The Formation of a Society on Virginia's Eastern Shore, 1615-1655 (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780807897508)

The dissolution of the ill-starred Virginia Company in 1624 left Virginia -- now England's first royal colony -- without a formal raison d'etre. Most historians have suggested that the nascent local societies were anarchic, under the thrall of violent and unscrupulous men.

James Perry asserts the opposite: The Formation of a Society on Virginia's Eastern Shore, 1615-1655 depicts emergent social cohesion. In a model of network analysis, Perry mines county court records to trace landholders through four decades -- their land, families, neighborhoods, local and offshore economic relations, and institutions. A wealth of statistics documents their development from rudimentary beginnings to a more highly articulated society capable of resolving conflict and working toward communal good.

Perry's methodology will serve as a model for analyzing other new settlements, particularly those lacking the close-knit religious bonds and contractual foundations of New England towns. His conclusions will reshape notions of the development of early Chesapeake society.

Originally published in 1990.

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Author: James R. Perry
ISBN-10: 0807897507
ISBN-13: 9780807897508
Publisher: Omohundro Institute and Unc Press
Language: English
Published: 01/06/2011
Pages: 266
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.87lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.61d