| An examination of the life of Isaac Craig, a Scots-Irish migrant catapulted from lower-class Philadelphia carpenter to entrepreneur and land speculator on the western frontier, illustrates the paradox presented in upward mobility during the Revolutionary era. The era was an exceptional time for social and economic mobility yet few men were able to accomplish it. Thus the period allowed for many men to gain more economically, while the inability to increase one's social standing continued to limit one's economic standing as well as overall success in upward mobility. Difficulties were due to the process of both social and economic mobility, a process detailed within this project, that included an almost endless list of both material and nonmaterial requirements. Subsequently, participation in the Revolutionary War provided the unique situation that both allowed and called for reorganized relationships to new groups of socially and economically superior men. |
