Joshua Hedges, Drew Maff, Mark LeDoux Colonial American Group Review
Pursuits of Happiness
In Pursuits of Happiness Jack Greene aims to break away from the popular idea that the colonies
of New England depicted a structure of society that mirrored that of England and other colonial
settlements. From the very start Greene begins to elaborate on the vast differences between the
North and the South in America's history from colonization. Greene thoroughly breaks down
New England's Declension model of society as a false depiction of Old England and other
emerging colonies. He instead focuses on the Developmental model that is featured in colonies
such as the Chesapeake. He points out that while New England originated as a community based
colony it emerges as more of an individual society. Whereas the Chesapeake was initially based
on individual success and glory it grew into a society where people were a part of a whole
community that worked with each other. Greene goes on to argue that this model that emerged
from the Chesapeake emulated that was the emerging colonies in Ireland, the Bahamas,
Bermuda, and other American colonial towns.
To lay the foundation for his argument Greene gives four popular assumptions about the New
England colonies. Firstly, that New England was a closer model to English society than that of
the Chesapeake. Secondly, that the New England way of life was standard model for colonial
settlements. Thirdly, the trials and tribulations of the New England colonies could be used to
assess the average colonial American experience. Lastly, the future developments of America
extended from the developments of the New England colonies.
In chapters 3 through 7, Greene begins to dismantle the four-part assumption made about the
New England model of colonial social development by comparing general factors from British
colonies worldwide between 1660 and 1760. Through his descriptions, the reader begins to
perceive of each of the colonies as distinctive in their own right, but with an inevitable draw
towards the modern, commercial, and secular pursuits that characterized the Chesapeake
colonies from the start. The inexorable convergence in purpose and social order between the
colonies points then to the Chesapeake colonies as the social ancestor of all American tradition, a
tradition that, Greene states, revolves around "the conception of America as a place in which free
people could pursue their own individual happiness in safety and with a fair prospect that they
might be successful in their several quests."
Greene's arguments are coherent, and his deft use of resources to create a picture of
intercontinental colonial life in that span of one hundred years is impressive, to say the very
least. In short, Greene is a man who does his research, and does it very, very well.
Complimentary, his writing style is articulate and intellectual without being wordy. The book
was a page-turner and a pleasant read. However, a single basic logical fallacy quietly pervades
the book's entirety from the start. Specifically, his assumption that the "Declension model" of
New England's societal development is the model by which all colonial societal development is
viewed and recorded by historians. This is key, as it is the very thing he is trying to disprove, but
the reader has no sense that his initial assumption is correct in the first place: Greene does not
adequately demonstrate that this model is predominant in American colonial historiography. The
result is that his argument becomes a sort of straw-man; he sets up the very argument he plans to
dismantle, making his thesis a success from the start. This could be seen by the third chapter, and
left his other arguments somewhat disappointing for a man so apparently knowledgable.
The end of the book tells how the colonies played an important part in the development of
American society up to the Revolutionary War. One of these developments was creating
metropolitan cities in most of the regions that were occupied by British Colonies. Besides the
thriving cities the lasting colonies had flourishing economies with exploding populations.
Without this strong base, the Revolutionary War might have not occurred. The book has a
reoccurring theme on the importance of having a strong economy and without it colonies would
not survive.
The book is a great overview of the history and development of British colonies in the New
World. It was surprising that Greene was able to incorporate effectively the different cultures
from one colony to another. Before reading the book, it appears to the average student of history
that the colonies were much more similar then they really were. After reading it would make
sense that the colonies were different because of weather in the area and political opposition. A
colony in Georgia would have different issues compared to colonies in New York especially
when making treaties with the natives. The third plus is that the book builds up to the
Revolutionary War and each chapter layers on top of the previous one.
The complication in the book is that it doesn't give many details for specific colonies except for
the Chesapeake and New England colonies. Greene introduces a lot of information and if
somebody has an interest he or she will have to research further. Another negative was the lack
of discussion of Native Americans and their effect on trade which is hardly mentioned
throughout the book. The colonies had to be extremely diplomatic when dealing with the Native
Americans. When the colonies were originally formed the natives outnumbered the European
settlers and would continue to have a strong hold in areas like the Ohio Valley until after the
Seven- Year-War between France and England. Even with these couple of complaints the book
was informative and I would suggest it to anyone looking for reading on the colonies.