Virginia's Western Visions

Virginia's Western Visions PDF Author: Leslie Scott Philyaw
Publisher: Univ. of Tennessee Press
ISBN: 9781572333079
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
"Once all the world was Virginia"--an exaggerated truism to be sure, but in the early eighteenth century, there seemed no limit on the Old Dominion's possibility for growth, particularly in the eyes of the state's Tidewater elite. Wealthy tobacco barons monopolized thousands of acres along Virginia's frontier, and early leadership, including William Byrd, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington, saw the generous possibilities in the expanse of lands to their west. In 1705 Virginia planter and historian Robert Beverly confidently foresaw the day when Virginia's settlements would reach "the California Sea." In Virginia's Western Visions, L. Scott Philyaw examines the often tumultuous history of Virginia's westward expansion. Land, the foundation to tobacco cultivation and slavery, obsessed early Virginians. Land acquisition was also a necessary step in dispossessing Virginia's native inhabitants, replacing them with Europeans and Africans. The relationship between Virginia's Tidewater elite and the hinterland was never simple, however. The backcountry's economic potential was undeniable, as was the possibility for colonization; but elites feared the threat of Native American nations, and the western border was consistently a source of unrest. For many English colonists, the inland wilderness was terrifying, and Philyaw argues that attitudes toward the different peoples of the frontier--Native Americans, French Catholic villagers, and German and Ulster-Scot immigrants--shed light on the cultural and ethnic assumptions of the architects of the American republic. By the early nineteenth century, the optimism of the Revolutionary generation had faded. New western states competed with Virginia for markets, settlers, and investments, and wealthy planters began abandoning the Old Dominion, taking their portable slave wealth with them. As the War of Independence came to an end, an independent Virginia actually began losing territory; the war-weary and impoverished state could no longer control the western lands its leadership had worked so tirelessly to acquire. Leaders now turned to the new national government to accomplish their aims of creating a series of western states that would share Virginia's interests. They failed, and in the antebellum era Virginia's elite more often allied with states to the south rather than those that were once part of the Old Dominion. From the earliest settlement of the area, Virginians wrestled with both the political and cultural meaning of "Virginia." By examining the changing attitudes toward the early West, Virginia's Western Visions offers a fascinating glimpse into the dreams of the Old Dominion's early leaders, the challenges that faced them, and their vision for Virginia's future. L. Scott Philyaw is associate professor of history at Western Carolina University. He is a contributor to After the Backcountry: Rural Life in the Great Valley of Virginia, 1800-1900, and his articles and reviews have appeared in the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, the Journal of the Early Republic, and others.

Virginia's Western Visions

Virginia's Western Visions PDF Author: Leslie Scott Philyaw
Publisher: Univ. of Tennessee Press
ISBN: 9781572333079
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 216

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Once all the world was Virginia"--an exaggerated truism to be sure, but in the early eighteenth century, there seemed no limit on the Old Dominion's possibility for growth, particularly in the eyes of the state's Tidewater elite. Wealthy tobacco barons monopolized thousands of acres along Virginia's frontier, and early leadership, including William Byrd, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington, saw the generous possibilities in the expanse of lands to their west. In 1705 Virginia planter and historian Robert Beverly confidently foresaw the day when Virginia's settlements would reach "the California Sea." In Virginia's Western Visions, L. Scott Philyaw examines the often tumultuous history of Virginia's westward expansion. Land, the foundation to tobacco cultivation and slavery, obsessed early Virginians. Land acquisition was also a necessary step in dispossessing Virginia's native inhabitants, replacing them with Europeans and Africans. The relationship between Virginia's Tidewater elite and the hinterland was never simple, however. The backcountry's economic potential was undeniable, as was the possibility for colonization; but elites feared the threat of Native American nations, and the western border was consistently a source of unrest. For many English colonists, the inland wilderness was terrifying, and Philyaw argues that attitudes toward the different peoples of the frontier--Native Americans, French Catholic villagers, and German and Ulster-Scot immigrants--shed light on the cultural and ethnic assumptions of the architects of the American republic. By the early nineteenth century, the optimism of the Revolutionary generation had faded. New western states competed with Virginia for markets, settlers, and investments, and wealthy planters began abandoning the Old Dominion, taking their portable slave wealth with them. As the War of Independence came to an end, an independent Virginia actually began losing territory; the war-weary and impoverished state could no longer control the western lands its leadership had worked so tirelessly to acquire. Leaders now turned to the new national government to accomplish their aims of creating a series of western states that would share Virginia's interests. They failed, and in the antebellum era Virginia's elite more often allied with states to the south rather than those that were once part of the Old Dominion. From the earliest settlement of the area, Virginians wrestled with both the political and cultural meaning of "Virginia." By examining the changing attitudes toward the early West, Virginia's Western Visions offers a fascinating glimpse into the dreams of the Old Dominion's early leaders, the challenges that faced them, and their vision for Virginia's future. L. Scott Philyaw is associate professor of history at Western Carolina University. He is a contributor to After the Backcountry: Rural Life in the Great Valley of Virginia, 1800-1900, and his articles and reviews have appeared in the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, the Journal of the Early Republic, and others.

