Introduction 1. Peoples 2. Economy 3. Politics 4. Things Material 5. Things Spiritual 6. 1776 Notes Acknowledgments Index
A terrific book, filled with human interest and the kind of detail that makes abstractions meaningful. A commendable weaving together of themes and materials from political history, social history, and cultural history. Butler offers us a firm foundation for further exploration. -- Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Harvard University An engrossing, important book. It promises to provoke and inspire. Jon Butler's Becoming America is an ambitious examination of Britain's mainland North American colonies between 1680 and 1770. The scope of the book is really quite broad; it covers nearly a century of development across thirteen widely varying colonies, and considers six formidably large aspects of early American life: migration and settlement, politics, economics, religion, the material world, and the origins of the Revolution. Butler's book revolves around, and advances, a coherent, critical thesis: that 'the vast social, economic, political, and cultural changes' of this period 'created a distinctively 'American' society.' The surprise of the book is that this society was modern; indeed, as Butler claims, it was the world's 'first modern society.' The world Butler portrays in his often vivid, and always highly readable prose is an America of fantastic diversity, an America of many languages, different customs, and dissenting practices of piety. Butler's Becoming America is a world of bustling politics and economic revolutions. -- Jill Lepore, Boston University In yet another provocative challenge to the conventional wisdom, Jon Butler argues for the 'modernity' of eighteenth-century America. He provides a lively and readable account of how transatlantic commerce, participatory politics, religious pluralism, and ethnic and racial diversity put colonials on the path to 'becoming Americans' during the decades before the Revolution. -- Christine Heyrman, author of Southern Cross: The Beginnings of the Bible Belt
Jon Butler is Howard R. Lamar Emeritus Professor of American Studies, History, and Religious Studies at Yale University and Research Professor of History at the University of Minnesota. His books include the Los Angeles Times bestseller Becoming America and the prizewinning Awash in a Sea of Faith and The Huguenots in America. He is a past president of the Organization of American Historians.
We must congratulate Butler for [bringing] under control [a]
profusion of scholarship and [making] sense of it in fewer than 250
pages. His book is a tour de force… Compelling and readable.
*New Republic*
In a thoughtful, erudite survey of colonial history, Butler traces
the formation of many of America’s modern social characteristics in
the crucible of pre-Revolutionary society… Americans today think of
the colonial period, if at all, as a time remote from modern
America, in which society was unimaginably different from ours.
Butler argues persuasively that America during the late colonial
period (1680–1776) rapidly developed a variegated culture that
displayed distinctive traits of modern America, among them vigorous
religious pluralism, bewildering ethnic diversity, tremendous
inequalities of wealth, and a materialistic society with
pervasively commercial values… A sweeping, well-researched analysis
of the transformative changes wrought by immigration, war, and
cultural change in colonial America.
*Kirkus Reviews*
The decades in between the Puritan-dominated 17th century and the
market-revolutionizing early 19th century were a formative period,
[Butler] suggests, during which a distinctly ‘American’
society—and, as Butler would have it, the first ‘modern’
society—developed… Butler’s original analysis is important reading
on 18th-century America; he shows that the colonies were developing
distinct ways of spending, building, praying, decorating and
politicking even then—a cultural revolution that anticipated the
political revolution that was to follow.
*Publishers Weekly*
An engrossing, important book. It promises to provoke and inspire.
Jon Butler’s Becoming America is an ambitious examination of
Britain’s mainland North American colonies between 1680 and 1770.
The scope of the book is really quite broad; it covers nearly a
century of development across thirteen widely varying colonies, and
considers six formidably large aspects of early American life:
migration and settlement, politics, economics, religion, the
material world, and the origins of the Revolution. Butler’s book
revolves around, and advances, a coherent, critical thesis: that
‘the vast social, economic, political, and cultural changes’ of
this period created a distinctively ‘American’ society.’ The
surprise of the book is that this society was modern; indeed, as
Butler claims, it was the world’s ‘first modern society.’ The world
Butler portrays in his often vivid, and always highly readable
prose is an America of fantastic diversity, an America of many
languages, different customs, and dissenting practices of piety.
Butler’s Becoming America is a world of bustling politics and
economic revolutions.
*Jill Lepore, Boston University*
A terrific book, filled with human interest and the kind of detail
that makes abstractions meaningful. A commendable weaving together
of themes and materials from political history, social history, and
cultural history. Butler offers us a firm foundation for further
exploration.
*Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Harvard University*
In yet another provocative challenge to the conventional wisdom,
Jon Butler argues for the ‘modernity’ of eighteenth-century
America. He provides a lively and readable account of how
transatlantic commerce, participatory politics, religious
pluralism, and ethnic and racial diversity put colonials on the
path to ‘becoming Americans’ during the decades before the
Revolution.
*Christine Heyrman, author of Southern Cross: The Beginnings of
the Bible Belt*
In Becoming America, Jon Butler examines the less examined period
of American colonial history from 1680 to 1770 to argue that
distinctive traits of modern America were already in place… The
book makes a strong case for the early modernity of American
society, helps to delineate the evolution of American identity, and
serves as a good overview for the period.
