The Fair Play Settlers of the West Branch Valley, 1769-1784 A Study of Frontier Ethnography

"The Fair Play Settlers of the West Branch Valley, 1769-1784" by George D. Wolf is a deep look into the lives of the Fair Play settlers and how their culture was established. This history book explores their political and community systems during a key period in frontier history, showing how they helped build democratic ideas. From 1769 to 1784, a group of about 100 to 150 families created the Fair Play system because they were living outside the law. The book points out that their unique system of self-rule helped democracy grow, especially since most of these settlers were Scotch-Irish adjusting to life on the frontier. It also makes clear that the book is focused on a specific group, and how they contributed to US democracy.