Unbecoming British: How Revolutionary America Became a Postcolonial Nation

What can homespun cloth, stuffed birds, quince jelly, and ginseng reveal about the formation of early American national identity? In this wide-ranging and bold new interpretation of American history and its Founding Fathers, Kariann Akemi Yokota shows that political independence from Britain
fueled anxieties among the Americans about their cultural inferiority and continuing dependence on the mother country. Caught between their desire to emulate the mother country and an awareness that they lived an ocean away on the periphery of the known world, they went to great lengths to convince
themselves and others of their refinement. Taking a transnational approach to American history, Yokota examines a wealth of evidence from geography, the decorative arts, intellectual history, science, and technology to underscore that the process of unbecoming British was not an easy one. Indeed,
the new nation struggled to define itself economically, politically, and culturally in what could be called America's postcolonial period. Out of this confusion of hope and exploitation, insecurity and vision, a uniquely American identity emerged.

Author: Kariann Akemi Yokota
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 12/01/2014
Pages: 368
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.10w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9780190217877

About the Author

Kariann Akemi Yokota is Associate Professor of History at University of Colorado Denver.

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