

As a result, Philadelphia overtook Boston in number of items published annually. Soon after, impressions taken from the Paxton Boys incident manifested themselves in almost every conceivable medium: songs, plays, essays, mock epitaphs, parodied speeches and prayers, caricatures, and satirical drawings. The Paxton Boys themselves were not writers; if their weapons had been pens and not hatchets, the fate of the Conestogas might have been different.

What soon became obvious, however, was that the Paxton Boys had political allies all throughout the colony who had previously been mute. By bringing the issue of treatment of Indians to the forefront of politics in Pennsylvania, the Paxton Boys catalyzed a conversation between two parties that had remained in silent opposition for decades.

And although Indian diplomacy soon lost the spotlight to literature focusing on the Revolution, variations of the issue carried on throughout the revolution and into the 19th century. Sadly, there is not much left by which to remember the Conestoga Indians.

A plaque commemorating the passing of the Conestogas rests at the site of the old jailhouse, which has long since been torn down and replaced by an opera house.

Money for the plaque was raised by Jesse Nighthawk, a Cherokee from Oklahoma. The adventure of the Paxton Boys was important for two reasons. Removal and extinction were the only solutions. Second, the march on Philadelphia was an early example of regional and social tension.

Later American history would reflect further cases of the strain between the urban and rural, the haves versus the have-nots and the newcomers against the establishment. See Indian Wars Time Table. The pamphlets did not capture issues that were pressing for the backcountry settlers, and they certainly did not capture issues that concerned the Conestogas. The murders in Lancaster county prompted these pamphlets, but urban pamphleteers mobilized these murders to influence the provincial politics that they cared about.

They changed the subject with an eye toward October elections. Were Quakers fit to govern? Were Presbyterians a disorderly and violent people? Should Pennsylvania become a royal colony? How should representation be proportioned in the provincial legislature? Philadelphia pamphleteers weaponized the Lancaster County murders to wage arguments about race, religion, gender, and politics to adjust power in Pennsylvania Olson; Smolenski; Camenzind.

These issues were vital for urban Philadelphians. But did they matter to, or motivate, the backcountry settlers who murdered the Conestogas in December ?