The Cradle of the Revolution: How Virginia's Greatest Gentlemen Began the American Revolution in 1766

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In this show, Will argues that Virginia, rather than Massachusetts, was the cradle of the American Revolution. To do so, he begins with the French and Indian War, describing the cost of it to both Virginia and Britain, and how it led to the Stamp Act, one of the key causes of the American Revolution. He then explains why the Stamp Act's silver currency requirement was particularly harmful to the agrarian, tobacco-dependent Virginia economy.

Continuing, he argues that when Richard Henry Lee led Virginia into its 1766 passing of the Westmoreland Resolves—also called the Leedsburg Resolutions—that was the moment the Revolution began, and that the standard of organized political reaction to British tyranny set by it was the path to revolution that other states followed. Further, he explains why the Westmoreland Resolves were such a critical step forward that served as the beginning of the Revolution, what made the men behind them special, and how they show the unique culture of leadership and duty that existed in the Virginia of the Golden Age. He concludes by noting Richard Henry Lee's later involvement in the Declaration of Independence, and how Virginia led America in pushing for it.

Sources Referenced in this Episode:

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• Smith, Captain John: The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles., https://amzn.to/49H3hxR

• Willison, George F.: Behold Virginia: The Fifth Crown, https://amzn.to/4do9YG4

• Dabney, Virginius: Virginia: The New Dominion, https://amzn.to/4dtAE8l

• Andrews, Matthew Page: Virginia: The Old Dominion, Vol. I, https://amzn.to/4uZBW2h

• Bruce, Philip Alexander: The Virginia Plutarch, Vol I, https://amzn.to/437cAU0

• Morton, Richard L.: Colonial Virginia, https://amzn.to/4ua3bqY

• Andrews, Matthew Page: The Soul of a Nation: The Founding Of Virginia and the Projection of New England, https://amzn.to/4d9Ut6

Image credit: Public Domain unless otherwise stated

• Major George Washington, Junius Brutus Stearns, CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, via Wikimedia Commons

• Fort Necessity Diorama, Pi3.124, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

• Fort Necessity, Chris Light, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons