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Becoming America: The Revolution before 1776

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Jon Butler, well-known as a scholar of early American religion, broadens his area of concern in "Becoming America" to ask fundamental questions about the formation of American identity in the colonial era. In this book Butler traces a significant alteration in social, cultural, political, and economic perspectives in America between 1680 and 1770. He eschews discussion both of the early years of British America and the immediate origins of the American Revolution so common in historical texts in favor of this "middle period" which is usually passed over in traditional accounts. The result is a fascinating portrait of a people in flux, no longer dependent on the "mother country" but not yet independent. As he writes in the introduction: "The transformations occurring between 1680 and 1770 made the term `America' increasingly indelible. They made the direction of American history unmistakable, even if they did not make it inevitable" (p. 4).

Butler suggests that three major interpretive approaches have dominated colonial history, and in every case "Becoming America" is an attempt to move beyond them. First, he noted that historians have tended to concentrate on the story of the earliest British settlements in North America before 1650, especially Puritan New England and Virginia. In so doing, they gave short shrift to the middle colonies and the period after the first generation of the colonies and before the strife with England that led to revolution. Second, a younger generation of historians in the 1970s began to explore the history of the Chesapeake and the Carolinas, employing quantitative methods, emphasizing society and ethnicity, and analyzing the development of both unique political and economic institutions. Finally, a school of historical thought has emerged in the last twenty-five years that emphasizes the "Europeanization" of eighteenth century America and the rise of a "deferential," material society seeking to replicate the perceived finest aspects of European culture.

For Butler, who has admirably synthesized various studies representing these various interpretations, there are important truths in each approach but none offer a satisfying whole. He argues that what emerged in America by 1770 was a "modern society" in every sense of the word. It possessed, in his analysis, the five central traits of such a society: entrance into the international marketplace, a broad religious heritage with an overarching acceptance of other belief systems, a political system in which a wide range of groups participated, and overarching acceptance of ethnic and cultural diversity, and a "penchant for power, control, and authority of humanity and nature that brooked few limitations" (p. 2).

Having established what he views as the core ingredients of a "modern society" Butler then lays out his argument for assigning the British colonies in America that status. His chapters deal with peoples, economy, politics, things material, and things spiritual and each reinforces his major themes for a "modern society." These chapters are essentially self-contained essays rather than a narrative account, and they offer a fascinating window into the evolution of these British colonies. He employs revisionist historical investigations to overturn stereotypes of Anglo, masculine, aristocratic tendencies by paying greater attention to non-elites, non-whites, non-British, non-Protestant, non-male actors. He offers a multicultural synthesis of the colonial era. He also suggests that the American Revolution was significant not just for the rebellion against British imperial rule but also because it celebrated the fundamental values of the "modern society" that had emerged in Britain's North American colonies. He found those in a political culture of republican virtue, in the commitment to individual rights and civil liberties, in freedom to worship as one pleased, in the U.S. Constitution with its emphasis on division of power, and a fundamental commitment to the rule of law to which all must submit.

As impressive as this volume is, Butler leaves hanging several vexing questions that I wondered about as I read "Becoming America." For example, for all of the emphasis on individual liberty, how and why did this "modern society" allow itself to enshrine slavery as a fundamental principle, one over which the nation would eventually fight a civil war? One could extend that question to other groups also marginalized in this society, though not to the same extent. Even so, this is a powerful, provocative, and exceptionally useful synthesis of the period between 1680 and 1770 when America transformed itself from dependent colonies of Great Britain to a separate nation.

