Abstract
Historians have commonly portrayed the Pennsylvania backcountry as a lawless, violent region. Many have attributed this these levels of violence to the influx of Scots Irish migrants to the province after the 1720. Examining several eighteenth-century Pennsylvania counties, this article demonstrates that earlier scholars have consistently overestimated levels of crime on the frontier. Moreover, court records shows that Scots-Irish individuals were no more likely to be prosecuted or convicted of crime than other ethnic groups. Overall, frontier settlers embraced the legal system, even as they insisted it be applied in ways that accorded with local conditions.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 40-67 |
| Number of pages | 28 |
| Journal | Journal of Early American History |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 30 Apr 2016 |
Keywords
- Law
- Pennsylvania
- Courts
- American Revolution
- Whiskey Rebellion
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- History
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Court and Tax Records from the Early American Frontier
Ward, M. (Creator), McMahon, R. (Creator), Paul, C. (Other) & Reid, D. (Other), University of Dundee, Sept 2023
DOI: 10.15132/10000180, https://dmail.sharepoint.com/:f:/s/ResearchServicesPublicDocuments/EgpfKwbA7hhPjiEuTNuIiDcB1ME1q0ZpL90Yjew16bp_Uw?e=Izw4Ju
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