How did colonial Georgia; an economic backwater in its early days; make its way into the burgeoning Caribbean and Atlantic economies where trade spilled over national boundaries; merchants operated in multiple markets; and the transport of enslaved Africans bound together four continents?In On the Rim of the Caribbean; Paul M. Pressly interprets Georgia's place in the Atlantic world in light of recent work in transnational and economic history. He considers how a tiny elite of newly arrived merchants; adapting to local culture but loyal to a larger vision of the British empire; led the colony into overseas trade. From this perspective; Pressly examines the ways in which Georgia came to share many of the characteristics of the sugar islands; how Savannah developed as a "Caribbean" town; the dynamics of an emerging slave market; and the role of merchant-planters as leaders in forging a highly adaptive economic culture open to innovation. The colony's rapid growth holds a larger story: how a frontier where Carolinians played so large a role earned its own distinctive character.Georgia's slowness in responding to the revolutionary movement; Pressly maintains; had a larger context. During the colonial era; the lowcountry remained oriented to the West Indies and Atlantic and failed to develop close ties to the North American mainland as had South Carolina. He suggests that the American Revolution initiated the process of bringing the lowcountry into the orbit of the mainland; a process that would extend well beyond the Revolution.
#921524 in Books University of Georgia Press 2004-01-05 2004-01-05Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.50 x .55 x 5.50l; .55 #File Name: 0820324000184 pages
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Fascinating little book; full of interesting informationBy David W. NicholasThis is a small book that includes a lot of fascinating information. Don Higginbotham is a historian who's studied George Washington carefully; and he wrote and delivered three papers on Washington's influence on the American military; as lectures at Mercer University. This book includes those three lectures; reworked and lengthened; along with a fourth chapter he wrote for this book; contrasting and comparing George C. Marshall; the US Chief of Staff in World War II and later Secretary of State and author of the Marshall Plan; with Washington.The author's main premise can be succinctly stated. Washington was a fine model for the American army to follow and build on; because of his character and sense of duty. He deliberately restrained himself and others from abusing his power as commander in chief during the Revolution; and that example served as the framework for the behavior of generals in the years since. Washington was working without benefit of examples; in many ways: no one had ever dealt with a government like the Continental Congress before; because there hadn't been a government like it in the past. So Washington essentially was making it up as he went along; and the result was exemplary; and has done us proud in the years since.This is an excellent little book; and I would recommend it to anyone interested in Washington or the American military.5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. George Washington and American Military TraditionBy Paul G. GillespieWhether you are interested in George Washington specifically; or military history generally; this book is a must read. Higginbotham; a well-respected University of North Carolina history professor has done a magnificent job of explaining the unique relations between civilian and military interests that are so crucial in our form of government. In the process; you are sure to gain a renewed appreciation for George Washington; the military leader whose character and forebearance created a solid foundation for American military tradition.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy JosephJacobsGreat Item.
