Customer Reviews

The Minutemen and Their World (American Century)

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The following is my book review for a history class. It is far from perfect but perhaps can help you start your own critical analysis.

The book tells an unconventional story of the American Revolution by analyzing the ordinary city of Concord, Massachusetts as a microcosm of colonial America. Gross argues that the struggle for independence from Britain was not a revolution but a conservative social struggle - a struggle with patriarchal control, religious zealotry, individualism, and localized control of government.

The first point of contention in Concord was unequal representation attributed to citizen's proximity to the town meeting hall - those who were physically closer dominated public opinion and policy. The town would also struggle with church and state - ministers were subsidized by the town and it was not possible to keep each citizen happy with the majority's choice. Local representation was another source of disagreement - the mid-eighteenth century government was influenced by (if not controlled from) England, an ocean away. Representation was worsened when the British levied heavy taxes to finance the Seven Years War. The popular majority fought against the colonial government who favored the hand that empowered them, if not fed them. Primary documents note the latter: "there is no greater...corruption...than when...executive officers depend...on a power independent of the people".

In the afterword, Gross explains his left-leaning ideological influences and how they shaped the topic of his research, his approach, and conclusions. Gross uses historical public records to tell a story, attributing emotion and motivation to statistical trends. Personalizing quantitative data will naturally have a bias, but Gross manages to keep from overwhelming the reader with his own conclusions by letting the reader draw his own. Academics have used Gross's work to compare Vietnam to the American Revolution - Gross acknowledges the idea but leaves it out of the main text.

The most compelling argument Gross makes demonstrates the loss of patriarchal control in Concord, and presumably across the colonies. He describes how sons rely on fathers for land, and daughters rely on fathers for dowries. As the economic climate changes, dowries are reduced, local fertile land becomes scarce and grown children have incentives to leave the family to pursue the frontier. This costs the father his source of labor (as slavery was not the dominant labor in Massachusetts) and costs the children the source of inheritance and stability.
Gross approaches each argument in a similar manner - he tells a personal story backed by quantitative research. In the patriarchy argument he tells of the emigration of Purchase Brown, unable to sustain himself on his father's meager farm. Quantitatively, Gross notes that 1 in every 4 taxpayers moved away from Concord in every decade from the 1740s onward.

The Minutemen and Their World was revolutionary in personalizing a Revolution. The author stretched historical records and statistics into a compelling narrative of people both average and great. The arguments are solid because of the heavy quantitative research, but even the author wonders "if the Minutemen would recognize themselves in my mirror". The author added to the understanding of the Revolution by adding intricate personal detail and motivations to all of Concord's citizens - memorable men, but also poor men, widows, spinsters, ministers, blacks, farmers, blacksmiths, intellectuals, substitutes, and dissenters.

Robert Gross has produced a work that is a pleasure to read in examining the town of Concord, through the lives of ordinary townspeople, before and after that memorable day of the 19 April 1775.This indeed is 'bottom-up' history but Gross ensures the interest never wanes through his sensitive and vibrant narrative.There were only some 1500 persons(about 265 families) in this very special town that witnessed the first battle of the American Revolution(although the first shots were fired in neighbouring Lexington, that was hardly a battle).Gross produces some interesting social 'gems' such as magistrates being regarded as 'fathers' to the people. Modern western society has long since ceased to have such faith in the judiciary-in fact they are often regarded as the enemy within! Church politics also had a larger significance in the life of 18th century Concordians than today.The aftermath of the Great Awakening (the huge spiritual revivals that swept the American colonies between the late 1730s and early 1740s) is also covered well by Gross in discussing the stuggles between the Old and New Lights. The battles of Dr Joseph Lee, for church membership, are particularly interesting. Gross also highlights the strains of war and the decrease in military enlistments from Concord as the war progresses. As a study of a community in an important era of America's history this social history is highly recommended.

I agree wholeheartedly with editorial reviewer David Hackett Fisher. This book reads almost like a novel, and yet it is a work of history--with solid research and scholarship, at that.

Gross argues that the Revolution provided Concord an opportunity to re-assert control over the community and its destiny. In the years preceding 1775-1776, great changes were sweeping across the colonies, particularly in traditional New England towns like Concord. For example, there was the problem of decreasing supplies of land, and fathers, with sometimes large numbers of sons, had difficulty providing for all his heirs (without dividing the land and, hence, making it less sustainable). Other issues were occurring specifically in Concord--such as the desire of its residents farther from the town to hire their own minister. So threatened, Concord was experiencing not just stasis but actual decline in these pre-Revolution years.

