Purchasing Identity in the Atlantic World

By Phyllis Whitman Hunter

Subjects: Consumption (Economics), History, Consumption (economics), Massachusetts, economic conditions, Merchants, Economic conditions, United states, history, revolution, 1775-1783, Social life and customs, Commerce, Europe, commerce, Social aspects

Description: "Americans have always had a love-hate relationship with possessions. Early Americans suspected luxuries as a corrupting force that would lead to an aristocracy. In Purchasing Identity in the Atlantic World, Phyllis Whitman Hunter demonstrates how elite Americans not only became infatuated with their belongings, but also avidly pursued consumption to shape their world and proclaim their success."--BOOK JACKET.