*American Studies International*
Butler divides his approach to the period into well-studied
categories before considering the implications for the
Revolutionary era. His chapters on ‘Peoples,’ ‘Economy’ and
‘Politics’ provide a helpful synthesis of recent historiography
without the tedious name dropping that characterizes so much
historiographical literature… Butler will prompt us all to think
more clearly about the structural relationships that evolved during
these years.
*Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography*
Writing in a deceptively simple style, Butler builds creatively on
complex historiographical debates and masterfully synthesizes vast
amounts of specialized research, both by himself and by others…
Indeed, one of the book’s great virtues is its accessibility, and
both its exclusively American focus and its stress on concrete
social processes contribute to the clarity and forcefulness of the
account. By all reasonable measures, this is a highly successful
synthesis that manages to be at once enjoyable and provocative.
*William & Mary Quarterly*
We must congratulate Butler for [bringing] under control [a]
profusion of scholarship and [making] sense of it in fewer than 250
pages. His book is a tour de force... Compelling and readable. --
Gordon S. Wood * New Republic *
In a thoughtful, erudite survey of colonial history, Butler traces
the formation of many of America's modern social characteristics in
the crucible of pre-Revolutionary society... Americans today think
of the colonial period, if at all, as a time remote from modern
America, in which society was unimaginably different from ours.
Butler argues persuasively that America during the late colonial
period (1680-1776) rapidly developed a variegated culture that
displayed distinctive traits of modern America, among them vigorous
religious pluralism, bewildering ethnic diversity, tremendous
inequalities of wealth, and a materialistic society with
pervasively commercial values... A sweeping, well-researched
analysis of the transformative changes wrought by immigration, war,
and cultural change in colonial America. * Kirkus Reviews *
The decades in between the Puritan-dominated 17th century and the
market-revolutionizing early 19th century were a formative period,
[Butler] suggests, during which a distinctly 'American'
society-and, as Butler would have it, the first 'modern'
society-developed... Butler's original analysis is important
reading on 18th-century America; he shows that the colonies were
developing distinct ways of spending, building, praying, decorating
and politicking even then-a cultural revolution that anticipated
the political revolution that was to follow. * Publishers Weekly
*
An engrossing, important book. It promises to provoke and inspire.
Jon Butler's Becoming America is an ambitious examination of
Britain's mainland North American colonies between 1680 and 1770.
The scope of the book is really quite broad; it covers nearly a
century of development across thirteen widely varying colonies, and
considers six formidably large aspects of early American life:
migration and settlement, politics, economics, religion, the
material world, and the origins of the Revolution. Butler's book
revolves around, and advances, a coherent, critical thesis: that
'the vast social, economic, political, and cultural changes' of
this period created a distinctively 'American' society.' The
surprise of the book is that this society was modern; indeed, as
Butler claims, it was the world's 'first modern society.' The world
Butler portrays in his often vivid, and always highly readable
prose is an America of fantastic diversity, an America of many
languages, different customs, and dissenting practices of piety.
Butler's Becoming America is a world of bustling politics
and economic revolutions. -- Jill Lepore, Boston University
A terrific book, filled with human interest and the kind of detail
that makes abstractions meaningful. A commendable weaving together
of themes and materials from political history, social history, and
cultural history. Butler offers us a firm foundation for further
exploration. -- Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Harvard University
In yet another provocative challenge to the conventional wisdom,
Jon Butler argues for the 'modernity' of eighteenth-century
America. He provides a lively and readable account of how
transatlantic commerce, participatory politics, religious
pluralism, and ethnic and racial diversity put colonials on the
path to 'becoming Americans' during the decades before the
Revolution. -- Christine Heyrman, author of Southern Cross: The
Beginnings of the Bible Belt
In Becoming America, Jon Butler examines the less examined
period of American colonial history from 1680 to 1770 to argue that
distinctive traits of modern America were already in place... The
book makes a strong case for the early modernity of American
society, helps to delineate the evolution of American identity, and
serves as a good overview for the period. -- Joel Hodson * American
Studies International *
Butler divides his approach to the period into well-studied
categories before considering the implications for the
Revolutionary era. His chapters on 'Peoples,' 'Economy' and
'Politics' provide a helpful synthesis of recent historiography
without the tedious name dropping that characterizes so much
historiographical literature... Butler will prompt us all to think
more clearly about the structural relationships that evolved during
these years. -- John Ritchie Garrison * Pennsylvania Magazine of
History and Biography *
Writing in a deceptively simple style, Butler builds creatively on
complex historiographical debates and masterfully synthesizes vast
amounts of specialized research, both by himself and by others...
Indeed, one of the book's great virtues is its accessibility, and
both its exclusively American focus and its stress on concrete
social processes contribute to the clarity and forcefulness of the
account. By all reasonable measures, this is a highly successful
synthesis that manages to be at once enjoyable and provocative. --
Ruth H. Bloch * William & Mary Quarterly *
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