History 231 Reading Guide
First Settlers—First Settlements: “The Importance of Being English”
- Sigmund Diamond, “From Organization to Society: Virginia in the Seventeenth Century,” American Journal of Sociology 63.5 (1958): 457-475. JSTOR
- Martin Quitt, “Immigrant Origins of the Virginia Gentry: A Study of Cultural Transmission and Innovation,” William and Mary Quarterly 3rd ser. 45.4 (1988): 629-655. JSTOR
Please review:
- Guidelines for Writing a Critical Analysis of a Primary Document
- History 231 Primary Document Collections
- Extension, Deadline, and Grading Policy
- A Brief Guide to Footnote Citations in History
- A brief guide to correction marks
Questions:
- According to Diamond, what kind of organizational structure did the crown and the Virginia Company envision for the settlement at Jamestown in 1607, to accomplish their goal of returning a profit to the shareholders of the joint-stock company? What methods did they envision for managing that organization?
- What factors in Virginia thwarted their design?
- How did the Virginia Company adapt their organizational model? What inducements did they offer their “employees” and what were the unintended consequences of these?
- According to Quitt, what conditions in England loosened the ties of the first-generation emigrants to the ways of their English families, and why?
- Why did competitive individualism emerge as such a dominant value in mid-century Virginia culture? Why were these individuals attracted to the opportunity in Virginia?
- How did the gentrification and more self-conscious Anglicization of their sons and grandsons evolve from their legacy?