The American Revolution was revolutionary in more ways than one. Beyond creating the United States and securing its independence from Britain, the Revolution inspired republican ideals that reverberated long after the guns had gone silent. Access to tax-supported, widespread public education was one such ideal, although as our new entry by Mark Boonshoft of the Virginia Military Institute on Education in Virginia in the Revolutionary Era shows, it would take some time to get there. Read mor...| Encyclopedia Virginia
This November marks the 249th anniversary of Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation, the effort by Virginia’s last royal governor John Murray, fourth earl of Dunmore, to arm enslaved Black people to fight the mounting Patriot rebellion. The idea of enlisting enslaved men to fight for the Crown had been brewing for some time, partly to play on fears of slave rebellion that regularly coursed through a colony where just over 40 percent of the population was held in bondage. Read more about: “Liberty ...| Encyclopedia Virginia