Democracy Vineyards is pleased to welcome author James Thompson to its next Voices of Democracy: After Hours on Sunday, April 19 at 5:30 pm. Mr. Thompson is a philosophy graduate of the University of Virginia who has spent many years exploring the multiple facets of Thomas Jefferson’s outlook on life and politics. Having written extensively on the third President, he will share some thoughts on how Jefferson used wine in his self-transformation into a Renaissance man. He has written six books, including Beyond the Veil of Reason – Thomas Jefferson's Early Political Initiative (2005), Thomas Jefferson’s Enlightenment – Paris 1785 (2014), Thomas Jefferson’s Enlightenment – Background Notes (2015), and The First Revolutions in the Minds of the People (2015). His newest project, George Washington’s Mulatto Man – Who was Billy Lee? will be published this fall.
Democracy Vineyards is located at 585 Mountain Cove Road, Lovingston, VA on Rt. 718, just north of the village of Lovingston. There is a $5/pp admission which includes a glass of wine and, because seating is limited, reservations are recommended. For further information, call 434-263-8463.
Host Andrew Mills and the author of "The Birth of Virginia's Aristocracy" explore how a handful of prominent men transformed themselves and their families into an upper crust that dominated the colony of Virginia for more 200 years.
(PRWEB) December 10, 2014
Early risers can watch this informative episode of Virginia Time Travel on Cox Cable - Channel 10 and on Verizon Fios - Channel 10 at 6:00 AM on Tuesday, December 23. It will run again on Christmas Day at 6:00 PM and on Friday, December 26 at and at 9:30 PM. It can also be seen TimeTravel21 Utube program page.
Today, we tend to view Virginia’s Aristocracy as 18th century people who lived in big houses and chased foxes. In this half-hour program, Andrew and Jim touch on several forgotten details. One of the most important to remember is that colonizing Virginia was a commercial venture directed by men who aimed to make money. The Englishmen who came to Virginia between 1607 and 1660 included a few well-to-do treasurer hunters, dozens of second sons and dispossessed royalists, hundreds of middle class tradesmen, and thousands of impoverished laborers who arrived as indentured servants. Most of these “adventurers” came to Virginia make their fortunes. Seventy percent of them met untimely ends.
To read more please visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/12/prweb12379060.htm
The Birth of Virginia's Aristocracy
Look Inside!
This engaging book explains how a few scoundrels in 17th century Virginia made themselves into a social upper crust that ruled the Old Dominion for over two centuries
In a revised electronic edition of “The Birth of Virginia’s Aristocracy,” author James Thompson explains that took more than money and political clout for Virginia’s biggest planters to transform themselves into an "aristocracy". It also required the contrary opinion of Colonel Richard Lee II who transferred his allegiance from the squabbling, fragmented community that surrounded him to a distant English Lord.
Commonwealth Books of Virginia is pleased to announce the publication of a revised edition of James Thompson’s “The Birth of Virginia’s Aristocracy.” It will soon be available in electronic formats for popular handheld readers.
About The Birth of Virginia’s Aristocracy:
James Thompson notes in his introduction that he is a philosopher, not an historian. The significance of his training becomes apparent in his account of how civil society developed in 17th century Virginia. Mr. Thompson begins his narrative by explaining that the Virginia Company was founded by men who aimed it to make MONEY. The author describes the natural disasters and corruption that led two decades later to the company's collapse and the reclamation of its Jamestown colony by England's king in 1624. He explains how social visionary Edmund Sandys tried to save the faltering enterprise by shifting its focus from generating business profits to manufacturing a viable community. Sandys did this, Thompson explains, by attracting productive new citizens with economic incentives, private land ownership, and a community “parliament”. Thompson interprets Sandys’ "commonwealth" experiment into a first principle of society: economic policies determine to fate of a society. Virginia’s commonwealth survived, he observes, because Sandys' ingenious scheme succeeded in transforming what had been a starving commune into a thriving marketplace. Thompson describes how growth snarled the commonwealth’s “civil society” in politics. He finds in this a second principle of society: as the cell grows it divides. In Virginia, increasingly distanced landowners encountered increasingly different opportunities and faced increasingly different problems. Seeking a way to manage its colony’s proliferating problems and conflicts, the Virginia’s Company’s London Council followed Sandys' recommendation and authorized its colonists to establish a local legislature where they could define their common good and make their laws. Doing these things made politics an integral aspect of Virginia’s fledgling society. It quickly became a divisive force. An ominous turn occurred in 1660 when Governor Berkeley began packing the legislature with his friends. In the process, Thompson observes, he created the privileged, wealthy set that is remembered today as Virginia’s “aristocracy”.
For information about the book and reseller discounts, contact James Thompson at jct@commonwealthbooks.org or at 703-307-7715.
The Birth of Virginia’s Aristocracy
By James C. Thompson
American History/Political Philosophy
ISBN (print - Paperback): 978-0-9825922-0-5
ISBN (ebook - PDF): 978-0-9825922-1-2
ISBN (ebook - Mobipocket): 978-0-9904018-6-5
ISBN (ebook - EPUB): 978-0-9904018-7-2
Paperback Edition: 150 pages / $16.00
E-book Editions: 140 pages / $5.95
Release date: October 30, 2014
Distributed by Small Press United of Chicago (312-337-0747)
View book details online at: http://www.commonwealthbooks.org
Host Andrew Mills and the author of "The Birth of Virginia's Aristocracy" explore how a handful of prominent men transformed themselves and their families into an upper crust that dominated the colony of Virginia for more 200 years.