“SOME DAY ON AMERICAN SOIL:” THE MATERIAL RECORD OF NEW PHILADELPHIA AND THE MIDDLE CLASS ON THE AMERICAN PRAIRIE By Christopher Francis Valvano A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Anthropology – Doctor of Philosophy 2015 ABSTRACT “SOME DAY ON AMERICAN SOIL:” THE MATERIAL RECORD OF NEW PHILADELPHIA AND THE MIDDLE CLASS ON THE AMERICAN PRAIRIE By Christopher Francis Valvano The following dissertation asks: What is the material expression for the emergent middle class on the American prairie during 19th-century? It develops a model of a prairie-middle-class based on the material and documentary datasets at New Philadelphia, Illinois. These two datasets comprise a single historic-archaeological record that was created by people living in this town during the middle decades of the 19th century. New Philadelphia was a founder town, established by “Free” Frank McWorter, an African American, who was born into slavery but who purchased his freedom, along with 13 family members. Chapter 1 presents the research question: What is the material expression of the emergent middle on the 19th-century American prairie? Chapter 2 outlines the historical developments necessary for the emergence of the middle class on the American prairie during the 19th century. Chapter 3 presents the theoretical context for examining the historical archaeological record at New Philadelphia. Chapter 4 presents the methodology of historical materialism to explain social change through processes of change. A model for the expansion of the capitalist mode of production is stated. This model forms the basis for four hypotheses about the broad cultural experience with capitalist expansion. Each hypotheses leads to specific sub-hypotheses about the personal experiences at New Philadelphia. These sub-hypotheses are bridging arguments to connect the local manifestation to the wider process of capitalist expansion. Chapter 5 presents conclusions and suggestions for future work. ii iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am happily indebted to many people as a result of this dissertation. First, my committee at MSU was always a great source for guidance and encouragement. My chair Ken Lewis gave me the latitude I needed to explore my research from various points of view, but he never left any wiggle room for compromising the quality of my work. Helen Pollard was my unofficial co- chair. Like Ken, she showed great patience when I needed it, but she also knew how to get me from being so full of myself and just write the thing. I am also grateful to the members of the New Philadelphia Archaeology Project. Paul Shackel, Terry Martin, and Chris Fennell directed it and hired me as a crew chief based only on what my references lied vouched about me. These are three great archaeologists who have a sincere sense of stewardship for the artifacts of the past and for the students of the future. I hope this dissertation makes them proud. I thank all the New Philadelphia Association members and my fellow New Philadelphians: Charlotte King, Claire Fuller Martin, Carrie Christman, Anna Agbe-Davies, Emily Helton, Megan Bailey, Katie Fay, George Calfas,. Despite my late- afternoon grouchiness, they were always the best colleagues anyone could hope for. I would like to thank Steven Pierce, Director of CSTAT at MSU. He was a great help in showing me how to visualize data presented here. Finally, I would like to thank my parents Bob and Liz and my sister Kate. They always encouraged me, even as I kept delaying my release into the “real world.” When I started my PhD, I was doing it only for myself. But, before I finished, I became a husband and a dad. So now I truly know what it means to give yourself fully to others. Because of that, my degree, and all the satisfaction I have for finishing it, only has meaning because it also belongs to my perfect wife Dimity and our most precious gift Libby. Thank you all. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................1 Dissertation Research Scope ......................................................................................................3 Dissertation Research Problem ..................................................................................................4 Dissertation Research Relevance ...............................................................................................5 Dissertation Organization by Chapter ........................................................................................8 CHAPTER 2: HISTORICAL CONTEXT ....................................................................................12 Chapter Introduction ...............................................................................................................12 Macro-Scale historical context ................................................................................................12 Colonial period 1492‒1763................................................................................................13 Expansionary period 1763‒1877 .......................................................................................13 Deepening period 1890‒1919 ............................................................................................16 United States Expansion ..........................................................................................................16 Northwest Ordinance 1787 ................................................................................................16 Construction of the Erie Canal 1815 ..................................................................................18 Financial Panic of 1837 .....................................................................................................18 Opening of Oregon, California, and Overland trails (late 1840s) ......................................18 American Civil War and Reconstruction Amendments (13th, 14th, and 15th) .................18 Post-Civil War Reconstruction .........................................................................................18 Meso-scale historical context: Illinois Expansion ...................................................................18 Pattern of expansion ...........................................................................................................18 Demographic expansion.....................................................................................................19 Political Expansion ............................................................................................................20 Market Expansion ..............................................................................................................22 Early Settlement 1809‒1837 ........................................................................................23 Pre-Civil War 1837‒1860 ............................................................................................27 a. Illinois and Michigan Canal 1848 ......................................................................30 b. Illinois Central Railroad 1850 ............................................................................31 c. Civil War and Recovery 1860‒1880 ..................................................................32 Micro-scale historical context: New Philadelphia Expansion .................................................34 New Philadelphia Introduction ..........................................................................................34 Free Frank transitions to Frank McWorter ........................................................................35 Development of New Philadelphia ..........................................................................................45 Abandonment of New Philadelphia .........................................................................................51 Recent Research of New Philadelphia .....................................................................................57 Conclusion ...............................................................................................................................64 CHAPTER 3: THEORETICAL CONTEXT AND DATASETS ..................................................70 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................70 Race and Political Economy ....................................................................................................70 v Archaeology Dataset ................................................................................................................77 Walkover Survey ...............................................................................................................78 Walkover Survey Methods ................................................................................................79 Walkover Survey Results ...................................................................................................80 NSF-REU Excavations