Digital Paxton: Digital Collection, Critical Edition, and Teaching Platform

Introduction

Welcome to Digital Paxton. This site isn't only a digital collection dedicated to a massacre, but also a window into colonization, print culture, and Pennsylvania on the eve of the American Revolution.

The “Paxton” in Digital Paxton refers to a little-known massacre in colonial Pennsylvania.

In December 1763, a mob of settlers from Paxtang Township murdered 20 unarmed Susquehannock Indians in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. A month later, hundreds of "Paxton Boys" marched toward Philadelphia to menace and possibly kill more refugee Indians who sought the protection of the Pennsylvania government. While Benjamin Franklin halted the march just outside of Philadelphia in Germantown, supporters of the Paxton Boys and their critics spent the next year battling in print.

The Paxton Boys accused the Conestoga Indians of colluding with the Ohio Country Lenape and Shawnee warriors who were attacking Pennsylvania's western frontier, a charge that had no basis in fact. Their opponents accused the Paxton Boys of behaving more savagely than the Indians they had killed.

The pamphlet war that followed in 1764 was not so different from the Twitter wars of today. Pamphleteers waged battle using pseudonyms, slandering opponents as failed elites and racial traitors​. At stake was much more than the conduct of the Paxton men. Pamphleteers staked claims about colonization, peace and war, race and ethnicity, masculinity and civility, and religious association in pre-Revolutionary Pennsylvania.

Digital Paxton began in Spring 2016 when Will Fenton partnered with the Library Company of Philadelphia and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to digitize both institutions' rich holdings related to the Paxton massacre. Originally conceived as a way to make those records freely accessible via the web, the site quickly expanded to include primary source materials from no fewer than 16 different archives, research libraries, and cultural institutions; a dozen contextual essays from leading historians and literary scholars; and educational materials from secondary and post-secondary educators.As of December 2018, the site features 2,489 pages of material, including 16 artworks, three books, 17 broadsides, 123 manuscripts, 26 newspaper issues, 69 pamphlets, and nine political cartoons, many of which have never before been digitized. More than one-third of that collection (90 records) is fully-transcribed and searchable, and new transcriptions are added on a regular basis.The site also includes several secondary and post-secondary lesson plans, 12 contextual essays written by leading historians and literary scholars, including six historical overview essays and six conceptual keyword essays, and a crowd-sourced transcription platform.Will Fenton has presented Digital Paxton at numerous archival, digital humanities, and public events, and the project has been featured in American Quarterly, Common-place, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. You can expect significant changes and expansions to Digital Paxton over the next two years. Supported by a major grant to the Library Company of Philadelphia by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, Redrawing History: Indigenous Perspectives on Colonial America will connect Native American artists with the Library Company's rich collections and far-reaching scholarly community. The project features three key components: an educational graphic novel, a national educators' seminar, and an exhibition, accompanied by a series of public programs. To learn more about future plans, follow Digital Paxton on social media or visit its dedicated webpage.To learn more about how to use Digital Paxton, follow this path to "Using Digital Paxton," listed below Contents. To get involved in the project, contact Will Fenton.

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