William Birch's City of Philadelphia: The Politics of the Picturesque and Urban Life in the Early Republic

Abstract

Those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God, if he ever had a chosen people.... The mobs of great cities add just so much to the support of pure government, as sores do to the strength of the human body..... Thomas Jefferson, 1782 1 The well-known series of townscape prints by William Russell Birch, The City of Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania as it Appeared in 1800, was not only the first extensive portrait of a city in American art, but also exemplified the growing interest in topographical and landscape scenery during the Early Republic. As such, The City of Philadelphia has been examined from several perspectives, including the publication history through three editions, the importance of the work in the artist's career, and its place in American art.2 Largely overlooked is the extent to which the prints celebrated and promoted the benefits of urban life during a formative moment in the history of the young nation. To that end, this article situates Birch's project within the contemporary debate on the value and role of cities in later eighteenth-century America, as well as links this debate with the interests of the business community in Philadelphia, with the ideals of a newly founded republic, and finally, with the so-called Picturesque aesthetic. The result is an early picture of American democracy in an urban setting. William Birch was one of a group of mostly British artists and artisans, including Archibald Robertson, George Beck, Francis Guy, and William Groombridge, who came to the United States in the 1790s for professional and economic opportunities. Birch had been a miniaturist in enamel and an engraver of topographical views in London before settling in Philadelphia in 1794. His first project was The City of Philadelphia. These scenes of historical landmarks and street life were based on drawings by his son William, and as was common practice among printmakers and publishers, a subscription campaign provided necessary funding for the enterprise? The first edition was published in Philadelphia on December 31, 1800, and included a title page carrying the coat of arms of the state of Pennsylvania, a map of the city of Philadelphia, and a written introduction. This introductory text, which featured a list of plates, almost exclusively lauded the progress of trade and commerce in Philadelphia: The ground on which it stands, was less than a century ago, in a state of wild nature; covered with wood and inhabited by Indians. It has in this short time, been raised, as it were, by magic power, to the eminence of an opulent city, famous for its trade and commerce, crowded in its port, with vessels of its own producing, and visited by others from all parts of the world.... Birch's later commentary on the project in his autobiography pretty much focused on the promotion of commercial activity, noting its particular value for attracting foreign investment and trade as well.4 As evidence of the success of the prints to stimulate commerce, Birch published a list of subscribers that was apparently available with the first edition. The names of these subscribers included a number of foreign representatives, as well as many Philadelphia and some New York City merchants. Of the one-hundred Philadelphia subscribers, over half were listed as merchants, manufactures, or financiers in the city directory of 1800.5 By associating Philadelphia first and foremost with trade and commerce, Birch was not only identifying an obvious feature of cities as business centers, but was also promoting urban life in America. Taken individually, and especially together as a whole, the twenty-nine plates in the series projected a pro-urban image which stood in strong contrast to anti-urban sentiments that emerged after the American Revolution. Opinions on the role of cities in America during the Early Republic were included in the often heated social, political, and economic debates-both theoretical and practical-that would shape and guide the direction of a new democratic nation. …