Freedome Corne: Virginia before the American Revolution.
is the true story of an ordinary Virginia family living in pre-Revolution America. The book describes day-to-day life in the context of historical events that challenged the men and women who lived in Middlesex County, Virginia, from 1660 to about 1760. The story begins with the unlikely appearance in 1663 of John Bristow, an indentured servant.
Colonial Virginia prospered under the indentured labor system. Conscripted servants became free upon fulfilling a period of indenture, ordinarily about seven years. Upon gaining freedom, an indentured person received some clothing, a few tools, and a supply of seed corn with which to begin a new life. These colonial freemen formed the core citizenry of the agrarian nation that ultimately became the United States of America.
For those interested in early Virginia, especially those who had ancestors there, this book offers a detailed picture of life in those times, including what life was like for residents in their homes, social strata, economics, and environment. The characters are common people experiencing life under the shadow of great historical events, people of ordinary means often struggling to survive. They encounter the same dilemmas, disappointments, and triumphs that most readers will easily identify in the history of their own ancestors.
· Part I covers colonial life in the Chesapeake from the first settlement at Jamestown until the creation of Middlesex County, Virginia, and Bacon's Rebellion.
· Part II is about the experiences of the Bristow family at home on Dragon Run.
· Part III recounts challenges of the Bristow children as freeholders in pre-Revolutionary America.
Chapters offer an intimate understanding of this important time in American life and the circles of friendship and mutual support among common citizens that meant their survival.
Maps and engravings of colonial life, notes, bibliography, index.