Club sociability in colonial America: From British tradition to American experience, 172076: 20

This monograph is the first book-length study of Early American clubs before the Revolution. It examines the transfer of the British club model to colonial America, analysing the evolving features of club sociability, through a hybridisation process. ‘A powerful reappraisal of how the sociable institution of the club shaped the intellectual and political life of early America.’– Markman Ellis, Queen Mary University of London‘A vital addition to our understanding of colonial America before the Revolution.’– Carolyn Eastman, Virginia Commonwealth University‘With vivid prose, deep research, and a keen eye for detail, Capdeville has produced a groundbreaking study of British American gentlemen’s clubs.’– Vaughn Scribner, University of Central ArkansasThis is the first book-length study of early American clubs before the Revolution. It explores the ‘transmigration’ of the British club model to colonial America, examining both persistent and changing features of club sociability from 1720 to the revolutionary period. The gentlemen’s club, a prominent institution of eighteenth-century British associational culture, proved particularly exportable across the Empire. Prominent in this story are Benjamin Franklin and Scottish physician Alexander Hamilton, key agents in the cultural transfer and local development of club sociability in eighteenth-century America. Pennsylvania and the Chesapeake, particularly the thriving cities of Philadelphia and Annapolis, were home to the most active clubs before the 1770s. Drawing from diverse colonial archives, including unpublished club records and family papers, the book paints a vivid picture of colonial club life, where conviviality, conversation and pleasure were central, alongside the quest for status and power through the construction of a colonial clubman’s identity. The study argues that while colonial club sociability retained traditional aspects of British culture, it was shaped by a distinctive American experience, marked by a growing desire for civic improvement and democratic debate, particularly during a time of mounting tensions over the fate of the colonies.By analysing the trajectory of the club phenomenon across the Atlantic and measuring its impact on the emergence of more refined and sociable urban communities, the book sheds new light on the social and cultural history of early America. This book examines the cultural transfer of the British club model to the English-speaking colonies of North America. The gentlemen’s club, which flourished in eighteenth-century Britain, became a highly exportable institution throughout the Empire. This study shows that this unique model of sociability played a central part both in transmitting British values and in shaping a new colonial identity. It argues that the success of clubs in British America depended on the emergence of favourable cultural, economic and political factors, on the agency of some decisive social actors such as Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Alexander Hamilton, and on the creation of networks of influence and power, therefore shedding new light on the circulation of individuals, ideas and practices in the colonies from 1720 to the eve of the American Revolution.

Pagina's: 306, Hardcover, Manchester University Press (P648)