City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 5-2015 "To organize the sovereign people": Political Mobilization in Pennsylvania, 1783-1808 David William Houpt Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/977 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact:
[email protected] “To Organize the Sovereign People”: Political Mobilization in Pennsylvania, 1783-1808 By David W. Houpt A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2015 © 2015 David W. Houpt All Rights Reserved ii This manuscript has been read and accepted for thy Graduate Faculty in History in satisfaction of the Dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Andrew W. Robertson Date Chair of Examining Committee Helena Rosenblatt Date Executive Officer David Waldstreicher Jonathan Sassi Martin Burke Andrew Shankman Supervisory Committee THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii Abstract “To organize the sovereign people”: Political Mobilization in Pennsylvania, 1783-1808 By David W. Houpt Adviser: Andrew W. Robertson Political mobilization is the connective tissue between the people and their government. Whether through petitions, voting, parades or even riots, it is the tool political actors use to engage in the deliberative process. Scholars have explored a variety of facets of the political culture of the early American republic and have noted the importance of certain forms of political mobilization such as parades and fêtes.