The politics of war : race, class, and conflict in revolutionary Virginia
"War often unites a society behind a common cause, but the notion of diverse populations all rallying together to fight on the same side disguises the complex social forces that come into play in the midst of perceived unity. Michael A. McDonnell uses the Revolution in Virginia to examine the political and social struggles of a revolutionary society at war with itself as much as with Great Britain. McDonnell documents the numerous contests within Virginia over mobilizing for war--struggles between ordinary Virginians and patriot leaders, between the lower and middle classes, and between blacks and whites. From these conflicts emerged a republican polity rife with racial and class tensions. Looking at the Revolution in Virginia from the bottom up, The Politics of War demonstrates how contests over waging war in turn shaped society and the emerging new political settlement. With its insights into the mobilization of popular support, the exposure of social rifts, and the inversion of power relations, McDonnell's analysis is relevant to any society at war."--Publisher's description
Print Book, English, ©2007
Published for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Virginia, by the University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, ©2007
History
xviii, 544 pages : maps ; 25 cm
9780807831083, 9780807871553, 0807831085, 0807871559
70219795
Introduction
PART 1. THE EBULLITION OF PATRIOTISM: 1. Mustering patriotism: The problem of popular mobilization, 1774-1775 ; 2. Those who aim at too much: The Revolution begins ; 3. Checking wild irregular sallies: Patriot leaders reassert control
PART 2. MOVEMENTS FOR INDEPENDENCE: 4. Plebeian infamy: The Minutemen and their world ; 5. The burning of Norfolk: Patriot leaders become reluctant Revolutionaries ; 6. The spirit of levelling: Movements for Independence, January-May 1776 ; 7. Revolutionary settlement: Creating a new government
PART 3. THE LIMITS OF ALLEGIANCE: 8. Fit for common service? Mobilization problems, 1776-1777 ; 9. The Politics of lower-class draft resistance, 1777-1778 ; 10. Paralysis and division, 1778-1780
PART 4. REVOLUTION OF FOOLS AND KNAVES: 11. Revolutionary demands: War comes to the South ; 12. Asserting fundamental rights: Militia Service and Resistance, 1781 ; 13. Defeat
Toward the New Republic: The Revolutionary legacy of the War for Independence
Index