American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia

Berkeley served two terms as Virginia’s governor. While loyal to the king, he was a huge champion of Virginia planters, and while he supported diversification in his second term, he defied the king and allowed the planters to continue trading with the Dutch. In his second term he led the colony through Bacon’s Rebellion, managing to keep the lid on rebellion and leading the colony through the strife. Morgan introduces Berkeley because he was critical to the colony’s successful development. He was also one of the few leaders who sought to maintain positive relationships with the Indians.

Drake was an English explorer/pirate and slaver who joined up with the runaway slaves, the Cimarron people of Panama, to fight against the Spanish. Drake sailed to Roanoke with some freed Indians and Africans, but what became of them is unknown. Morgan introduces Drake to provide historical context for colonial Virginia and to show the early settlers’ initial attitudes toward the Indians and enslaved Africans.

Hakluyt was a clergyman and the younger of the two Hakluyt cousins, who wrote The Principal Navigations of the English Nation, publishing the first edition in 1589 and an expanded second edition in 1600. This work primarily recorded the exploits of English explorers. However, Morgan also places the work as a foundational text advocating for an English empire and English imperialism, because Hakluyt believed that England should think about freedom not just in the New World but around the globe. The work advanced the cause of colonizing the New World to transplant English political, social, and economic systems to build an empire that the people of the world, namely the Indians of Virginia, would want.

Jefferson was a famous Virginian, a republican, a Founding Father, the author of the Declaration of Independence, and a slaveowner. Morgan uses Jefferson’s writings to show how republican Virginians argued for freedom and slavery on the eve of the revolution. He also examines how Jefferson’s arguments were adopted by the rest of the United States during and after independence.

Morgan is the author of American Freedom, American Slavery. He was a professor of history and the Sterling Professor of History Emeritus at Yale University. He specialized in American history and won many prizes for his scholarship, including a Pulitzer Prize and the Bancroft Prize. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2000.

Raleigh was an English explorer, the first Englishman to sponsor a settlement in the New World called Roanoke. He is also credited with naming the colony Virginia. Morgan introduces Raleigh to show how the English settled Virginia, to examine the settlers’ concerns with the Spanish, and to explore how Raleigh’s exploits in other parts of the world informed the English’s initial views toward Indians and enslaved Africans.