Julie Levi

History 583

September 23, 2006

Précis: The Marketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence, T.H. Breen. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2004

In The Marketplace of Revolution, T. H. Breen addresses the question of how the American colonists were able to overcome their different interests and embrace a common cause. One difficult hurdle was establishing mutual trust; without a common foundation, and due to being geographically spread out, these men and women would not have had a reason to trust one another. As Breen notes in his first chapter, “they had first to assure themselves that in an emergency distant strangers would come to their support” (9). Isolated colonial uprisings would have been easily put down by the British Empire, but, as it happened, multiple, coordinated protests followed by an armed rebellion proved successful. Breen argues that a shared background of consumerism paved the way for trust, cooperation, and a successful Revolution.

Breen, an American history professor at Northwestern University, was initially inspired to investigate early American consumer society after looking at a museum collection of goods that had been manufactured in Britain and imported to the colonies. Contrary to the traditional “yeoman farmer” myth, he maintains that the colonists were happily participating a consumer society filled with imported items from England. Instead of the self-sufficient household manufacturing most of the necessary products, colonial homes were filled with British goods that made life more pleasant, or just simply prettier. He argues that in opposition to a people distinguishing themselves from others by celebrating individualism and self reliance, the colonists used consumer goods to express their individuality and emphasize the appearance of upward mobility. Ceramics for tea services were important (certainly before consumption of tea became politically incorrect) as were imported textiles, among other things. This refutation of one of the most basic American assumptions is at the heart of Breen’s thesis.

The prosperous appearance of colonial life was evident to visitors from England during the Seven Years War. More visitors and increased military spending gave the colonial economy a boost, although the author states that much of this look of prosperity might have been due to socially anxious colonials trying to impress English gentry. Unfortunately, this social insecurity may have played a role in creating the circumstances that would later precipitate the Revolution. As British soldiers and other visitors returned home after the conflict, stories about the consumer lifestyle of the colonies circulated.

Breen also touches on how the desire for imported goods trickled down to all levels of colonial society. He recounts how archeologists examining 18^th century trash burial sites have uncovered ceramic bowls among slaves’ discarded items. No wonder the British Empire expected to be reimbursed for the security of the American colonies.

According to Breen, this new consumer economy was egalitarian and based on the premise that people would purchase whatever they could afford. One aspect of this new equal opportunity shopping was that women were able to participate in the marketplace. Working class women had the most to gain from partaking of the new wares, many of which reduced their labor. Additionally, visiting Europeans were shocked at how well American women dressed. The book cites many merchants’ advertisements as evidence of the wide variety of merchandise available. This variety of choices, offered either by shopkeepers in town or peddlers, empowered women. For example, the tea ritual (with all its imported items) gave women an opportunity to gather in a gendered space and maintain a bit of control.

Breen also suggests that many colonists believed that the consumer empire gave them some control vis a vis the British. The residents of the colonies understood that British manufacturers needed them as customers as much as they wanted to consume the imported products. The ability to participate freely in imperial commerce gave Americans the feeling of being in control of their destiny, and they considered themselves free and prosperous members of the British Empire.

After covering the background of the colonial shopping experience, Breen ties this process this to his thesis by connecting the web of commerce to subscription lists signed by men and women protesting imperial policies. These agreements were lists of citizens who publicly pledged to not purchase imported goods. This enabled dissatisfied colonists to see that others not only shared their feelings but were willing to express their discontent publicly. The author claims that this was a factor in pulling together Americans of disparate interests during the decade or so leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Those who did not comply – either by not joining the lists or by breaching their agreement not to purchase British imports – were subjected to public shaming. According to Breen, the solidarity achieved through the subscription lists encouraged the colonists to stand firm against England.

The final chapter of the book chronicles the tea boycott, the Boston Tea Party, and the colonies’ new sense of national identity. “Parliament tried to make an example of Boston and, by so doing, aroused a nation,” Breen concludes. (303). Here again, the central theme of commercial entanglement and reciprocity offers a means by which the Americans found a way to move beyond their separate communities and to feel invested in each other. In the beginning of his book, Breen wondered how people with such different interests could rely for support on comrades they did not know well. According to his thesis, the colonists’ newfound consumer politics enabled them to build commercial connections that could be converted into the foundation for a successful revolution.