Dunmore's New World: The Extraordinary Life of a Royal Governor in Revolutionary America--with Jacobites, Counterfeiters, Land Schemes, Shipwrecks, Scalping, Indian Politics, Runaway Slaves, and Two Illegal Royal Weddings

by James Corbett David

Overview

Dunmore's New World tells the stranger-than-fiction story of Lord Dunmore, the last royal governor of Virginia, whose long-neglected life boasts a measure of scandal and intrigue rare in the annals of the colonial world. Dunmore not only issued the first formal proclamation of emancipation in American history; he also undertook an unauthorized Indian war in the Ohio Valley, now known as Dunmore’s War, that was instrumental in opening the Kentucky country to white settlement. In this entertaining biography, James Corbett David brings together a rich cast of characters as he follows Dunmore on his perilous path through the Atlantic world from 1745 to 1809.

Dunmore was a Scots aristocrat who, even with a family history of treason, managed to obtain a commission in the British army, a seat in the House of Lords, and three executive appointments in the American colonies. He was an unusual figure, deeply invested in the imperial system but quick to break with convention. Despite his 1775 proclamation promising freedom to slaves of Virginia rebels, Dunmore was himself a slaveholder at a time when the African slave trade was facing tremendous popular opposition in Great Britain. He also supported his daughter throughout the scandal that followed her secret, illegal marriage to the youngest son of George III—a relationship that produced two illegitimate children, both first cousins of Queen Victoria.

Within this single narrative, Dunmore interacts with Jacobites, slaves, land speculators, frontiersmen, Scots merchants, poor white fishermen, the French, the Spanish, Shawnees, Creeks, patriots, loyalists, princes, kings, and a host of others. This history captures the vibrant diversity of the political universe that Dunmore inhabited alongside the likes of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. A transgressive imperialist, Dunmore had an astounding career that charts the boundaries of what was possible in the Atlantic world in the Age of Revolution.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813937649
Publisher:	University of Virginia Press
Publication date:	03/24/2015
Series:	Early American Histories
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

James Corbett David received a Ph.D. in history from the College of William and Mary. He lives and works in New York City.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vi

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction 1

1 Family Politics, 1745-1770 9

2 The Absence of Empire, 1770-1773 25

3 Promised Land, 1773-1774 56

4 A Refugee's Revolution, 1775-1781 94

5 Abiding Ambitions, 1781-1796 131

Conclusion, 1796-1809 179

A Note on Method: Biography and Empire 185

Notes 189

Bibliography 237

Index 261

Editorial Reviews

" Dunmore’s New World is the best new book-length work in early American history that I have seen in more than a decade. The author’s impressive new research offers a view of Revolutionary North America as revealed through the experiences of a remarkably able, knowledgeable, skillful, and deeply flawed imperial operative. "—Robert M. Calhoon, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, author of Dominion and Liberty: Ideology and the Anglo-American World, 1660–1801

"Interweaving engaging narrative episodes and analysis, James Corbett David may indeed be part of a new scholarship which restores the drama of the Revolutionary War by making it much less one-sided. "—Andrew O’Shaughnessy, Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello, author of The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire

"In this telling, Dunmore is no drunken fool who lost an empire nor a great emancipator. He is a man of empire, creating and caught by webs of patronage, ambition, and family. David’s deep familiarity with the historiographies of the British Empire, the American Revolution, Native America, slavery, and the family makes the book cutting-edge scholarship. His vivid writing and well-crafted plotting make it a page-turner. "—author of William & Mary Quarterly

"When John Murray, the Earl of Dunmore, was named royal governor of Virginia in 1771, America’s revolutionary spirit was evolving from flicker to flame.... David’s book provides a rich look at the man and his role in the American Revolution. "—author of Richmond Times-Dispatch

"

"Rather than provide a traditional, detailed biography, David has attempted to provide a broader perspective on the twilight of British colonial America through the career of one of its more reviled agents. In that, he has spectacularly succeeded."

"—Benjamin G. Scharff, Mercyhurst University

From the Publisher

Interweaving engaging narrative episodes and analysis, James Corbett David may indeed be part of a new scholarship which restores the drama of the Revolutionary War by making it much less one-sided.

Andrew O’Shaughnessy

Hornaday is no longer a household name, but he is a significnt figure in conservation history. Here, Dehler (Chester Alan Arthur, 2007) provides an interesting, well-researched account of Hornaday's contributions to the field.

Choice

In this telling, Dunmore is no drunken fool who lost an empire nor a great emancipator. He is a man of empire, creating and caught by webs of patronage, ambition, and family. David’s deep familiarity with the historiographies of the British Empire, the American Revolution, Native America, slavery, and the family makes the book cutting-edge scholarship. His vivid writing and well-crafted plotting make it a page-turner.

William & Mary Quarterly

When John Murray, the Earl of Dunmore, was named royal governor of Virginia in 1771, America’s revolutionary spirit was evolving from flicker to flame.... David’s book provides a rich look at the man and his role in the American Revolution.

Richmond Times-Dispatch

Interweaving engaging narrative episodes and analysis, James Corbett David may indeed be part of a new scholarship which restores the drama of the Revolutionary War by making it much less one-sided.

Andrew O’Shaughnessy

Dunmore’s New World is the best new book-length work in early American history that I have seen in more than a decade. The author’s impressive new research offers a view of Revolutionary North America as revealed through the experiences of a remarkably able, knowledgeable, skillful, and deeply flawed imperial operative.

Robert M. Calhoon

"Rather than provide a traditional, detailed biography, David has attempted to provide a broader perspective on the twilight of British colonial America through the career of one of its more reviled agents. In that, he has spectacularly succeeded."

Benjamin G. Scharff

In this telling, Dunmore is no drunken fool who lost an empire nor a great emancipator. He is a man of empire, creating and caught by webs of patronage, ambition, and family. David’s deep familiarity with the historiographies of the British Empire, the American Revolution, Native America, slavery, and the family makes the book cutting-edge scholarship. His vivid writing and well-crafted plotting make it a page-turner.

William & Mary Quarterly