Cradle of America: A History of Virginia
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.
1119276475
Cradle of America: A History of Virginia
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.
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Cradle of America: A History of Virginia

Cradle of America: A History of Virginia

by Peter Wallenstein
Cradle of America: A History of Virginia

Cradle of America: A History of Virginia

by Peter Wallenstein

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Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780700619948
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Publication date: 08/15/2014
Edition description: Revised
Pages: 562
Sales rank: 293,012
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Peter Wallenstein is professor of history at Virginia Tech. His books include Blue Laws and Black Codes: Conflict, Courts, and Change in Twentieth-Century Virginia.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations and Sidebars

Prologue: Jamestown, Blacksburg, and the Return of Pangea

Part I 1580s-1760s

Between Two Worlds

1. Elizabethan Virginia

2. Jamestown

3. Land and Labor

4. The West

Part II 1760s-1820s

Political Independence and Political Slavery

5. Conservative Revolutionaries: Virginians and Independence

6. Perfecting Independence (I): Power and Policy in Postrevolutionary Virginia

7. Virginia and a New Union

8. Mother of Presidents, Mother of States

Part III 1820s-1890s

After Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase

9. Perfecting Independence (II): Power and Policy in Early National Virginia

10. Collision of Three Virginias

11. Race and Slavery, 1820s-1850s

12. The Compromises of 1850-1851

13. Virginia’s Road to Secession and War

14. Virginians at War

15. Reconstructing Virginia—After War and Emancipation

16. Railroads, Schools, and Readjusters

Part IV 1890s-1940s

The Politics of Migration and the Winds of Change

17. Southern Progressivism

18. Alternative Pasts—Preserved, Retrieved, Celebrated

19. Alternative Futures

20. Great Depression and New Deal

21. World War II

Part V 1945-2014

Cold and Great Society

22. Virginia and World Affairs

23. The Road to Brown v. Board of Education

24. Massive Resistance to School Desegregation

25. Power and Policy—The Politics of the 1960s

26. Toward a New Dominion: Virginia since the 1960s

27. Retrospectives on Virginia History: Controversy and Commemoration

Conclusion: Virginia History through the Centuries

Appendix 1: Governors of Virginia, 1776-2007

Appendix 2: U.S. Senators from Virginia, 1789-2007

Appendix 3: Members of the Virginia Supreme Court. 1789-2007

Appendix 4: Virginia and Presidential Elections, 1789-2004

Appendix 5: Virginia and the Census Returns, 1790-2000

For Further Learning about Virginia History

Acknowledgments

Index

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