SEAT OF EMPIRE: THE POLITICAL ROLE OF EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY WILLIAMSBURG

by Carl Bridenbaugh '25. Colonial Williamsburg, Inc., 1950, pp.

85, $1.75.

From 1699 to 1779, Williamsburg was the capital of Virginia and was naturally the focus of much of the political and social life of the province. The restoration which has been carried out under the auspices of Colonial Williamsburg, Inc., attracts each year thousands of visitors who are enabled to view the town much as it appeared in the eighteenth century. This small volume should be read by anyone contemplating a visit to Williamsburg and it will be of no less interest and profit to persons who have already been there. The book could have been written only by one who was familiar with present-day tidewater Virginia and also thoroughly at home in the history of colonial America. As Director for several years of The Institute of Early American History and Culture, with headquarters at Williamsburg, Dr. Bridenbaugh was the ideal person to undertake the writing of this delightful historical and descriptive essay.

While attention is devoted primarily to the political activities which centered at Williamsburg while Virginia was a royal province, the early chapters offer a lively account of the plantation economy which characterized the Old Dominion, and of the manner of life and the responsibilities of the wealthy planters which fitted them so admirably for political leadership. There are also descriptions of plantation estates, modes of travel, taverns, etc., as well as a vivid picture of Williamsburg itself during the "Publick Times" when the General Court and the House of Burgesses were in session. Later chapters trace the story of the mounting crisis which led to the Revolution, especially attention being given to the dramatic role of Patrick Henry. Incidentally, the author throws new light upon the complex circumstances which led the members of the aristocratic and conservative planter aristocracy to assume a hostile attitude toward Great Britain. Sound scholarship, a graceful literary style, and a number of well-selected illustrations combine to make this a most valuable and attractive volume.