In this gracefully written book, Jon Butler in Becoming America "traces the enormous social, economic, political, and cultural changes that created a distinctively modern and, ultimately, "American" society in Britain's mainland colonies between 1680 and 1770." (2) With straightforward prose refreshingly free of jargon, Butler shows that the American colonies developed into surprisingly modern entities by the eve of the Revolution. In separate chapters, he details five major characteristics of American modernity in support of this claim: ethnic and national diversity; complex economies; "large-scale participatory politics"; religious pluralism; and "the modern penchant for power, control, and authority" over both their environment and other human beings. This change from primitive 17th century outposts of Britain's colonial empire to "complex and variegated" (3) colonies by the mid 18th century is what Butler terms the "Revolution before 1776."
By 1770, America was anything but a homogeneous society in terms of its population, particularly when compared to Europe. Butler notes that Indians and Europeans "lived side by side" (15) in most rural areas of the colonies. Religious, economic and cultural strife forced many in Europe to immigrate to the British mainland colonies, while after 1680 the American colonies "became a haven for non-English Europeans." (20) Butler points to a variety of newcomers-Jews, Scots-Irish, French Huguenots, Germans and Swiss-who settled all over America to make the New World a mix of ethnic groups, which "predicted the growing importance of ethnicity in America" which continues to the present. (25) Butler also details the "horrific suffering" of Africans, forced to America by the burgeoning slave trade at the end of the 17th century. Writing sensitively about the plight of these enslaved blacks, he also notes that their influx "recast the seventeenth-century colonies and [became] the American future." (36)
Not only was America's population diverse, so was its religious composition. "Colonial American religion," Butler concludes, was "varied and rich between 1680s and the American Revolution." (185) This "religious pluralism and vitality," far more extensive than was characteristic of Europe, has been "identified as the very soul of modern American culture" he concludes. Butler also points to ministers like George Whitefield as being modern, in their celebrity status, individualism and "nondenominational, media-conscious[ness]."
Butler points to the diverse and complex economies of the British colonies in America as evidence of their modernity, though he is careful not to ignore the growing poverty and inequality in New World.. Colonists "took command" of their commercial life and shaped it into a "notably autonomous economy," (51) especially in their agricultural pursuits, in which farming became more commercial after the 1680s. This new emphasis on the market was accompanied by diversification. Similarly, Butler shows that native Americans too "became enmeshed in complex and powerful economic relationships" with Europeans in the colonies. (67) Merchants won "wealth and status" through expansion, extension and specialization," (69) all of which demonstrate for Butler that colonial economics were modern and complex.
Colonial politics, Butler concludes, were "so complex that they often baffled observers." (90) Provincial politics, while not democratic, were popular and included that formation of "political groups that sometimes assumed almost modern, partylike appearances," (96) such as the Quaker party which emerged in Pennsylvania in the 1740s. America after 1680 became less deferential and became a "more open, ultimately democratic nation." (99) Butler also points to the maturation of provincial assemblies after 1680 and the expansion of their power to demonstrate an increasing modernity of colonial politics.
In Becoming America, Jon Butler has convincingly depicted British America from 1680 to 1770 as a place in which the colonies were becoming more modern, diverse and complex. Yet some of his evidence does not point to modernity at all. Although he vividly depicts the cultural and religious holocaust suffered by Africans upon their forced immigration to America, perhaps Butler should have made more out of the meaning of this labor system. "American colonists made modern American slavery," he writes, "they did not inherit it." (42) True enough; but they also slit noses, cut ankle cords, gelded and sold slaves far away from their kin. Butler holds that slavery was a "distinctively modern institution," (42) but readers may wonder if a society that sustains such barbarity through 1770 and beyond can truly be defined as modern.
This is a far better book than Jack Greene's misfire, Pursuits of Happiness.

Two important arguments appear in this ambitious work. Butler satisfactorily shows that a distinctive New World society had already emerged before the Revolutionary War, rooted in English culture but incorporating other vital elements. His other main point, that the 13 colonies comprised the first modern society, is intriguing but ultimately unpersuasive. His 1770 cutoff point is on the far side of too many crucial modern developments: the Industrial and Democratic Revolutions, the demographic transition, and the full impact of the Enlightenment. A better choice for First Moderns is Victorian Britain. Along with the above criteria, that society relied on fossil fuels; managed public health; had mass media, communication and transit, companionate marriage and public opinion in the true sense (hence the media). Becoming America is thus not wholly convincing but thoughtful nonetheless. On each nation, classics still repay attention: cf. R. Hofstadter, "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life." On modern Britain, see R. Williams, "The Long Revolution."

