Princeton University Press City-State of Boston: The Rise and Fall of an Atlantic Power, 16301865

A groundbreaking history of early America that shows how Boston built and sustained an independent city-state in New England before being folded into the United States In the vaunted annals of Americas founding, Boston has long been held up as an exemplary city upon a hill and the cradle of liberty for an independent United States. Wresting this revered metropolis from these misleading, tired clichés, The City-State of Boston highlights Bostons overlooked past as an autonomous city-state, and in doing so, offers a pathbreaking and brilliant new history of early America. Following Bostons development over three centuries, Mark Peterson discusses how this self-governing Atlantic trading center began as a refuge from Britains Stuart monarchs and howthrough its bargain with the slave trade and ratification of the Constitutionit would tragically lose integrity and autonomy as it became incorporated into the greater United States. The City-State of Boston peels away layers of myth to offer a startlingly fresh understanding of this iconic urban center. Autorid: Mark Peterson