391:(1988) constructed a vastly influential new synthesis of colonial British American history and proposed a framework for a developmental narrative of early American history. Employing a broad regional framework and using the concept of social development as its principal analytic device, Pursuits of Happiness focused on the creation and subsequent histories of colonial regions as defined by the socioeconomic structures and cultural constructs devised and amended by settlers and their descendants to enable them to exploit the economic potentials of their new environments and to express the larger purposes of the societies they were creating. These processes, Greene argues, could not be traced exclusively to either the transfer of civilization from Britain to the Americas or the Americanizing effects of New World conditions. Rather, they were the products of a complex, regionally differentiated interaction between metropolitan inheritance and colonial experience. As a framework for understanding how these social processes worked,
346:. Greene stressed the legitimacy of the colonial constitutional position and argued for the importance of the legal and constitutional dimensions of American Revolutionary thought, underlining the continuity between the colonial and Revolutionary eras. Showing that the empire functioned as an implicit federal state, with the internal affairs of the colonies coming under the jurisdiction of colonial governments in each colony, and external affairs such as trade regulation, diplomacy, and war falling under the authority of the central government in Britain, Peripheries and Center also explored the extent to which the post-1787 American federal government marked a re-institution of the imperial system. In
436:, Greene pointed out, the emphasis in new English societies was on the pursuit of individual wealth, independence, and status, with settler-dominated colonial governments functioning as an adjunct to the preservation of individual property and status. Greene further argued that New England itself increasingly assimilated to this model during the eighteenth century. Greene explained the inclination to emphasize New England mostly as an unconscious effort to minimize the extent to which the success of Colonial British America and the early United States was rooted in slave labor.
380:
of the population: aborigines, imported slaves, unpropertied whites, women, and non-Protestants. Challenging the conventional presentation of the colonizing process as a benign process of land conversion that had few social costs, this work has highlighted the normative inequality in the societies
Britons created in America and the continuity of social ideas and practices from Britain to places overseas. Greene explored this subject more generally for the entire British imperial settler empire down to 1900 in the introduction to a collection of essays he edited, in
359:
the changes associated with the
Revolution (such as in social values, in state organization, in geographical expansion, and in legal systems) were the results of a social trajectory that was deeply rooted in the colonial past and would have occurred with or without the break with Britain; he also proposes that until the middle of the twentieth century the United States continued to be a truly federal polity, in which the political power remained in the states and the citizens’ experience with governance was primarily provincial and local, rather than national.
331:(1994)) the extent to which the British Empire was not a polity in which authority flowed from the center to the peripheries, but was the product of a continuous process of negotiation in which the weakness of central coercive and fiscal resources dictated that the peripheries should exert authority over local affairs and that dominant settler groups should enjoy enormous agency in the construction of both the colonies in which they lived and the larger empire of which they were part of.
375:(1984), a collection of essays that assessed the state of the field in the early 1980s and set the agenda for further study. In a series of papers, many of which appeared in a four-volume collection of essays, Greene treated a number of themes in early American cultural, social, political and constitutional history. Of particular note, he underlined in these essays the extent to which the
401:
the other attempts at synthesis at that time
Pursuits of Happiness argued that overall colonialism did not lead in the direction of cultural divergence from Britain. Rather, it posited a gradual social convergence during the middle decades of the eighteenth century throughout the British Atlantic world.
459:
many years before its emergence as the significant historiographic school of the past decades. Greene's vision of early
America is characterized by its global reach beyond the colonies that would become the United States, drawing the history of early modern Britain, Ireland, and the West Indies into
400:
presents this transformation, which proceeded through a series of phases (social simplification, social elaboration, and social replication) to show the common social processes at work in the regions of colonial
British America as well as to direct attention to its variations. In contrast to some of
395:
proposed a developmental model that understands the
British North American colonial experience as a process of adaptation, institution building, and expansion of human, economic, social, and cultural resources. That model describes and explains the transformations of the simple and inchoate societies
379:
regimes created by colonists throughout the
British Empire were highly exclusionary, calling attention to the fact that the settler liberty so much celebrated by contemporaries was often dependent upon, and defined by, the systematic denial of civic space to groups who often constituted the majority
358:
In his work, Greene has emphasized the continuities between the colonial era and the revolutionary and early national eras and thereby challenged interpretations of the
American Revolution that highlight its transformative and socially and politically radical character. Greene suggests that many of
405:
suggested that the product of this convergence served as a critical precondition for the
American Revolution by intensifying demands among colonists for metropolitan recognition of their essential Britishness and thus providing the foundation for the loose political confederation that, after 1775,
322:
served as the foundation for Greene's subsequent elaboration of a theory of early modern imperial development that has altered the way many scholars think about the nature of the early modern
British Empire and has influenced students of other European empires. Greene went on to underscore
342:’s authority extended in the colonies. The book made a case for the proposition that the dispute was primarily a legal and constitutional one over the nature of the imperial constitution, similar to legal historians writing at the same time, especially
300:(1963) was a study in the transfer of political and constitutional traditions, values, institutions, and practices from England to America. Focusing on the development of institutions in four British North American colonies (
367:
Since the early 1960s Greene has contributed many essays to define the questions that new scholarly work was opening up in various areas in the history of Colonial America. In the same vein Greene conceived and edited with
316:), the book stresses the growing sophistication and authority of those bodies as they expanded the scope of legislative jurisdiction over their domestic affairs throughout the late seventeenth- and eighteenth centuries.
