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1619 - Jamestown and the Forging of American Democracy (Hardcover)
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1619 - Jamestown and the Forging of American Democracy (Hardcover)
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1619 offers a new interpretation of the significance of Jamestown
in the long trajectory of American history. Jamestown, the cradle
of American democracy, also saw the birth of our nation's greatest
challenge: the corrosive legacy of slavery and racism that have
deepened and entrenched stark inequalities in our society. After
running Jamestown under martial law from 1610-1616, the Virginia
Company turned toward representative government in an effort to
provide settlers with more control over their own affairs and more
incentive to invest further in the colony. Governor Edwin Sandys
dreamed of creating a real commonwealth, to provide for the
interests of settlers and Indians alike. Thus, in late July 1619,
the newly-formed General Assembly gathered to introduce "just Laws
for the happy guiding and governing of the people." It was the
first legislature in America, and history has cast it as the
foundation of American freedom and democracy. From that moment on,
propertied white colonists became accustomed to freedoms that would
have been unthinkable in England with its layers of customs and
hierarchy of courts and regulations, and these expanding political
and economic freedoms attracted countless British immigrants and
other Europeans to Virginia and the American colonies. But those
very freedoms also permitted the wholesale and largely unchecked
exploitation of poor white laborers and non-European peoples. More
than nine-tenths of all those arriving in Virginia at this time
were brought in some form of servitude or labor contract. In a
cruel irony, 1619 also saw the arrival of the first African slaves
in Virginia. The establishment of the General Assembly did nothing
to ameliorate these disparities, but rather put ever more power in
the hands of local grandees. Sandys's dream of creating a
commonwealth in the interests of settlers and Indians proved
short-lived. But the twin pillars of democracy-the rule of law and
representative government based on the consent of the
people-survived and flourished. It was his greatest legacy to
America. What was lost was his steadfast conviction that serving
the common good served all. This is a pattern we recognize all too
well in modern American society-opportunities are not shared,
inequality is rampant, racism is systemic. We would like to think
these are problems that can be solved by expanding representative
democracy; Jamestown teaches us, instead, that these are problems
have long been created and encouraged by American democracy.
Casting a skeptical eye on deeply-cherished myths, 1619 will be
essential reading for anyone struggling to understand the paradox
of American freedom.
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