In this Book
- Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves, and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia
- Book
- 2011
- Published by: The University of North Carolina Press
- Series: Published for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Virginia
summary
In this provocative reinterpretation of one of the best-known events in American history, Woody Holton shows that when Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and other elite Virginians joined their peers from other colonies in declaring independence from Britain, they acted partly in response to grassroots rebellions against their own rule.
The Virginia gentry's efforts to shape London's imperial policy were thwarted by British merchants and by a coalition of Indian nations. In 1774, elite Virginians suspended trade with Britain in order to pressure Parliament and, at the same time, to save restive Virginia debtors from a terrible recession. The boycott and the growing imperial conflict led to rebellions by enslaved Virginians, Indians, and tobacco farmers. By the spring of 1776 the gentry believed the only way to regain control of the common people was to take Virginia out of the British Empire.
Forced Founders uses the new social history to shed light on a classic political question: why did the owners of vast plantations, viewed by many of their contemporaries as aristocrats, start a revolution? As Holton's fast-paced narrative unfolds, the old story of patriot versus loyalist becomes decidedly more complex.
The Virginia gentry's efforts to shape London's imperial policy were thwarted by British merchants and by a coalition of Indian nations. In 1774, elite Virginians suspended trade with Britain in order to pressure Parliament and, at the same time, to save restive Virginia debtors from a terrible recession. The boycott and the growing imperial conflict led to rebellions by enslaved Virginians, Indians, and tobacco farmers. By the spring of 1776 the gentry believed the only way to regain control of the common people was to take Virginia out of the British Empire.
Forced Founders uses the new social history to shed light on a classic political question: why did the owners of vast plantations, viewed by many of their contemporaries as aristocrats, start a revolution? As Holton's fast-paced narrative unfolds, the old story of patriot versus loyalist becomes decidedly more complex.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Acknowledgments
- pp. vii-viii
- Abbreviations
- pp. xi-xii
- Introduction
- pp. xiii-xxi
- PART I. GRIEVANCES, 1763–1774
- PART II. BOYCOTTS, 1769–1774
- 3 Nonimportation
- pp. 77-105
- 4 Nonexportation
- pp. 106-130
- PART III. UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES, 1775–1776
- 6 Gentlemen versus Farmers
- pp. 164-188
- PART IV. INDEPENDENCE, 1776
- 7 Spirit of the People
- pp. 191-205
Additional Information
ISBN
9781469603704
Related ISBN(s)
9780807825013, 9780807847848, 9780807899861, 9798890870780
MARC Record
OCLC
966845901
Pages
256
Launched on MUSE
2017-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No