History 231 Reading Guide
The English Empire and the Colonies in the Late Seventeenth Century: The Glorious Revolution in America
- Bernard Bailyn, “Politics and Social Structure in Virginia,” in J.M. Smith, ed., Seventeenth-Century America (1959, 1987): or in Katz, Colonial America, 4th ed. (1993). e-reserve
Further reading:
- John M. Murrin, “The Menacing Shadow of Louis XIV and the Rage of Jacob Leisler: The Constitutional Ordeal of Seventeenth-Century New York,” in Stephen L. Schechter and Richard B. Bernstein, eds., New York and the Union: Contributions to the American Constitutional Experience (1990), 29-71.
Questions:
According to Bailyn, outbursts and insurrections against constituted authority were both “symptomatic of a profound disorganization of European society in its American setting” and indicative of alterations in the “social foundations of political power” (90).
- How were traditionally held assumptions about social structure and political authority altered in the colonies during the early and mid-seventeenth century?
- What were the consequences of these changes for leadership?
- What upset the precarious balance of leadership by mid-century?
- How was a new equilibrium established in the 1670s? Who did it serve—and disserve?
- From where did the challenge to authority in Virginia emerge?
- What was the nature of the eventual “equilibrium”?
If you are interested in learning more about the late seventeenth century "rebellions" in the North American colonies, you might explore these online:
- 1676: Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia (Nathaniel Bacon)
- 1677: Culpeper's Rebellion in North Carolina (John Culpeper)
- 1689: Leisler's Rebellion in New York City (Jacob Leisler)
- 1689: The Protestant Association in Maryland (Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore)
- 1689: The Rebellion against Andros in New England (Sir Edmund Andros)