Jon Butler's "Becoming America" offers a new perspective on revolution. Instead of arguing for the conservatism or the radicalism of the American revolution, Butler argues that there was a fundamental revolution in practices before 1776. In Butler's opinion the years 1680 to 1770 saw a revolutionary transformatiion in which the American colonies became modern in five major ways: ethnic diversity, modern market economies, modern participatory politics, modern consumerism and religious pluralism. (2) The relationship of this silent revolution to 1776 was very complex, but it could be said that "the American Revolution of 1763-1789 can rightly be called the first modern revolution, THE model for the French Revolution of 1789 and subseqently" onwards. (227)

In many ways this is a fine introduction to pre-1776 America. Butler is concise and his use of the secondary literature is very thorough. Problems, however, start with his chapter on ethnic diversity (8-49). For a start ethnic diversity is not a hallmark of modernity. The fact that more than 90% of Japan and Korea are of the same ethnic group does not make them less "modern" than India or Indonesia. Butler also underplays America's linguistic uniformity, where English among whites was overwhelming, in contrast to still Gaelic Ireland and still Welsh Wales. Actually the most modern thing about America's population was not its diversity but the rise of international migration, a process whose causes Butler says relatively little (22-23, 29). His discussuion of the African-American experience leads to another problem. His account of 18th century slavery (36-49), slave poverty (86-88, 136, 139-40) and slave religion (215-24) is based on the most thorough and recent research. Yet it is segregated from the larger American experience, as if slavery was something that only happened to black people, and not to the larger society as a whole. In other words, it is insufficiently dialectical (the same goes for Butler's view of women).

What about the modernity of the American economy? Butler has no clear account of demography, even though the American colonies had the fastest population growth rate in the world. White Americans were easily the most prosperous people in the world and Butler is quite right to note their superior literacy (111) and healthier diet (134-38). On the other hand America was 5% urban, compared to 20% for pre-revolutionary France and higher still for England. Butler offers many examples of American modernity, such as the booming power of merchants (68-74), the growth of public buildings (164-70), the rise of literary clubs and freemasonry (174-84). But these were largely urban affairs. What about the vast rural majority? Although many have viewed pre-1776 America as a hub a capitalism, in one important way it was not. 70% of white Americans were independent farmers. In contrast only a fifth of Englishmen were. While it is true that farmers were more commerical in 1760 than in 1680 (53-54) it is not clear this makes them capitalist. Butler does not help by not defining or discussing what capitalism is. He states however that southern colonies took the lead in commericalizing agriculture (55-60). Since slave plantations were not as it turned out the wave of the future this complicates his definition of modernity, which is also not very well defined.

This chapter on religion is very good, since it is Butler's specialty as a historian, and there is much that will interest a beginning reader. Still, this is not a book that is as provacative or as original as it appears.

Jon Butler's book, Becoming America, covers a period in American history largely ignored by historians. According to Butler, an important transformation took place between 1680 and 1770, sweeping the nation towards modernity. Butler claims that the "American" colonies become distinctly modern during this time period. This modern society is characterized by five things; the people, the economy, the politics, things material, and things spiritual. In his own words, Butler traces these social, economic, political, and cultural changes and explains how he thinks this defines a modern society.

The first of Butlers claims is that the social diversity of the colonies make them modern. The colonies are ethnically and nationally diverse rather than homogeneous when compared to Europe or colonies of France or Spain. He points to four immigrating groups, the Huguenots, Scots, Jews, and Germans, as the types of immigrants who came willingly to the colonies between 1680 and 1770. Through the first chapter, Butler walks us through each immigrant groups assimilation into American society, from the quickly assimilated Huguenots to the large quantities of Germans. Butler also works in the changes in labor during this period, with the dramatic increase in slaves anJon Butler's book, Becoming America, covers a period in American history largely ignored by historians. According to Butler, an important transformation took place between 1680 and 1770, sweeping the nation towards modernity. Butler claims that the "American" colonies become distinctly modern during this time period. This modern society is characterized by five things; the people, the economy, the politics, things material, and things spiritual. In his own words, Butler traces these social, economic, political, and cultural changes and explains how he thinks this defines a modern society.d decrease in indentured servants after 1680. Butler claims that this diversity moves the colonies into modernity.