443:(1993) Greene explored the early history of the idea of American exceptionalism as it was defined by contemporaries in Europe and America and the social, economic, and legal conditions that supported and defined it
771:
424:) was anomalous in its idea of colonists as a chosen people, its intense religiosity, and its culture that developed in pursuit of a holy society. Everywhere else, from Ireland to
961:
818:
Greene, “The Making of a Historian: Some Autobiographical Notes,” in John B. Boles, ed., Shapers of Southern History (Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia Press, 2004), 18-39.
451:
Greene has been an advocate for comparative colonial studies across national boundaries since the late 1960s, when he founded the Program in Atlantic History and Culture at
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242:
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was paradigmatic for the colonies as a whole and that its culture was the seedbed of American culture. Greene argued that New England (particularly orthodox
230:
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Imperatives, Behaviors and Identity (1992); Negotiated Authorities (1994); Understanding the American Revolution (1995); Interpreting Early America (1996)
214:
226:
343:
956:
202:
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Exploring the Bounds of Liberty: Political Writings of Colonial British America from the Glorious Revolution to the American Revolution
281:
Greene first studied the broad area of imperial and colonial governance, in particular the ongoing process of polity formation in the
79:
460:
the history of British North America. He has recently edited collections which are fundamental assessments of the "Atlantic turn" (
396:
of the earliest years of settlement into the ever more complex, differentiated, and articulated societies of the late colonial era.
515:
Peripheries and Center: Constitutional Development in the Extended Polities of the British Empire and the United States, 1607-1789
951:
254:
909:"Jack P. Greene: A Comprehensive Bibliography" (Baltimore, MD: The Department of History at Johns Hopkins University, 2004)
525:
Pursuits of Happiness: The Social Development of the Early Modern British Colonies and the Formation of American Culture
677:
657:
637:
627:
548:
528:
488:
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Landon Carter: An Inquiry into the Personal Values and Social Imperatives of the Eighteenth-Century Virginia Gentry
293:, a subject that he would continue to explore throughout his career and with which he is still closely associated.
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113:
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861:"Atlantic History and Other Approaches to Early Modern Empires: a Conversation with Jack P. Greene"
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178:
109:
687:
182:
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Neither Slave, Nor Free: The Freedmen of African Descent in the Slave Societies of the New World
946:
206:
121:
338:(1986) Greene re-examined the long debate between Britain and the colonies over how far the
941:
485:
The Quest for Power: The Lower Houses of Assembly in the Southern Royal Colonies, 1689-1776
313:
8:
290:
286:
350:(2010) Greene revisited the same issues with an emphasis on the late eighteenth century
545:
The Intellectual Construction of America: Exceptionalism and Identity from 1492 to 1800
441:
The Intellectual Construction of America: Exceptionalism and Identity from 1492 to 1800
339:
166:
45:
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Money, Trade, and Power: The Evolution of Colonial South Carolina s Plantation Society
892:
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246:
194:
595:
Creating the British Atlantic: Essays on Transplantation, Adaptation, and Continuity
922:
882:
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860:
456:
265:
174:
159:
99:
694:
Exclusionary Empire: The Transmission of the English Liberty Overseas 1600 to 1900
750:
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730:
535:
Imperatives, Behaviors, and Identities: Essays in Early American Cultural History
170:
56:
827:
e.g. “The American Revolution,” The American Historical Review 105:1 (Feb. 2000)
555:
Negotiated Authorities: Essays in Colonial Political and Constitutional History
505:
Preachers and Politicians: Two Essays on the Origins of the American Revolution
376:
309:
305:
282:
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135:
131:
66:
His prolific studies of colonial British America, and the American Revolution
455:, and participated in it for 20 years, establishing himself as a pioneer in
654:
Colonial British America: Essays in the New History of the Early Modern Era
605:
Evaluating Empire and Confronting Colonialism in Eighteenth Century Britain
433:
260:
Greene retired in 2005 and is currently an Invited Research Scholar at the
836:
many of those essays were eventually collected and published in his book
421:
413:
353:
887:
565:
Explaining the American Revolution: Issues, Interpretations, and Actors
369:
151:
429:
425:
301:
491:
for the Institute of Early American History and Culture, 1963).
