Here is a vivid picture of late eighteenth-century Virginia's keen and often hot-tempered local politics. Sydnor has filled his book with the lively details of campaign practices; the drama of election day; the workings of the county oligarchies; and the practical politics of that training school for statesmen; the Virginia House of Burgesses.Originally published in 1952. (This book was also published under the title American Revolutionaries in the Making in 1965.)A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original; and are presented in affordable paperback formats; bringing readers both historical and cultural value.
#317930 in Books 2007-09-24Ingredients: Example IngredientsOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.25 x .72 x 6.13l; 1.03 #File Name: 0807858544320 pages
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. thought-provoking study of how Caribbean colonization affected English societyBy hmf22This is a short book with an ambitious goal: to show how establishing a slavery-based colonial society in the Caribbean transformed English society. As Amussen explains in the introduction; she was inspired to write the book by someone's question about how Caribbean planters' rape of slave women affected attitudes towards sexual violence back in England. Ultimately; she concluded that "Each of the major transformations in the seventeenth-century Caribbean--in the organization of work; law; gender; and race--has a counterpart in eighteenth-century England. These English developments were not caused by the same events as in the Caribbean; but the sugar islands provided social and cultural resources that could be used as English men and women sought to respond to social change. The changes necessary to sustain a slave-owning society turned out to be--in modified forms--equally useful as England developed a capitalist and increasingly industrial society" (229).Inevitably; given the scale of the thesis and the brevity of the book; Amussen's argument is sometimes more impressionistic than thorough. I was most impressed by her in-depth treatment of highly specific topics; such as her close reading of Richard Ligon's and John Taylor's writings in Chapter 2 and her discussion of portraits of English socialites with black slaves in Chapter 6. Her discussion of the evolution of English Caribbean society in the 17th century is very good but not complete; and I suspect that future historians will find more parallels between developments there and social change in England. But these are hardly weaknesses in a ground-breaking study. I found that this book made me think about the relationship between England and its colonies in a new way.0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Four StarsBy robert k. lidyard jr.as described
