The Birth Certificate
An American History

Susan J. Pearson (Author)

9781469679334

Paperback / softback, published 1 February 2024

392 pages, 20 halftones
23.5 x 15.5 x 2 cm, 0.272 kg

Absorbing...An accessible, lively study of how a now-standard record came about."—Kirkus Reviews

"This impeccable and captivating work of historical scholarship will appeal to any historian of the postbellum United States, but particularly to social historians, intellectual historians, and historians of science and technology...In The Birth Certificate, Pearson brilliantly weaves together a variety of archival sources to elucidate the intersection between lived experience, state bureaucracy, and systems of epistemic authority."—Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"Richly researched, beautifully written. . . . [A] crucial historical analysis of the vital bureaucratic document that establishes American identity" —American Journal of Legal History

"A crucial contribution to the study of age as a category of analysis. . . . Pearson's work will be thought-provoking for scholars and students alike."—Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth

For many Americans, the birth certificate is a mundane piece of paper, unearthed from deep storage when applying for a driver's license, verifying information for new employers, or claiming state and federal benefits. Yet as Donald Trump and his fellow "birthers" reminded us when they claimed that Barack Obama wasn't an American citizen, it plays a central role in determining identity and citizenship.

In The Birth Certificate: An American History, award-winning historian Susan J. Pearson traces the document's two-hundred-year history to explain when, how, and why birth certificates came to matter so much in the United States. Deftly weaving together social, political, and legal history, The Birth Certificate is a fascinating biography of a piece of paper that grounds our understanding of how those who live in the United States are considered Americans.