This article uses the reading patterns of New York’s earliest elites—including a significant number of the founding fathers—who checked out books from the New York Society Library (NYSL), to evaluate the shifting meaning of political affiliation in the years between the ratification of the Constitution and the War of 1812. The reading data come from two charging ledgers spanning two periods (1789–92 and 1799–1806) during which a new country was built, relations with foreign nations were defined, and contestation over the character of a new democracy was intense. Using novel combinations of text and network analysis, I explore the political nature of reading and the extent to which social, economic, and political positions overlapped with what people read. In the process, I identify the key social and cultural dimensions on which New York and, by extension, American elite society was politically stratified in its early years.

中文翻译：

---

意识形态的物质性：美国革命后的文化消费与政治思想

本文使用纽约最早的精英——包括大量的开国元勋——的阅读模式，他们从纽约社会图书馆 (NYSL) 借书，评估在批准宪法和 1812 年战争。阅读数据来自两个跨越两个时期（1789-92 和 1799-1806）的账本，在此期间建立了一个新国家，定义了与外国的关系，以及对一个国家的性质的争论。新民主很激烈。使用文本和网络分析的新颖组合，我探索了阅读的政治性质以及社会、经济和政治立场与人们阅读内容的重叠程度。在这个过程中，我确定了纽约和，