Atlantic Virginia - by April Lee Hatfield (Paperback)

About the Book

"A solid, thought-provoking study of a far more complex world than historians of seventeenth-century Virginia have yet offered."--"Journal of Southern History"

Book Synopsis

Through networks of trails and rivers inland and established ocean routes across the seas, seventeenth-century Virginians were connected to a vibrant Atlantic world. They routinely traded with adjacent Native Americans and received ships from England, the Netherlands, and other English and Dutch colonies, while maintaining less direct connections to Africa and to French and Spanish colonies. Their Atlantic world emerged from the movement of goods and services, but trade routes quickly became equally important in the transfer of people and information.

Much seventeenth-century historiography, however, still assumes that each North American colony operated as a largely self-contained entity and interacted with other colonies only indirectly, through London. By contrast, in Atlantic Virginia, historian April Lee Hatfield demonstrates that the colonies actually had vibrant interchange with each other and with peoples throughout the hemisphere, as well as with Europeans.

Review Quotes

"A solid, thought-provoking study of a far more complex world than historians of seventeenth-century Virginia have yet offered."-- "Journal of Southern History"

"An example of how to approach colonial history. Historians would be wise to study it carefully."-- "American Historical Review"

"Hatfield explains the importance of intercolonial trade to Virginia as well as its transatlantic connections through English and Dutch traders. . . . Hatfield's greatest contribution, however, is her persuasive argument that Virginians' contact with other colonies fundamentally shaped the way they created the institution of slavery."-- "Journal of American History"

"This is an important book. Hatfield has made a significant contribution to the history not only of early Virginia but also to early British America."-- "James Horn, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation"

About the Author

April Lee Hatfield is Associate Professor of History at Texas AandM University.