412:
is also known for challenging the ideas that the experience of
733:, 1988). With John Cannon, R.H.C. Davis, and William Doyle
382:
Exclusionary Empire: British Liberty Overseas, 1600 to 1900
680:, 2001). With Randy J. Sparks, and Rosemary Brana-Shute
466:
Exclusionary Empire: English Liberty Overseas, 1600–1900
962:
Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professors of American History
243:
Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professor of American History
737:
The Blackwell Encyclopedia of the American Revolution
585:
The Constitutional Origins of the American Revolution
354:
The American Revolution and the early American nation
348:
The Constitutional Origins of the American Revolution
644:
Interdisciplinary Studies of the American Revolution
575:
Interpreting Early America: Historiographical Essays
231:
Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
747:The Blackwell Companion to the American Revolution
624:Preconditions of Revolution in Early Modern Europe
664:The American Revolution: Its Character and Limits
464:) and the global history of British imperialism (
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227:Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
611:Settler Jamaica: A Social Portrait of the 1750s
362:
189:, and he has been a visiting professor at the
181:’s history department. In 1990-1999 he was a
967:Members of the American Philosophical Society
241:, among others. In 1975-1976 Greene was the
217:of Berlin, and has held fellowships from the
203:Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
706:(Indianapolis: , 2018) With Craig B. Yirush
858:
717:Encyclopedia of American Political History
886:
876:
173:in 1956. He spent most of his career as
80:the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
684:Atlantic History: A Critical Reappraisal
800:American Academy of Arts & Sciences
934:
727:The Blackwell Dictionary of Historians
462:Atlantic History: A Critical Appraisal
150:(born August 12, 1931) is an American
255:American Academy of Arts and Sciences
957:Historians of Colonial North America
276:
511:, 1977). With William G. McLoughlin
446:
13:
678:University of South Carolina Press
658:The Johns Hopkins University Press
638:The Johns Hopkins University Press
628:The Johns Hopkins University Press
549:University of North Carolina Press
529:University of North Carolina Press
489:University of North Carolina Press
14:
978:
916:
271:
406:evolved into the United States.
219:John Simon Guggenheim Foundation
187:University of California, Irvine
690:, 2009). With Philip D. Morgan
471:
177:Professor in the Humanities at
952:People from Lafayette, Indiana
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251:American Philosophical Society
249:. He was a member of both the
199:Hebrew University of Jerusalem
76:American Philosophical Society
16:American historian (born 1931)
1:
757:
640:, 1972). With David W. Cohen
630:, 1970). With Robert Forster
650:, 1976). With Pauline Maier
599:University Press of Virginia
579:University Press of Virginia
569:University Press of Virginia
559:University Press of Virginia
539:University Press of Virginia
509:American Antiquarian Society
499:University Press of Virginia
223:Institute for Advanced Study
7:
646:(Beverly Hills and London:
519:University of Georgia Press
363:Social and cultural history
239:Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
191:College of William and Mary
10:
983:
838:Interpreting Early America
698:Cambridge University Press
589:Cambridge University Press
235:National Humanities Center
169:and received his PhD from
118:Western Reserve University
753:, 2000). With J. R. Pole
743:, 1991). With J. R. Pole
668:New York University Press
660:, 1984). With J. R. Pole
613:(Charlottesville: ) 2016)
387:Greene's best known work
262:John Carter Brown Library
211:Michigan State University
156:Colonial American history
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114:Michigan State University
105:
97:Colonial American history
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927:Johns Hopkins University
878:10.4000/lerhistoria.6020
453:Johns Hopkins University
373:Colonial British America
179:Johns Hopkins University
110:Johns Hopkins University
721:Charles Scribner's Sons
688:Oxford University Press
183:Distinguished Professor
729:(Oxford and New York:
336:Peripheries and Center
329:Negotiated Authorities
325:Peripheries and Center
207:University of Richmond
122:University of Michigan
719:, 3 vols. (New York:
410:Pursuits of Happiness
403:Pursuits of Happiness
398:Pursuits of Happiness
393:Pursuits of Happiness
389:Pursuits of Happiness
776:search.amphilsoc.org
772:"APS Member History"
859:M. D. Cruz (2019).
507:(Worcester, Mass.:
320:The Quest for Power
298:The Quest for Power
291:American Revolution
287:Glorious Revolution
165:Greene was born in
607:(New York: ), 2013
597:(Charlottesville:
577:(Charlottesville:
567:(Charlottesville:
557:(Charlottesville:
537:(Charlottesville:
497:(Charlottesville:
340:British Parliament
167:Lafayette, Indiana
154:, specializing in
148:Jack Philip Greene
46:Lafayette, Indiana
23:Jack Philip Greene
871:(2019): 231–250.
648:SAGE Publications
323:(particularly in
277:Political history
247:Oxford University
215:Freie Universitat
195:Oxford University
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128:Doctoral students
87:Scientific career
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377:libertarian
327:(1986) and
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781:2022-03-31
758:References
370:J. R. Pole
237:, and the
213:, and the
74:Member of
35:1931-08-12
897:0870-6182
749:(Oxford:
739:(Oxford:
517:(Athens:
152:historian
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426:Virginia
384:(2010).
302:Virginia
289:and the
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670:, 1987)
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