454 MAJOR PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN COLONIAL HISTORY fon which occasion the natives wear a piece of a buck's tail in their hats or in some conspicuous situation. During the course of the evening, and generally in the midst of a dance, the company are interrupted by the sudden intrusion of a ‘number of persons habited like Indians, who rash violently into the room sing- {ng the war song, giving the whoop, and dancing in the syle of those people, afer which ceremony a collection is made and they retire well satisfied with their receptdy and entertainment. British sete. In Dorset County on the eastern shore inactive; and a differen habit of living, id the havoc occasioned by the small- umccustomed, reduced their num- Since no charge of | adduced, it becomes 2 natural ‘enquiry what is become of thore fertile territory? country fora more eligible situation. As this colony became and natural increave of che new adventures, the abo their ancient limits and were consequent induced t0 for a supposed equivalent, and retire co a more ext From what cause 1 cannot ascertat never yet been know! possibilty of conviction to remove: the present moment engro thought, regardless of the events of Futurity. V Essays Hisorian TH, Breen of Northwestern University examines the American con- sumer revolution of the mid-eighteenth century in the first esiay. Americans began to buy and use items made in Briain to replace homemade American sayles, qualities, and types. Americans wanted the lates fashions and the best uty they could ard. And this wat te of colonia the period saw a general uf i. fal lt of ie pad shin eyes of eA ren point ons food edo grater Amenzanconeioce wo hens pando edt the posbiiy af se selves as British, but it alo, the extreme v rancty of brought to America a Consumption, Anglicization, and the ‘ ; . Formation of American Identity TH. BREEN At mid-century almost no one would [American unity). Some two milion politcal indepen- in shor,” declared one © of character, of ‘Their own separate 4 new nation, The 8 of government, te apie te colonies, dans egies hd cre ‘They had also experienced: eee 5 wer compo fo many dicen habia had woe raenbane and dcr knowlege of enh, inthe ae eo eo, as certainly 2 very dificult enterprise Very dificult indeed! And yee in 1776 these color succesflly forming a new nation. In Adams wer pie the wl . "Thine dela wet ThePa dine Se ty Rae Ong456 MAJOR PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN COLONIAL HISTORY purpose, to al and geo- made to strike together.” Somehow Americans had found a mea cate effectively with each other, to develop a shared sense of j transcend what at mid-century had appeared insurmountable graphic divisions ‘The eighteenth century witnesed the bith of an Anglo-American “consumer society.” Though the Industral Revolution was sil fr in the future, the pace of the Brish economy picked up dramatically after 1690. Small manuficturing con~ ‘ems sattered throughout England began turning out huge quantities of consumer fgoods—cloth, ceramics, ghsware, paper, culery—items that transformed the Character of everyday life, Merchants could hardly keep up with expanding demand. The domestic market hummed with acivity. People went shopping, gawking atthe wares displayed in the “bow-windows” chat appeared for the frst time along urban streets. Advertisements in the provincial English journals fuelled ‘consumer desire, and to those middling worts who wanted to participate in the mar- ket but who did not poses ath, tradesmen offered generous credit. jept up in this consumer economy. These were rot the self-sufcient yeomen of Jeffersonian mythology. Eighteenth-century colonists demanded the latest British manufactures. Few would have disagreed general asembly who once announced, In order to pay for what they imported, ‘of tobacco, rice and indigo. Norther farmers supplied the West Indian plantations with focdstuffs.. Ata ime when the Amencan population was growing 2¢ an extraordinary rate, per eapita con Sumption of British imports was actually sing. In other words, more colonists purchased more manufactured goods every year. Sine this was a young popula fion-—half ofthe colonists were under the age ofsiteen—one must assume that were responsible for this exploding demand, Their consumption raised per pita rates for the entre society. After mid-century, the American market for ited goods took off, rising 120 per cent between 1750 and 1775, Through the colonies the crude, somewhat impovershed material culture of the Seventeenth century—a pioneet world of homespun