Book Review on “The Transformation of Virginia 1740-1790”

Introduction

This paper is a book review of a book titled “The Transformation of Virginia 1740-1970”. The author of the book is Rhys Isaac. The book published in 1999 by the university of North Carolina Press. The book mainly analyzes and describes the theatrical conflicts that occurred in the second half of the eighteenth century. The conflicts were principally political and religious in nature, and these were the basic factors due to which Virginia transformed. As Isaac is also a cultural anthropologist, he scrupulously cuts apart a society recreating the chaos of intense inner transformation it in a lively manner (Isaac, Pp. 2-448).

A brief introduction about the state of Virginia could be that Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in North America. Two earlier British colonization attempts, at Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina and at Newfoundland, ended in disaster. In 1612, John Rolfe began experimenting with a hybrid strain of tobacco that was particularly well suited to the Virginia climate, and for the first time, Virginia Company speculators began to see a return on their investments. The introduction of tobacco profoundly affected Virginia's social and economic structure. It was a highly labor-intensive crop and so, in order to recruit sufficient labor, the Virginia Company established the head right system in 1616. Nevertheless, the Virginia colony remained highly unstable (Wesley, Pp. 12-35).

Discussion

Isaac explains that the 18th century saw a gradual change in this atmosphere. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 and changes in English law increased the pressure on the colonies to allow tolerance for nonconforming Protestants. This pressure bore some fruits, and Virginia became less hostile to dissenters. Among the earliest were the Scots Presbyterians who settled in the Virginia up-country. They were soon followed by Baptists. The first Baptist ...