Date of Award
Summer 8-1-2005
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
History
First Advisor
Christopher J. Olsen
Second Advisor
Ann Short Chirhart
Third Advisor
David Nichols
Abstract
The development of the wealthy slave-holding elite in the Tidewater region of Northern Virginia during the mid-seventeenth through mid-eighteenth centuries was unique in that it was based on the deliberate formation of kinship networks. The members of the Old World aristocracy that migrated to Northern Virginia brought with them their traditional ideas of society. However, the New World provided opportunities to these immigrants that were unavailable to them in their native country. Therefore, a blend of Old World culture and New World opportunities merged to create a distinctive American society. This society was based on kinship networks among a dose-knit group of individuals who used marriage to strengthen their political, economic, and social connections throughout the colonial world. Westmoreland County in Northern Virginia was one proving ground for the development of this colonial planter class.
Recommended Citation
Fields, Jessica Diane, "The Ties That Bind: Kinship Networks and the Colonial Development of the Planter Elite in Westmoreland County, Virginia" (2005). All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3343.
https://scholars.indianastate.edu/etds/3343
Included in
American Studies Commons, Regional Sociology Commons, Social History Commons, United States History Commons