cloth and wooden dishes— twas swept away by a flood of store-bought sundries, ‘These ubiquitous items transformed the texture of every 1st inaccessble regions, people came oe por One En Carlin, women slim baered to prods: soap Tews nota question ofthe Srabbity raw mater Good aes cul! be ad tno expense, But these font women were consmets an they pefened to purchase th soap "atthe tore sts monatous pce” ln more cemmopotan comment, che impor stre even mare conspeuus. Eighteenth century Ariencan stutter men “ht women within ch content of Bh mamsicures John Adams berayed dis atitof mnd when he sted he Home of cea Boon merchane alone oma ince. The he ch Beds ‘COLONIAL AMERICA AT MID-CENTURY 457 with crimson Damask Curtains and Counterpins, the beautiful Chimny Clock, he Spacious Gare, athe mow magnificent of any Thing | Like other Americans, Adams had obviously developed a taste for Britt impor. How docs one make sense out ofthis vast consumer society? There is much that we do not know about eighteenth-century colonial merchandizing, Stl even at this preliminary stage of investigation, i is posnble to discern certain gen ‘eal characteristics thit distinguished the colonial market-place at mid-century: an exceptionally rapid expansion of consumer choke, an increasing standardization ‘of consumer behaviour and a pervasive Angliizaron of the American market, Whatever the psychological impact of this change may have been, there is ‘no question that Americans at mid-century confronted a range of choice that ‘would have amazed eatier generations. A survey of New York City newspapers or example ht Gurg te 1728 mechan selon meron see than fifteen different = ‘unusual during some busy months for New York jo ‘over nine thousand diferent manuficrared goods. And ‘expanded, the descripcve categories became more elabor York merchants simply advertised “paper.” By the 1760s, varieties distinguished by colour, fanetion and quality. Inthe 1730s, a customer ‘might have requested satin, hoping apparently that the merchant had some in stock. By the 1760s, merchants advertised a dozen different typ ‘carpets were mentioned in the New York advertisements before by the 1760s, cenain stores carried carpets Inbelled Axmnintc Persian, Scotch, Turkey, Weston and Wilton. One could purchase after the 1750s purple ‘loves, lowered gloves, = ona Bk Tab Gloves” and ven "Men's Dog Stin Glove." There & no need to continie, Exerywhee ‘one looks, one encounters an explosion of che ™ 16 as many schol currently argue, hu hough language, then the pro ig consi extemal ely on of manures ding the eighteen ow Americans made seme out of everyday acts, The consumer market provided them wih an mpresive new vox be, es of word that allowed them not only to desea 3 changing ace but ako o inert pce ‘Ade demonseted hen in is aay he recoded is eats tothe poseaions of the sath Bor mera. TM5 ng fo asa yl wh rc ated in the market. was not the product of 2 prc tepon ore thus firmed colonise with a means of tanning experience sess sa ol grogaphic boundaries As we have wen a vs Nowh Carolia in dicoune about imported the women of Virgin snd Masachusets An example of hisknd of clu exchange occurred ina Maryland aver in 1744, A tvelng physica Goi Annapolis witnesed qual Benwce a458 MAJOR PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN COLOMAL HISTORY innkeeper and an individual who by hit external appearance seemed “a rough spun, forward, clownish blade.” The proprietor appatendy shared this impression, because she served this person who we worsted cap” a breakfast fit tomer vehemently protested that he too was a gentleman and to prove hi poled a linen hat out of his pocket. He then informed the embarrased ‘that “he was able to afford better than many who went finer: he had good in his bags, a pair of silver buckles, silver clasps, and gold sleeve buttons, two Holland shins, and some neat night cap; and that his isle woman att home deank tea twice a day." What catches our attention is not the man's clumsy atempt to ‘negotiate status through posesions— people have been doing tha fr centurics— but rather that he bragged of owning specifi manufitured goods, the very articles that were jus: then beginning to transform American society” He astumed— correctly, inthis case—that the well-appointed stanger he encountered in a country ‘aver understood the language of shirts, buckles and tea, ‘This expanding consumer world of mid-cighteenth century led almost inevi- tubly to a standardization of the matket-place. To be sure, as the previous anecdote suggests, Americans had begun co define