Therefore, with all these fluctuations and challenges, participation in the Revolution offered Concord a chance to seize initiative and regain control over its political and communal life, to restore its autonomy. Gross writes, "The men of 1775 had not gone to war to promote change but to stop it."

"The Minutemen and Their World" is a very well written account of the people and culture of Concord, Massachusetts in the years leading up to the American Revolution. Robert Gross did a tremendous amount of research to find information about individuals whose names and accomplishments have long since been forgotten by the world, but he tells their story so thoroughly that he allows the reader to forget what a challenging task he took upon himself. In this book, which was published shortly after the Vietnam War and without ever mentioning that conflict highlights some interesting parallels between it and the American Revolution, Gross asks the reader to question why these colonists, who were content to oversee local affairs and leave even the most important colonial and national matters to outsiders, would get caught up in the American Revolution, and the book provides some interesting answers. This book takes a refreshing look at colonial America and provides its readers with incredible data from the period; it will certainly benefit all scholars and mere colonial history buffs.

It's too bad that Minutemen has received so many reviews on Amazon written by intellectually lazy, immature undergraduates, who apparently aren't interested in people unless they appear on the covers of Sports Illustrated or People. Robert A. Gross, in 1977, received the prestigious Bancroft Prize awarded by Columbia University for outstanding work in the field of American history but, alas, no MTV award. This is a 25th anniversary re-issue of his book which is highly readable, engrossing, thought-provoking and entertaining.

We know that history is really made by ordinary people, that history is far more than wars, dates, treaties, and big-name leaders. But the stories of ordinary people are seldom available to us, especially 200 years (or more) after the fact. Using the techniques of social history research, Gross brings to life the real people who lived in Concord before, during, and after the events that started the actual fighting that was the Revolutionary War. I've always believed that no fiction can be as juicy as real life. Gross certainly gives us a juicy story of the lives and concerns of early Concordians. Conflict, sex, hope and failure. It's all here. And more. Gross also gives us a personal, moment-by-moment description of the events of April 18-19, 1975 in Lexington and Concord from the time British Redcoats left Boston, through the massacre in Lexington and the confrontation -- and first shots by the Patriots -- at the North Bridge in Concord, through the British retreat. And what about afterwards? What impact did these events have on the citizens in the years following? Gross lets us know.

What was special for me was discovering that Rev. William Emerson, the pastor who lived right next to the North Bridge and encouraged the Minutemen throughout their struggles, is the grandfather of Ralph Waldo Emerson who was friend to Hawthorne, supporter of Thoreau, and influence on Alcott. All this from one small town!

Robert A. Gross historical work, The Minutemen and Their World is an authentic recollection of colonial Massachusetts prior to, during, and after the famous American Revolution. For those studying American history, this book reveals how civilians living in Concord, Massachusetts struggled to make a living under social upheavals while dedicated minutemen defended the nation. Gross has put forth a great amount of effort in researching primary sources such as letters, journals, and statistics in order to capture the political, economic, and social dilemmas that perturbed civilization amid the Revolutionary War. This comprehensive piece of literature includes heavy arguments pertaining to church membership, property distribution, colonial government, and taxation in Massachusetts. Gross illustrates how middle class men invested all their energy to train for a loosely associated militia. His novel portrays the famous events, such as the Coercive Acts and the Quartering Act that ignited the Revolution. In addition, Gross details the actual scene where the first shots were fired on April 19, 1775. Once the reader begins to read The Minutemen and Their World, he/she will feel as if the Revolutionary Era came to life in the twenty-first century! Any history fanatic and inquisitive historian will find Gross work to be one detailed source of colonial history in Massachusetts with an overall reflection of civilian life in Concord, not just the militiamen, who struggled under the war for independence.

I read this book 18 years ago and it still informs my teaching of the subject to my students. Dry? Boring? Ridiculous statements. This is an engrossing, original work that brings the time and place to life. Especially relevatory is the discussion re. the land, or lack thereof, and how it was running out. No land? No way to make a living. No land? No vote. No land? No social status. No land? You have nothing.

This is a brilliant work, deserves its reprint, and should be read by all with an interest in the time period.

