The founding fathers wanted to pretend that the government of the newly formed United States stood above faction. But organizing and get out the vote tactics in the streets of Philadelphia proved this wasn’t true. By 1830, political parties had become a driving force behind Election Day. Voting was now a partisan contest limited to only white men. In Philly, the day had a wild, festival feeling that could, and often did, turn violent.

Our guest for this series is Professor Mark Brewin, Associate Professor of Media Studies, at the University of Tulsa. This mini-series relies heavily on Professor Brewin’s 2008 book Celebrating Democracy: The Mass Mediated Ritual of Election Day.

If you want to learn more and see images of Election Day in Philadelphia throughout history, follow this link to read the Election Day in Philadelphia Companion Blog. You’ll find a full list of my sources there as well.

This episode was mixed by The Wave Podcasting. Guitar, bass and drums played by Kai Reuter.

The post Episode No. 22 – Election Day on the Streets of Philadelphia (Part 2 – The New American Capital) first appeared on Found in Philadelphia.