stats in relation to commodities. In this they were not especially unique. Throughout the Atlantic world, choice created sgrenter, more visible marks of disincton. Nevertheles, by actually purchasing ‘manufactured imports as opposed to making do with locally produced objects, bby parccipatng in an expanding credit network, and by finding oneself confronted ‘with basicaly the same types of goods which were now om sale in other, distant ‘communities, Americans developed 2 common element of personal experience greasy jacket and breeches and a dirty ‘One can only speculate, of course, why colonial shoppers purchased certain items. They may have been looking for status, beauty, convenience or price. What- ‘ever the justification may have been, che fact remains that people living in diferent part of America were exposed to an almost identical range of imported goox's affected all colonial consumer, This is an sy for moder historians to concentrate on the buying hnabits of the gentry. Their beautiful homes—many of which are now preserved tanding of the character of daily Life in terpretve bias is not 4 problem peculiar to the colonial period. The consumer behaviour of the wealthy has always been lives of ordinary men and more aflluent neighbours Though wealthy Americans purchased goods of superior qualy, poorer buyers demanded the same gener Scottish factors responded COLONIAL AMERICA AT MID-CENTURY 4 tongs, cups and slop-< the need for a school solves “ety gna vied wo employ s knowledge woman Se es Cantons, Piss sd Names othe Tes Ue Though fen wellto-do Americans int pcs the entie nge of wc Drops, they demanded ea. As ety a 1734 onc Now Yer ep 11am credibly informed that tea and china ware sm the Laws, Rule js war read, Nay. 1, they ofien pawn their rings and plate to themselves ‘in that piece of extravagance. 7 a z eon conuming te “inthe mos remot ah” Dy the imate ofthe public hop of Phuc theo om having bohea te lle clos drank the tes ou pee neces chins ons, bt raher ceramics that had gael ae st Midlnds where they had been Sedat very high tempoanne sed thar es resin tothe heat of America's new fvennte tea Ames adopted te fc ess ce thn sca and sho up poor endure hard work ‘country villages, the desi ‘misunderstanding ere products ofan alien technolo sly les-developed soci ing in East Hamptor “Mr. Miller,” he dis firs began to drink tea on the east end ¢ local farmers knew shat t0 do wit ” Accor Keetcle was a particulaly memorab Ie came ashore at Montauk i came down there on business 1° Captain Bell) The farmers cattle, and could not find out460) MAJOR PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN COLONIAL HISTORY hhow to use the tea-ketle, which was then brought up to old “Govemor Hedges". Some sad it was for one thing, and some sid it was for another. At length one, the more knowing than his neighbors, afirmed it to be the ship's lamp, to which they all asented, ‘Mss, Miller may have been pulling the hitorian’s leg, but whatever the truth of hher story, it reveals the symbolic importance of tea in this remote eighteenth century village. Standardization of consumer goods created a paradoxical situation. As Amer- ‘cans purchased the same general range of Brith manufactares—in other words, 4s they had similar consumer experiences—they became increasingly Anglcized Hiseorians sometimes refer to this cultural process as “the colonization of taste.” ‘The Anglo-American consumer society ofthe eighteenth century drew the land colonists closer to the culture ofthe mother country. In part this was a result ‘of the Navigation Acts which channelled American commerce through Great Bri lative constraint that made it difficult as well as expensive for pparchase goods fiom the Continent. There is no reason to believe ssed these acts in 2 conscious attempe to “colonize sppenced. And during the eighteenth century this pro esis easy to trace. For most people, articles imported from the mother county ‘amid positive asociations. They introduced 's not surprsing that the ter mid-century. The mat- reated new convert. Advertisements, merchants’ displays, news of other acquisitions stoked consumer deste and thereby accelerated the spread of tion. Bookseller-—just to note one example-—discovered that colonial readers preferred an Englsh imprint to an American edition of the same “Their estimate of things English was so high,” reports one historian, {ae London imprint cou yu that instead of geting things offen have Aricles sent Us that adopted earlier by the polished and afliuent American than by many ‘opulent persons in the great metropolis [London}.... In short, very litle difference is, in realty, observable in the manners of the wealthy colo- nist and the wealthy Briton. [No doubt this man exaggerated, b ‘American consumers took their cu swell understood, after mid-century the mother country. Cerainly that vas the case fhe people whom Wi city of New-Yors" he wrote in Etta ef the anon ton verte, the coalty of thee pric conser expences de afected the charac of eghcemh-enaty province waeiy bres shor petid fallowing enable foundation ‘Smith observed in New York. “In th “through the intercourse with th ion of Britsh goods on such avast sale created social tensions tha were dow to appreciate. The very act of purchasing these articles ‘choices from among competing postibilties heightened the Arner well-developed sense of their own personal independence. ‘The acquisition of manufictres ako liberated them from a dab, impoverished involved dependency. The colonists came increasingly to rely upon Britsh wer chants not only for what they now perceived as the n ako for a continued supply of credit. So long as the remained relatively prosperous and sable, it was possible ‘of personal independence in a But those days were numbered. ‘Amicles that had been bound up with local culture, with individal dectoor, within houscholds, wee gradually in par ail camry panphscr such fla Tented don andn pao te engl preacher tie Gee eens Considering the growing ambivalence of the cls ome commer fei tice tem wre inet deal cael une tons abut economic dependeny“ not spring tarde Sen tked a boycott of British manufactures, ™ Bae ‘Atay 765 many a sumption provid then wh as "gun to realize that patterns of con- anguage of politcal protest. In that462 MAJOR PRODLEMS IN AMERICAN COLONIAL HISTORY sense, Americans discovered political ideology through a discussion of the mean- ing of goods, through observances of non-consumpeion men and women to declare where exactly they stood on the iasues of the day. British manufactures thus took on a new and the boycott became a social metaphor of political resistance. If the mainland colonies had not already been transformed into a consumer society, the Stamp ‘Act protesters would have found it extremely dificult to communicate effec~ tively with each other at this moment of political ers. The purchase of British ‘manufactures was the one experience that most of them shared, and by rising the posibilry that they could do without these goods, patriotic Americans ‘withstood the chal- Tenge, and as soon as paliam Americans reared to the import shops. The confrontation with the mother country had eroded but not destroyed the traditional me consumer goods. Newspaper advertse- ments camed the fn that many colonists ‘connection could be severed, indepen ral cues from Great Britain, Until that 1ce was out of the question ‘The Dilemma of American National Identity JOHN M, MURRIN “The seventeenth ebatury created, within Englsh America alone, not one new tnits with immediate neighbors (Massachi with Virgina, St. Kins with Barbados), but along the spectrum. At ince—the colonies had -mography suggest the la COLONIAL AMERICA AT MID-CHNTURY 46 ‘ratios in the islands. Climate and demography ako affected local economic ‘Apart ffom the fur trade, few setler north of Maryland engaged in econom activites strange to Europeans. As rapidly as posse, European crops (without abandoning, maize). grown labor. Bur the staple colonies specialized in the growth and export throug fee Noeores ‘crops, especially tobacco and sugar. The didnot ben ty to ase enough oe Yo fed the sles a hs sive, Soventnent and religion ao illowed the spectrum. tthe province kv Now Enid nf coat atom, whch Rie nd dC neeut would retin ul the Revliton. Raya govenment, Wy come realy dined iain che Carbean daring the Rexorton ea, One mae land out of New England, mos sete ined under propery govermen tha cvetly bea royal but Vigna had Ben toy sce 1028 and Nay lan and Penny ezine ther propa fos fe ang thew time flowing he Gloss Revohiton nlc! goverment the New Engan spend on religion. Formally, the England, became the New Work esablahment everywhere from Maryan the Middle Adlanfe region, disene and esabl ferent from Eniand’s dd emerge to bridge these cu the smaller sugar bland all of the colonies enjoyed ‘more widespread distibution and ownemhly of land. No colony succesful ‘women and children, often ae targets became more uniform in ty settlement produced, not one, bt ‘many Americas, and the passge of time threatened to drive them farther spar not closer together. Most of what they retained in common-—hnguage, Prote