Cradle of America

Cradle of America PDF Author: Peter Wallenstein
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
ISBN: 0700619941
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 552

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Book Description
As the site of the first permanent English settlement in North America, the birthplace of a presidential dynasty, and the gateway to western growth in the nation’s early years, Virginia can rightfully be called the “cradle of America.” Peter Wallenstein traces major themes across four centuries in a brisk narrative that recalls the people and events that have shaped the Old Dominion. The second edition is updated with new material throughout, including a new chapter on Virginia and world affairs from the Korean War through 9/11 and beyond, and, an expanded bibliography. Historical accounts of Virginia have often emphasized harmony and tradition, but Wallenstein focuses on the impact of conflict and change. From the beginning, Virginians have debated and challenged each other’s visions of Virginia, and Wallenstein shows how these differences have influenced its sometimes turbulent development. Casting an eye on blacks as well as whites, and on people from both east and west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, he traces such key themes as political power, racial identity, and education. Bringing to bear his long experience teaching Virginia history, Wallenstein takes readers back, even before Jamestown, to the Elizabethan settlers at Roanoke Island and the inhabitants they encountered, as well as to Virginia’s leaders of the American Revolution. He chronicles the state’s dramatic journey through the Civil War era, a time that revealed how the nation’s evolution sometimes took shape in opposition to the vision of many leading Virginians. He also examines the impact of the civil rights movement and considers controversies that accompany Virginia into its fifth century. The text is copiously illustrated to depict not only such iconic figures as Pocahontas, George Washington, and Robert E. Lee, but also such other prominent native Virginians as Carter G. Woodson, Patsy Cline, and L. Douglas Wilder. Sidebars throughout the book offer further insight, while maps and appendixes of reference data make the volume a complete resource on Virginia’s history.

The Backcountry Towns of Colonial Virginia

The Backcountry Towns of Colonial Virginia PDF Author: Christopher E. Hendricks
Publisher: Univ. of Tennessee Press
ISBN: 9781572335431
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 222

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Book Description
Hendricks writes on how towns in backcountry Virginia came about from the designs and ambitions of entrepreneurial individuals. They did not just spring up randomly in some pleasing meadow or on some riverbank happened upon by a frontiersman, for example, or a group which had struck out into the wilderness. "The people who put these plans [for towns] into action were motivated by a variety of economic, social, or philanthropic factors and sometimes purely by circumstance and opportunity." These entrepreneurial-like individuals were not a part of any organized movement. But their activities in toto played a large part in opening up the western parts of Virginia and setting a pattern for westward expansion. Among the towns Hendricks studies in larger topological areas such as the Piedmont and the Great Valley (Shenandoah) are Winchester, Marysville, Leesburg, Woodstock, Charlottesville, and Brent Town. Early maps of many of the towns especially demonstrate the ideas and purposes of their founders. Along with the maps, the authors specifics on the conception, establishment, and early period of the many towns makes each oe stand out distinctively. The enterprises and goals of the town were as varied as the individuals who conceived them.

Securing the West

Securing the West PDF Author: John R. Van Atta
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421412756
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
John R. Van Atta examines the visions of the founding generation and the increasing influence of ideological differences in the years after the peace of 1815. Americans expected the country to grow westward, but on the details of that growth they held strongly different opinions. What part should Congress play in this development? How much should public land cost? What of the families and businesses left behind, and how would society's institutions be established in the West? What of the premature settlers, the "squatters" who challenged the rule of law while epitomizing democratic daring?

The Indian World of George Washington

The Indian World of George Washington PDF Author: Colin G. Calloway
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190652179
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 648

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Book Description
George Washington's place in the foundations of the Republic remains unrivalled. His life story--from his beginnings as a surveyor and farmer, to colonial soldier in the Virginia Regiment, leader of the Patriot cause, commander of the Continental Army, and finally first president of the United States--reflects the narrative of the nation he guided into existence. There is, rightfully, no more chronicled figure. Yet American history has largely forgotten what Washington himself knew clearly: that the new Republic's fate depended less on grand rhetoric of independence and self-governance and more on land--Indian land. Colin G. Calloway's biography of the greatest founding father reveals in full the relationship between Washington and the Native leaders he dealt with intimately across the decades: Shingas, Tanaghrisson, Guyasuta, Attakullakulla, Bloody Fellow, Joseph Brant, Cornplanter, Red Jacket, and Little Turtle, among many others. Using the prism of Washington's life to bring focus to these figures and the tribes they represented--the Iroquois Confederacy, Lenape, Miami, Creek, Delaware--Calloway reveals how central their role truly was in Washington's, and therefore the nation's, foundational narrative. Calloway gives the First Americans their due, revealing the full extent and complexity of the relationships between the man who rose to become the nation's most powerful figure and those whose power and dominion declined in almost equal degree during his lifetime. His book invites us to look at America's origins in a new light. The Indian World of George Washington is a brilliant portrait of both the most revered man in American history and those whose story during the tumultuous century in which the country was formed has, until now, been only partially told.

