| Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves & the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia Contributor(s): Holton, Woody (Author) |
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ISBN: 0807847844 ISBN-13: 9780807847848 Publisher: Omohundro Institute and Unc Press OUR PRICE: $35.63 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: September 1999 Annotation: Challenging traditional interpretations of the American Revolution, Woody Holton argues that the Virginia gentry were forced to rebel against Britain because of pressures exerted by Indians, farmers, and slaves. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | United States - Revolutionary Period (1775-1800) - Political Science |
| Dewey: 973.311 |
| LCCN: 98-51937 |
| Series: Published by the Omohundro Institute of Early American Histo |
| Physical Information: 0.6" H x 6.1" W x 9.1" (0.85 lbs) 256 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 18th Century - Cultural Region - South Atlantic - Cultural Region - Southeast U.S. - Geographic Orientation - Virginia |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: 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. |
Contributor Bio(s): Holton, Woody: - Woody Holton is assistant professor of American history at the University of Richmond. |