From Colony to Country: The archaeology of national identity formation at New York City’s South Street Seaport

Summary

The half-century following the American Revolution was a vital time in the development of a national identity for the United States, as it moved from being a British colony to a newly-independent country. The assertive role of the United States in the 21st century world, including its involvement in ‘preemptive’ wars, is underlain by a sense of national superiority. This paper poses the question of whether early manifestations of this characteristic can be found in late 18th and early 19th century materials recovered during recent excavations at New York City’s South Street Seaport. The author will review some of the preliminary findings from those excavations and begin to interpret what the material remains might tell us about the formation of national identity in this transitional period of American history.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014   •
• ‘O Brave New World’: Archaeologies of Changing Identities

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-19,01