
Forced Founders
Indians, Debtors, Slaves, and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia
Woody Holton(Author)
The University of North Carolina Press
Will be published approx. on 1. September 1999
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-0-8078-4784-8 (ISBN)
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. |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.
More details
Series
Edition
New edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Chapel Hill
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
New edition
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
435 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8078-4784-8 (9780807847848)
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Schweitzer Classification
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Additional editions

Woody Holton
Forced Founders
Indians, Debtors, Slaves, and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia
E-Book
01/2011
1st Edition
University of North Carolina Press
from
€67.99
Available for download
Person
Woody Holton is assistant professor of American history at the University of Richmond.