Autumn of the Black Snake

Autumn of the Black Snake PDF Author: William Hogeland
Publisher:
ISBN: 0374107343
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 465

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Book Description
An account of how the U.S. Army was created to fight a crucial Native American war. Describes how George Washington and other early leaders organized the Legion of the United States under General "Mad" Anthony Wayne in response to a 1791 militia defeat in the Ohio River Valley. --Publisher.

Early Modern Virginia

Early Modern Virginia PDF Author: Douglas Bradburn
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
ISBN: 0813931703
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 365

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Book Description
This collection of essays on seventeenth-century Virginia, the first such collection on the Chesapeake in nearly twenty-five years, highlights emerging directions in scholarship and helps set a new agenda for research in the next decade and beyond. The contributors represent some of the best of a younger generation of scholars who are building on, but also criticizing and moving beyond, the work of the so-called Chesapeake School of social history that dominated the historiography of the region in the 1970s and 1980s. Employing a variety of methodologies, analytical strategies, and types of evidence, these essays explore a wide range of topics and offer a fresh look at the early religious, political, economic, social, and intellectual life of the colony. Contributors Douglas Bradburn, Binghamton University, State University of New York * John C. Coombs, Hampden-Sydney College * Victor Enthoven, Netherlands Defense Academy * Alexander B. Haskell, University of California Riverside * Wim Klooster, Clark University * Philip Levy, University of South Florida * Philip D. Morgan, Johns Hopkins University * William A. Pettigrew, University of Kent * Edward DuBois Ragan, Valentine Richmond History Center * Terri L. Snyder, California State University, Fullerton * Camilla Townsend, Rutgers University * Lorena S. Walsh, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Books on Early American History and Culture, 2001–2005

Books on Early American History and Culture, 2001–2005 PDF Author: Raymond D. Irwin
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description
This volume offers a complete listing and description of books published on early America between 2001 and 2005. An extraordinary research tool, Books on Early American History and Culture, 2001-2005: An Annotated Bibliography is part of a series listing materials on the history of North America and the Caribbean from 1492 to 1815. This volume includes monographs, reference works, exhibition catalogs, and essay collections published between 2001 and 2005. Each entry provides the name of the work, its author(s) or editor(s), publisher, date of publication, ISBN and/or OCLC number(s), and the Library of Congress call number. Following each detailed citation, there is a brief summary of the work and a list of journals in which it has been reviewed. Organized thematically, the book covers, among many other topics, exploration and colonization; maritime history; environment; Native Americans; race, gender, and ethnicity; migration; labor and class; business; families; religion; material culture; science; education; politics; and military affairs.

Notes on the State of Virginia

Notes on the State of Virginia PDF Author: Thomas Jefferson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Indians of North America
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description


The Lost State of Franklin

The Lost State of Franklin PDF Author: Kevin T. Barksdale
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813154030
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
In the years following the Revolutionary War, the young American nation was in a state of chaos. Citizens pleaded with government leaders to reorganize local infrastructures and heighten regulations, but economic turmoil, Native American warfare, and political unrest persisted. By 1784, one group of North Carolina frontiersmen could no longer stand the unresponsiveness of state leaders to their growing demands. This ambitious coalition of Tennessee Valley citizens declared their region independent from North Carolina, forming the state of Franklin. The Lost State of Franklin: America's First Secession chronicles the history of this ill-fated movement from its origins in the early settlement of East Tennessee to its eventual violent demise. Author Kevin T. Barksdale investigates how this lost state failed so ruinously, examining its history and tracing the development of its modern mythology. The Franklin independence movement emerged from the shared desires of a powerful group of landed elite, yeoman farmers, and country merchants. Over the course of four years they managed to develop a functioning state government, court system, and backcountry bureaucracy. Cloaking their motives in the rhetoric of the American Revolution, the Franklinites aimed to defend their land claims, expand their economy, and eradicate the area's Native American population. They sought admission into the union as America's fourteenth state, but their secession never garnered support from outside the Tennessee Valley. Confronted by Native American resistance and the opposition of the North Carolina government, the state of Franklin incited a firestorm of partisan and Indian violence. Despite a brief diplomatic flirtation with the nation of Spain during the state's final days, the state was never able to recover from the warfare, and Franklin collapsed in 1788. East Tennesseans now regard the lost state of Franklin as a symbol of rugged individualism and regional exceptionalism, but outside the region the movement has been largely forgotten. The Lost State of Franklin presents the complete history of this defiant secession and examines the formation of its romanticized local legacy. In reevaluating this complex political movement, Barksdale sheds light on a remarkable Appalachian insurrection and reminds readers of the extraordinary, fragile nature of America's young independence.