Remembering the Old Dominion

Book excerpt: The interdisciplinary anthology Remembering the Old Dominion: Readings on Virginia History deepens students' understanding of the history of the state of Virginia. Readers learn about the experiences of Virginia's citizens over four hundred years, as well as the impacts of these experiences and related events on American history. The book explores the Jamestown settlement and its mandates for a healthy colony, the role of Virginians in the American Revolution, and the excise tax proposed by Alexander Hamilton that disrupted Western Virginia's way of life. It examines the slave rebellion of Nat Turner, the infamous Libby Prison break during the Civil War, and the pain of post-Civil War Reconstruction. It discusses how baseball helped alleviate tension after Reconstruction, Virginia's struggle to acknowledge women's suffrage, and the Virginia Protective Force which defended the state and its shoreline during World War II. Remembering the Old Dominion gives students a better understanding of historical events by showing how they impacted, and were impacted by, a single state. It is an ideal text for courses on Virginia history and is an excellent supplemental reader for American history classes.