Club sociability in colonial America

Valérie CAPDEVILLE is Professor of British History and Civilisation at the University of Rennes 2

• Introduction1 Connecting the Atlantic: Agents and vectors of ‘clubbability’2 Colonial cities as the crucible of club sociability3 Colonial club life or the pursuit of social happiness4 Club membership: A quest for status and power5 A Search for identity or the Americanisation of the British club modelConclusion:The seeds of rebellion or the changing pattern of American club sociabilityBibliographyIndex

‘Valérie Capdeville’s Club sociability in colonial America is a powerful reappraisal of how the sociable institution of the club shaped the intellectual and political life of early America. She brilliantly shows how the culture of clubbing, borrowed from Britain, with its convivial conversation and rituals of community, served as a crucial site for the dissemination of Enlightenment culture in America. The club was an arena for civic education and laboratory of self-rule, where habits of civic participation and sympathetic friendship were actively cultivated.’– Markman Ellis, Professor of Eighteenth-century Studies, Queen Mary University London‘By examining how – and in what forms – colonial Americans embraced clubs as an important means of generating sociability, Valérie Capdeville brilliantly reveals the ways that they borrowed from and ultimately innovated on the British club model. From coffeehouses and conversation groups to mutual improvement societies and elites' exclusive clubs, this book highlights important tensions in American life: between publicity and privacy, social exclusivity and inclusiveness, sociability and secretiveness, Anglicization and Americanization. This is a vital addition to our understanding of colonial America before the Revolution.’– Carolyn Eastman, Professor of Early American History, Virginia Commonwealth University‘With vivid prose, deep research, and a keen eye for detail, Valérie Capdeville has produced a groundbreaking study of British American gentlemen’s clubs. From the popular press to private rituals, clubs emerged as fundamental engines of sociability and power, ultimately shaping colonists’ evolving relationship with, and eventual rupture from, the British Empire.’– Vaughn Scribner, Associate Professor of British American History, University of central Arkansas