Goods and God
The American Revolution was a profound event that catapulted change across continents, coming out of this revolution was a new sense of pride and patriotism for colonists who won the war. Also emerging were new markers of identity that Americans attributed to themselves and their unique, young country. A revolution for the people by the people created complex and sometimes contradictory circumstances, with ideas new and old swirling around inventing a brand new republic. Alongside the proliferation of a capitalist economy, centering on the individual was a boom of evangelical faith in the late 18th century and onwards. The ideas of self-government and entrepreneurship were partnered with the increasingly fragmented sects of Christianity within America in order to tie the country together in a time where the central government was not strong enough to enforce ethics of its own.1
The colonies started off as an extraction point for a mercantilist imperial system, and they carved out their autonomy, for better or for worse, by leaning into the commodity as a manifestation of it. This project explores early 19th century consumerism in America as an expression of individuality, rationalized by Christianity, ultimately demonstrating how those factors formed a distinctly American identity.
A letter from a 79 year old Thomas Jefferson to Benjamin Waterhouse a physician and co-founder of Harvard Medical School in June of 1822 details this phenomenon quite clearly. In the letter Jefferson expressing his growing concern about what he sees as concerning sects of Christianity and their escalating influence in American politics. While he praises the “blessed country of free enquiry and belief,”2 Jefferson doubts these sects adherence to what he sees as the correct Christian principals. The religious freedom guaranteed in the United States did not make way for more secular political activity, in fact it provided the space for ideologies to grow in force and popularity, ultimately making their way into politics. As Alan Taylor writes, “After 1800, most Americans regarded republicanism and Protestantism as mutually reinforcing"3, with both having an emphasis on individuality and choice, pillars of the emerging American identity both socially and economically.
1Gordon S. Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution, 2nd ed (Westminster: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2011). 325-329.
2“Thomas Jefferson to Benjamin Waterhouse, 26 June 1822,” accessed November 27, 2024, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-18-02-0437. 3Alan Taylor, American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804, First published as a Norton paperback (New York London: W. W. Norton & Company, 2017). 451.