Next, Butler details the changes in the economy of the colonies between 1680 and 1770, and points to why he thinks these changes made it a modern society. The first changes Butler talks about is the change in agriculture. Farming became more commercial after 1680, with farmers paying attention to "markets." Farmers no longer only produced for local consumption, but for a larger market, mainly Europe. Producing more product meant a need for more labor (slave) and for more land (Indian land). Another change in the economy after 1680 that Butler points out was the enormous increase in the number of merchants. Merchants sold a wide variety of goods throughout the colonies in rural areas and in cities. Artisans and craftsmen became common in the colonies where they were scarce before. These artisans and craftsmen produced large amounts of a wide variety of goods, and many more goods were imported from Europe. Butler also points out things that did not change economically. Wealth belonged to men, not women, and the poor were still poor.

In chapter three, Butler tackles the complexity of colonial politics. He states that only in New England and in a few other middle colonies are local officials elected by voters, and outside these areas, officials were appointed. Despite different ways of appointment, local governments functions similarly. According to Butler, after 1680 changes swept through the colonial political arena that led to a more modern state. Major changes to the court system took place after 1680. Courts offered new placed to conduct politics, and offered settlements of disputed through lawsuits. Courts became the center stage of local politics. There as a dramatic increase in the number of lawsuits. Politics also became more professional, as lawyers received professional training in law. They replaced the "amateur" lawyers that handled legal work during the sixteenth century. Another political aspect that Butler points out as modern is the organization of local political interest groups. These political parties had the power to transform local politics. An example would be the Quaker party in Pennsylvania. The Quaker party was very active in Pennsylvania politics, fielding candidates, securing votes, and providing leadership. Other colonies also organized political groups, that according to Butler, move them towards modernity.

Modernity is also seen, according to Butler, in the material positions of the colonists after 1680. First he notes that some of these changes seem contradictory to modernity, as colonists imported "Old World" (p. 133) objects from Europe such as cloth, dishes, silverware, and furniture, but he then notes that industry in the colonies also flourished with their own goods going out to consumers throughout the colonies. Another modern aspect noted of the colonies was what they ate. The colonists diet as typically healthier than their English counterpart, this due to the amount of land and meat available. Along with a modern diet, colonists clothing also became more modern. Cloth imports from Europe increased, as did the domestic production with the rise spinning wheels and looms. Along with what they ate and wore, their housing and furnishings are argued to have been more modern. After 1680 housing expanded dramatically in size and sophistication. Wealthy colonists built mansions, larger than any constructed in the seventeenth century. Butler also notes that the increasing amounts of material goods seen in households indicates a more modern society. Colonists had increased amounts of clothing, household goods, paintings, clock, and furniture. Furniture, according to Butler, represented a huge step towards modernity, with colonial furniture makers producing pieces of equal or better quality than that produced in London, London being the epitome of modern during the eighteenth century.

Lastly, Butler explains how the colonies become modern spiritually. According to Butler, the religious pluralism that was created between 1680 and 1770 is the identifying aspect of modern American culture. After 1680 the increase of different denomination was very different than the previous government-supported Christianity. There was an explosion of different denomination including Quakers, Presbyterians, Baptists, German Lutherans, Catholics, Jews, and others. Churches began to pop up everywhere. The churches even exuded Butler's ideas of a modern society with their hand carved pews, velvet seat cushions, and silver communion plates. Between 1680 and the mid-eighteenth there were also what Butler refers to as "modern revivals." These revivals signified "new birth" and a renewed commitment to Christ. According to Butler, theses revivals stemmed form cultural diversity, thus making them modern.

Butler walks us though the diverse mix of people in the colonies, the economic developments, the emerging politics, the material goods, and the unprecedented religious pluralism that he claims identifies modern society. He then concludes with a chapter on 1776, arguing that the American Revolution can be called the first modern revolution; that the transformation into a modern society influenced the revolution, but did not cause it. Was this a modern society? I'm not sure if I completely agree with his idea. This was a society who considered themselves British, and who despite attempts to be more like the British, were becoming distinctly different. Butler provides a good argument that they are becoming modern, and American. I enjoyed reading this book.