Boston Brahmins-The Leading Culturatti of America

Boston Brahmins is a term used in reference to the traditional old upper-class gentry of the 19th century in Boston. The term was used in 1861 by Oliver Wenddell Holmes to describe the families who were largely the descendants of English colonisers who gained control over the land by establishing a hegemony through education, commerce and strategically planned marriages.

Social and Cultural Traits      

Boston Brahmins emulated English upper class manners and way of dress as well as multigenerational traditions. They built great schools, like Harvard University, Choate and Phillips Exeter. They were defined by their accents, preppy clothes and in-marriage who were exclusive in their social life.

The political and societal pressure.

Boston was strong on the group because it stood for the exclusion of large immigration and the restriction of political and social privileges to sustain that group. While in support of abolitionism, they generally did not accept African Americans and other minorities within high-society groups.

Notable Members and Legacy

These included, among others, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and T.S. Eliot. Their influence over education, politics, and culture was tremendous, but (social) segregations existed under the monopoly, particularly the Irish Catholics and immigrants.

Difference with Indian Brahmins.

The Boston Brahmins of Massachusetts were politically and culturally a caste of the elites with religious authority unlike Indian Brahmins who were a mainly a religious caste. The US meaning of the word Brahmin was figurative and is was about social domination and not about caste.

Contemporary Relevance

The Boston Brahmins place great emphasis on society's elite and power-holders to define power and influence as cultural capital and social network. Their history reveals underlying notions of class, ethnicity and power in American culture and also serves to remind that we should brush up on our history in order to avoid stereotypes and to prevent flubs on our part.