Wertenbaker follows Virginia’s long contest between royal governors and the House of Burgesses, from the founding of the assembly through the overthrow of a governor, Bacon’s Rebellion, the Glorious Revolution and the tyrannical Francis Nicholson to Alexander Spotswood. The result is a history of self-government built in the colony long before Patrick Henry spoke the title’s words.
A lucid account by a leading historian of the colonial South, for readers interested in the roots of American independence. Download the free EPUB.