Patrician and Plebeian / Or The Origin and Development of the Social Classes of the Old Dominion

by Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker

BIBLIOGRAPHY[ToC]

Anbury, Major Thomas.—Travels Through the Interior Parts of America in a series of Letters. Two Volumes. Printed for William Lane, Leadenhall Street, London, 1791. Major Anbury was a British officer who was captured at Saratoga and was brought south with the Convention Prisoners. He was paroled and had an opportunity to see much of Virginia. His observations upon the social life of the state are interesting, although tinged with prejudice. Viewing life in the New World with the eyes of one accustomed to the conventional ideas of England his writings throw light upon conditions in the Old Dominion that cannot be found in the works of native authors.

Bagby, George W.—Selections from the Writings of. Whittet and Shepperson, Richmond, Va., 1884. Two volumes. The articles in this work touching on Virginia life are well worth the attention of the historian. Dr. Bagby traveled through many parts of the state and had an unsurpassed opportunity of becoming acquainted with this life. The style is pleasing and the stories entertaining.

Barton, R.T.—Virginia Colonial Decisions. The Reports by Sir John Randolph and by Edward Barradall of the Decisions of the General Court of Virginia, 1728-1741. Two volumes. The Boston Book Company, Boston. Accompanying the decisions is a prospective sketch of the contemporaneous conditions during the period covered and of the lawyers who practiced at the bar of the General Court in that day. In addition, the first volume contains an interesting account of the settling of Virginia and its history in the seventeenth century. Chapters are devoted to a description of the land, of the people, of the government, of the church, of the lack of cities, and of education. The chief value of the work, however, lies in the light that is thrown upon the history of Virginia during the years between 1728 and 1741, by the publication of the decisions which were before in manuscript form and practically inaccessible to the investigator.

Bernard, John.—Retrospections of America, 1797-1811. Harper and Brothers, New York, 1887. One volume. Bernard was famous in his time as a comedian and one of the earliest American managers of theatrical companies. He visited Virginia in 1799 and made many excursions to the homes of the wealthy planters. He thus had an opportunity to see the inner life of the most refined class of the state. His descriptions of their manners and morals, their tastes, their hospitality and their love of out-of-door sports are interesting and usually accurate.

Beverley, Robert.—The History and Present State of Virginia, in Four Parts. Printed for R. Parker, at the Unicorn, under the Piazza's of the Royal-Exchange, 1705. One volume. The work consists of an outline of the history of the colony from 1607 to 1705; of a statement of the natural productions of Virginia; its industries and its facilities for trade; of an account of the Indians and a brief summary of the government at the time of publication. The work is of value chiefly as a description of Virginia at the beginning of the 18th century. In the account given of the history of the colony in the earlier days there are many errors.

Brown, Alexander.—The Genesis of the United States. Two volumes. Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston and New York. This work consists of an account of the movement which resulted in the founding of Virginia, presented in the form of a series of documents not before printed, and of rare contemporaneous tracts reissued for the first time. The author, in a later work, criticises The Genesis of the United States in the following words, "I did not fully understand the case myself. I had failed (as every one else had previously done) to give due consideration to the influence of imperial politics on the history of this popular movement. I had also failed to consider properly the absolute control over the evidences, in print and in manuscript, possessed by the crown." The chief value of the work lies in the fact that it presents to the public numerous historical evidences which were for so many years inaccessible.

The First Republic in America. One volume. Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston and New York. This work gives an account of the origin of the nation, written from the records long concealed in England. It not only is not based on the printed histories of the day, but expressly repudiates them as false and unjust, and as written in the interest of the Court Party. Much discredit is thrown upon the narratives of Capt. John Smith. The author says; "He never returned there (Virginia) and—if every one else had done exactly as he did, there would have remained no colonists in Virginia, but mountains of books in England, conveying incorrect ideas, and filled with a mass of vanity, 'excellent criticism' and 'good advice,' amounting really to nothing." In a later work Mr. Brown says of The First Republic in America; "I wrote from the point of the Patriot Party. It was the first effort to restore to our foundation as a nation the inspiring political features of which it was robbed by those who controlled the evidences and histories under the crown."

English Politics in Early Virginia History. One volume. Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston and New York. The book is divided into five parts. The First Part gives an outline of the efforts of the "Patriot Party" in England to plant popular government in America and of the Court Party to prevent. Part Two recites the effort of the Court to obliterate the true history of the origin of Virginia. In Part Three the author shows the influence of politics on the historic record while the crown retained control of the evidences. Part Four shows what has been done both towards correcting and to perpetuating the error. In the Fifth Part is given a review of some of the features of the struggle of the "Patriot Party" and the Court Party.