Becoming America: The Revolution before 1776

by Butler

Winner of the John G. Cawelti Award, Popular Culture Association and American Culture Association

“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

“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…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.”― Kirkus Reviews

Multinational, profit-driven, materialistic, power-hungry, religiously America today―and three hundred years ago. Jon Butler’s panoramic view of the mainland American colonies after 1680 transforms our customary picture of pre-Revolutionary America; it reveals a strikingly “modern“ character that belies the eighteenth-century quaintness fixed in history. Stressing the middle and late decades (the hitherto “dark ages”) of the American colonial experience, Butler shows us vast revolutionary changes in a society that, for ninety years before 1776, was already becoming America.

Genres: History, American History, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Andrew Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very absorbing and engaging read on the American colonies prior to 1776. Butler examines all of the aspects of life at that time including religion, material objects, people, and politics to name a few. If someone is truly interested in learning more about the American colonies and why they became a different entity than their mother country, this is the book to read. Butler disregards wide ranging interpretations and prefers to base his opinions on well documented facts. He also goes into depth to examine those who did not enjoy the fullness of the new American experience. Native Americans and Africans are those who who were used by the colonists and deprived of their freedom. Women of all races did not enjoy the full benefits of citizenship. You will find familiar personages in this book including Benjamin Franklin and Paul Revere to name a few. If you are a fan of colonial history, grab this book, find a comfortable chair, and enjoy the experience.

[Kevin Moynihan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt this was a great book dealing with an interesting topic. Others have noted the writing style did not connect but it is a history book focused on the subject at hand. Very enjoyable, particularly the different subject areas for each chapter.

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Butler argues that Colonial America emerged as the first modern society in the British colonies between 1680 – 1770 (before the war for Independence). Pre-Revolutionary America was modern because it had : 1. a diverse population,[ “mix of peoples unknown anywhere else” (226)]; 2. an international economy; 3. participatory politics; 4. a desire to exert power over humanity and nature; 5. and was religiously plural. According to Butler the only modern characteristics lacking in pre-Revolutionary America were 1. Urbanity and large scale technological change. However, he concludes that Colonial America was still “profoundly different from modern Europe” (3). While other historians have remarked on the hierarchical nature of Colonial American society, Butler states that it was non-deferential. Butler traces the roots of American racism to this period as well. He argues that slaveholding increased after 1680, as the presence of indentured servants declined and African slaves became easier to obtain after the expiration of the Royal African companies charter. Lack of success in establishing Indian slavery and the western perceptions of racial superiority made African slavery more convenient. Bulter argues that Pre-Revolutionary Americans invented American slavery rather than inheriting. In this it must be presumed that he means racial enslavement.

[Alyssa Russek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the most well-rounded explanation of the reasons behind the revolutionary war.

The reason I believe that this book is so well rounded is that it is not specific to one peoples, or one major event within the pre-revolution time period. His book is titled, “Becoming America” and America of today is a melting pot of different ethnic groups and genders. Today there is much more to American society (sexual orientation, multiple genders, multiple political parties...etc.) but in the time period Butler writes about it was much more conservative. In his book, he sets up the American society as a preamble for the one we have today. While he never openly discusses today’s society an open-eyed reader can piece together the steps that will lead them to understand how this time period most influences today.

I had to read this for a class and found it highly enjoyable. I think if I read it with more time and looser restrictions I would have enjoyed it more. It is not a dry history text in the slightest. Butler has a variety of first-hand sources which make this book into a well weaved story. I do recommend this to those interesting in the history of the United States.

[Harry Klinkhamer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Covering a multitude of societal aspects in prerevolutionary America, Butler shows the evolution of the colonies leading up to the split with Britain. This socio-cultural approach is refreshing and provides new insight to the field. Where I feel the author has gone astray is in how he dabbles in relations with Africans and especially Indians. By leading the reader down these paths, he begins us on a journey that feels too brief and incomplete. However, chapters on commerce, material culture, politics, etc. we're all broad in scope and quite illuminating.

[Andee Nero · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't feel like this was Butler's best work and I really don't get how he can argue that there was an African spiritual holocaust while also saying that there was retention of some African religious customs and that Africans were participating in religion in America on a large scale. He should have rephrased this to say that enslaved Africans developed a distinct Afro-Christianity on the American continent. He also tried to do this same thing in Awash in a Sea of Faith, which was annoying although the rest of that book is great.

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually read this book for History 556 from cover to cover- a practice one doesn't often do for class-assigned reading. Butler shows a comprehensive look at the American colonies, attempting to answer the important question: in such a ethnically, religiously, culturally, and economically diverse societies in the colonies, just how "American" were the people living here prior to the Revolution?

[Joshua · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh. The chapter on material culture is okay. His more famous book, Awash in a Sea of Faith, is MUCH better.

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

great summary of conditions preceding revolution: economic, demographic, political and religious.

[Mac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good.

[Chris Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book about the lead up to the American Revolution. He discusses the People, Economy, Politics, Things Material, Things Spiritual, and 1776, as his chapters. They are readable and interesting although their are one or two times when he has to stretch to make the black and indian experience apply. Interestingly, he uses ca 1690 as his dividing point between the early and later colonial period, but backs it up with good data and reasoning. His final chapter is unfortunately the weakest. He has a chance to wrap it up in a nice tight conclusion, and it just kind of lays there. Still and all a good read.