Jack P. Greene, Pursuits of Happiness: The Social Development of Early Modern British Colonies and the Formation of American Culture

Pursuits of Happiness: The Social Development of Early Modern British Colonies and the Formation of American Culture by Jack P. Greene
 

In this book ,  Jack P. Greene offers us two models in interpreting British colonization in North America and its impact on the formation of culture and society. According to  Jack P. Greene, the  Chesapeake colonies  and  New  England offer American  historians  two  models  for  describing  English  colonization;  Greene  calls  them "developmental" and  "declension."  Virginia  and  Maryland  began  as  male-dominated places  where  colonists  "showed  little  concern  for  the  public  weal  of  the colony and routinely sacrificed  the corporate  welfare  to  their  own  individual  ends"(p.  11). 

The  New  England  is a kind of  declension model, which  is  very  different from the Chesapeake area.  Massachusetts  Bay,  Connecticut,  and  New Haven  were  settled  during  a  well-organized  twelve-year  period  by intact  families  and kinship  networks.  "Although  by  no  means  disinterested  in  achieving sustenance  and prosperity,"  Greene points out,  "they  put  enormous emphasis  upon  establishing  well-ordered  communities  .  .  .  with  a  common  religious  ideology and  a strong sense  of communal responsibility"  (pp.  22-23) and  Greene  seems  startled  only  by their "astonishing  deference"  to religious leaders  and  magistrates  (p.  25).

  It seems that these two models are totally different. In  Jack P. Greene's opinion,  one is a materialistic,  secular,  competitive,  exploitative, mobile,  young,  single,  male,  immigrant; the other is  a traditional, religious,  communal,  egalitarian,  rooted,  millennial,  patriarchal,  family-centered, creole,  and  harmonious  New  England. Although  "it  is hardly  possible to conceive  how  any two  settlements composed almost entirely of  Englishmen could  have been  much  more  different," (p.  27) American society and culture developed in terms of these two models.    Jack P. Greene thinks that  the  Chesapeake  developed  and  New  England  declined, which I think, is not exactly true.

 
For those who are interested in British colonization and its influences in North America,  Jack P. Greene's book is very important for us to understand the development of early American history. Although I am not wholely agree with his arguments, I think this book is rather excellent.