By examining and focusing solely on the town of Concord, Massachusetts before, during, and after the war, Gross takes a "bottom up" approach to interpreting the history of the American Revolution as it affected the individual lives and collective identity of one particular group of Americans. Over the course of his study, the author reveals a great deal of information pertaining to the general social divisions, roles, and trends present in Concord society and what effect the War for Independence had in shaping their evolution. Though the Concord of the early 19th century appears much changed from the communal ideals of pre-revolutionary society, Gross shows that the American Revolution did not appeal to most people as a means to radically alter society and encourage individualistic attitudes. Rather, Gross contends that the members of Concord society embraced the revolutionary cause as a means to revive and regenerate the values and communal strength they enjoyed before they began to experience political, religious, and social fragmentation. However, the effects of the successful campaign for freedom would prove far-reaching and served as the background for subsequent changes and reforms in the societal fabric of Concord by the post-revolutionary generations, though these changes did not represent the goals of the men fighting for independence.

Gross presents his argument by examining the lives and relationships of particular members of Concord society. By showing the stresses and concerns of these ordinary members of society, the reader can begin to understand the power relationships between those with financial and proprietary resources and those without. The picture Gross paints of Concord before the Revolution suggests that problems concerning the shortage of productive farmland, differences between religious preferences, and the ever-changing familial relationships stemming from many children dependent on little available resources had come to a breaking point. However, when the colonists began to find common cause in protecting their liberties from the British at any and all costs, the citizens of Concord embraced the opportunity to revert back to their earlier communal idealism and protect their heritage. Though Concord's Minutemen represented not only the elite members of society, but the members of the underclass as well, those who enjoyed the political and economic privileges of a good birth also filled the high-ranking positions of the colonial militia. Life immediately following the Revolution did not prove easier for Concord's people, as both the economy and the agricultural system existed in shambles and hyperinflation devastated any chance of growth. Gross shows the Revolution did mend the religious and social fragmentation of Concord society, though subsequent generations still found many of the same problems stemming from the lack of land and the need to secure one's own destiny through individualistic pursuits. Though members of Concord society fought in the Revolution fought to maintain their way of life, the long-lasting results from the formation and proliferation of the intellectual ideals behind the movement effected an even greater change on the society they desperately attempted to revive and preserve.

In obtaining the data necessary to justify his conclusions, Gross employs both primary and secondary source material. A supporter of the "new social history," Gross turned to primary sources ranging from tax records, local census documents, vital records and genealogies, church records, and town meeting minutes, as he utilized the power of the computer to analyze the information. By observing patterns in his research, Gross examined a great deal of information concerning the everyday people of Concord and their position in both shaping colonial society and the revolutionary movement. This information provided new insight into the history of both Concord and the American Revolution, as many of these common people left no written records. The information from the inarticulate paired with primary source material left behind by the upper classes of society provided a Gross with substantial insight into the workings and desires of the entire spectrum of Concord society. Though Gross did consult secondary source material to provide general background research for this specific topic, his research remains quite original due to the overwhelming amount of primary source material used in his analysis. By having concentrated his research on the history of a single township during the Revolutionary Era, Gross afforded himself the opportunity to research quite specific and original source material and apply his findings to establish Concord's position in the larger revolutionary framework.

Gross provides substantial information and data to support his claims throughout the work, as exemplified by the large amount of footnote material. Particularly of note, the author consults a large amount of primary source material to validate his position, which lends great credibility to his research. The majority of the secondary sources Gross employs serve only to relate his findings to the existing library of American Revolution research. The value of the information presented in the book serves an important purpose as it allows the reader to understand the societal pressures and conflicts before, during, and after the War for Independence on a quite localized scale. This "bottom up" approach to understanding history allows students to step away from the prolific information concerning only the elite members of colonial society. Gross presents significant information concerning members of colonial society typically ignored in historical writing as he provides a thorough treatise of the role of women, blacks, and other non-privileged groups. Not only does Gross provide interesting historical information in his work, but he also shows a great facility for language. The book remains pleasurable to read throughout, as Gross's writing not only informs but also entertains.

The Minutemen and Their World is a very informative book. So informative, at times I thought it was hard to recall of the specific details Gross talks about. The book deals with colonial Concord, MA before, during, and after the American Revolution. Gross wrote about many different people and families to portray their way of life in colonial Concord. The funny thing about this book is that the majority of the book details Concord before and after the revolution and there is only one chapter on the actual revolution. I personally found the book to be intriguing and truly interesting but it was difficult to recall all that I had read due to the amount of facts present in each chapter. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has to write a paper on colonial America or if you just really love history. Gross knows his facts and sighting passages from this book in a paper would truly impress your professor.

This work is rather comprehensive for its relatively narrow view. It focuses entirely on a single town and uses it to draw conclusions about the rural countryside around Boston as a whole. The writing is well done and well edited, if a bit dated.
Overall, I recommend this to any student of the period.