In 1763 the oppressive program of Grenville set up a tempo of resentment. Virginia and Maryland soon struck against the abuse of liberty, with Patrick Henry as their spokesman. Rioting followed the Carolinas and Georgia. With the Townshend Acts of 1767 the crisis worsened. In nine more years the “Tea and Trumpets” period―to use Mr. Alden’s phrase―would explode into the Revolution.
 These events form but a single, bright strand in the intricate story of the South during the Revolution. This volume―the first complete account yet written of an exciting period―ranges from the demography of the South (including White, Negro, and Indian groups), through the War of Independence, into the critical early years of the Union.
 The emphasis throughout is upon political and social change. The network of historic conditions and human motives is treated with consummate skill; and the heroic story of the war, with its gallery of personalities on both sides, is vigorously narrated.
 The book also gives a valuable account both of the origins and evolution of Southern sectionalism and of the role of the South in creating the Union. Besides the full-scale record of the colony-states on the Atlantic seaboard, the development of the Old Southwest is brilliantly detailed, including Indian warfare, the settlement of Kentucky and Tennessee, and many other related topics.

The South in the Revolution, 1763–1789: A History of the South

History

Alden, John Richard

Americas

LSU Press

In this highly acclaimed and enduring biography, John R. Alden traces the interwoven histories of George Washington and the nation he helped to create, defend, and guide toward the future. Alden revisits the major events of Washington’s personal and professional life, including his boyhood in rural Virginia, his early careers as a surveyor and then a soldier in the French and Indian War, and his staid but lasting marriage. The core of the biography concerns Washington’s leadership roles―his assumption of the post of commander in chief of the Continental Army, his part in the Constitutional Convention, and his presidency. As Alden reveals, Washington’s greatness lay in his total devotion to the cause of the American nation and in his wisdom as a leader.

George Washington: A Biography (Southern Biography Series)

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Stephen Sayre: American Revolutionary Adventurer

Stephen Sayre’s career was far more remarkable for its diversity than for its success. At one time or another, Sayre was a soldier, merchant, banker, shipbuilder, politician, speculator, propagandist, diplomat, and inventor. He was also considered by some, as John Alden relates, “a wicked schemer, a fool, a madman, an embezzler, and a traitor.”
Following the dizzying course of Sayre’s career, this biography reveals a vast panorama of life, both high and low, in the era of the American Revolution. Sayre frequented the polite society of England, Europe, and New York; twice married into a wealthy English family; and was elected for a term as sheriff of London. He also consorted with the actress Sophia Baddeley, one of the most notorious women of the time; was arrested and confined in the Tower of London for allegedly plotting to kidnap the king; and spent twenty months in a debtors’ prison.
If there was one constant in Sayre’s life, it was his involvement in revolutionary politics. He was a fearless advocate of colonial rights in England, and after the outbreak of war in America he traveled to Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, and Russia to seek support for the revolution. Years later, he was an enthusiastic supporter of France’s revolution. Working as an agent for the new French regime, he tried to secure it financial aid, promoted a scheme to purchase American weapons for the French army, argued for a French attack on Spanish Louisiana, and was active in diplomatic efforts to stave off war between Britain and France.
Eventually, the turmoil of events in Paris drove away even as devoted a supporter as Sayre. He returned to America, where he continued to argue the cause of the French Revolution and quickly gained a reputation as an extremist. Engaging in the politics of the new American republic, Sayre assailed conservative forces in the nation, in particular the emerging Federalist party. He devoted much of his energy in later years to a persistent but unrewarded attempt to secure a post within the federal government and to somewhat more successful attempts to obtain payment for his past services to his country. In time he moved to Virginia to live with his stepson; he died there in 1818.
From the beginning of his career, Stephen Sayre aspired to wealth, social position, and political influence. At various points in his life he achieved each of these goals, but finally they all eluded him. An outstanding patriot, Sayre was far too erratic in his behavior, far too mercurial a personality ever to be counted as a father of his country. He is better remembered as a kind of principled rogue, an adventurer in the service of his own ambitions and those of his country.

Robert Dinwiddie: Servant of the Crown (Williamsburg in America series)

Colonial Williamsburg Foundati

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