Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves, and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia (Published by the Omohundro Institute of Early . and the University of North Carolina Press)

Holton, Woody

ISBN 10: 0807847844 / ISBN 13: 9780807847848

Published by Omohundro Institute and UNC Press (edition First Edition), 1999

About this Item

The item might be beaten up but readable. May contain markings or highlighting, as well as stains, bent corners, or any other major defect, but the text is not obscured in any way.

Seller Inventory # 0807847844-7-1

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves, and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia (Published by the Omohundro Institute of Early . and the University of North Carolina Press)
• Publisher: Omohundro Institute and UNC Press (edition First Edition)
• Publication Date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807847844
• ISBN 13: 9780807847848
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Fair

About this title

Synopsis

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. |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.

About the Author

Woody Holton is assistant professor of American history at the University of Richmond.