Outline: The British American: William Byrd in Two Worlds
American Realities, I,3 “The British American: William Byrd in Two Worlds”
(This outline is not a “substitute” for reading the chapter, but it may help you review the story and understand it better.)
Overview: Europeans lived in the New World for several generations before they began to think of themselves as Americans. Britain dominated their government and culture: the colonists honored a British ruler and admired British literature, music, and architecture. By 1700 Americans possessed most of the coastal regions, but looked eastward across the Atlantic rather than westward over the Appalachians to discover who they were. William Byrd’s career demonstrates the colonists’ tendency to regard England as home. Byrd spent much of his life in England pursuing his fortune. However, it was in America that he and other settlers found the greatest use for their talents.
Outline
1. Celebrating King George in America: solitary campfire, surveying a dividing line, the king's birthday, liquor, William Byrd, two worlds, provincial Virginia, Georgian England, half British and half American.
2. William Byrd's early life in America and England: trying to locate himself, full of contradictions, peculiarly vital and accessible human being, William Byrd I, Captain Thomas Stegg, Virginia, somewhat civilized wilderness, Virginia estate, Marie Horsemaden Filmer, William Byrd II, tobacco, English manufactured goods, plantation, African slaves, Trading Path, Catawbas, Cherokee, House of Burgesses, colonial ruling elite, Bacon’s Rebellion, unauthorized frontier war, Nathaniel Bacon, Byrd siding with Berkeley, Provincial Court, receiver general, son goes to England for schooling, 1681, Daniel Horsemanden, Felsted School, Christopher Glasscock, classical education, Netherlands, "fine business sense," Middle Temple, law, Temple Theater, Drury Lane, Queen's Theatre, Royal Society, youthful "intrigues," London's nightlife, London prostitutes, temporary alliances, Lady Elizabeth Cromwell, Ireland, "perfectly out of truth," Virginia, "agent" of Virginia Assembly, Westover, James River, six thousand acres, supervised the planting and harvesting,
3. Byrd's Marriage to Lucy Parke: Time to find a wife, dazzling conversationalist, charming escort, Lucy Parke, colonial aristocracy, "dirty plebian," volatile personalities, intimate account, obscure shorthand, Marion Tinling, William Byrd and his wife supervise the plantation, playing cards or billiards, reading books, Archbishop Tillotson, dancing, walking in the garden, Lucy singing to William, violent quarrels, feminine "weakness," difficult husband, discoursing in Latin, library as his own province, criticized her handling the servants, "enough to make a man mad," eyebrow plucking, attacked with a poker, periods of mutual tenderness, times of reciprocal hospitality, roger, flourish, many moods of the couples love, faithful husband.
4. Byrd's search for power: Virginia and Carolina wilderness, desire for power, thirst for land, slaves, "my people," administer a beating, commander of the Virginia militia, "... respected like a king," not a king, power in London, receiver general, Governor's Council, lieutenant governor, Alexander Spotswood, conflict with the governor, "an honor to Virginia," smallpox, Board of Trade, he and Spotswood came to an understanding, courting “Sabina,” Mary Smith, Sabina's father, "...estate in the moon," a fixed place in London society, Will’s Coffee House, St. James Park, excessive frivolity, London gadabout, three tiers in his relationships, his mistress, prostitutes, women encounters, Lord Orrery, Lady Orrery, venereal disease, Pierson, Lady Elizabeth Lee, Maria Taylor.
5. Settling down in Virginia: Experiment with new crops, carry parts of the great world to Virginia, library, cultivated and interesting minds, The Beggar’s Opera, rooted in American soil, surrounded by family,“Ode to a Fart,” lighthearted without being frivolous, Westover Manuscript, The History of the Dividing Line, Bearskin, "Steady," magnificent brick mansion, "like one of the patriarchs," "innocent scenes that divert leisure," "simplicity, innocence and nature," supervised work at Westover, 180,000 acres, Robert (“King”) Carter, serene quality, sense of humor, presidency of the Virginia Council, buried in Westover garden, single fabric of patriotism.
(This outline is not a “substitute” for reading the chapter, but it may help you review the story and understand it better.)
Overview: Europeans lived in the New World for several generations before they began to think of themselves as Americans. Britain dominated their government and culture: the colonists honored a British ruler and admired British literature, music, and architecture. By 1700 Americans possessed most of the coastal regions, but looked eastward across the Atlantic rather than westward over the Appalachians to discover who they were. William Byrd’s career demonstrates the colonists’ tendency to regard England as home. Byrd spent much of his life in England pursuing his fortune. However, it was in America that he and other settlers found the greatest use for their talents.
Outline
1. Celebrating King George in America: solitary campfire, surveying a dividing line, the king's birthday, liquor, William Byrd, two worlds, provincial Virginia, Georgian England, half British and half American.
2. William Byrd's early life in America and England: trying to locate himself, full of contradictions, peculiarly vital and accessible human being, William Byrd I, Captain Thomas Stegg, Virginia, somewhat civilized wilderness, Virginia estate, Marie Horsemaden Filmer, William Byrd II, tobacco, English manufactured goods, plantation, African slaves, Trading Path, Catawbas, Cherokee, House of Burgesses, colonial ruling elite, Bacon’s Rebellion, unauthorized frontier war, Nathaniel Bacon, Byrd siding with Berkeley, Provincial Court, receiver general, son goes to England for schooling, 1681, Daniel Horsemanden, Felsted School, Christopher Glasscock, classical education, Netherlands, "fine business sense," Middle Temple, law, Temple Theater, Drury Lane, Queen's Theatre, Royal Society, youthful "intrigues," London's nightlife, London prostitutes, temporary alliances, Lady Elizabeth Cromwell, Ireland, "perfectly out of truth," Virginia, "agent" of Virginia Assembly, Westover, James River, six thousand acres, supervised the planting and harvesting,
3. Byrd's Marriage to Lucy Parke: Time to find a wife, dazzling conversationalist, charming escort, Lucy Parke, colonial aristocracy, "dirty plebian," volatile personalities, intimate account, obscure shorthand, Marion Tinling, William Byrd and his wife supervise the plantation, playing cards or billiards, reading books, Archbishop Tillotson, dancing, walking in the garden, Lucy singing to William, violent quarrels, feminine "weakness," difficult husband, discoursing in Latin, library as his own province, criticized her handling the servants, "enough to make a man mad," eyebrow plucking, attacked with a poker, periods of mutual tenderness, times of reciprocal hospitality, roger, flourish, many moods of the couples love, faithful husband.
4. Byrd's search for power: Virginia and Carolina wilderness, desire for power, thirst for land, slaves, "my people," administer a beating, commander of the Virginia militia, "... respected like a king," not a king, power in London, receiver general, Governor's Council, lieutenant governor, Alexander Spotswood, conflict with the governor, "an honor to Virginia," smallpox, Board of Trade, he and Spotswood came to an understanding, courting “Sabina,” Mary Smith, Sabina's father, "...estate in the moon," a fixed place in London society, Will’s Coffee House, St. James Park, excessive frivolity, London gadabout, three tiers in his relationships, his mistress, prostitutes, women encounters, Lord Orrery, Lady Orrery, venereal disease, Pierson, Lady Elizabeth Lee, Maria Taylor.
5. Settling down in Virginia: Experiment with new crops, carry parts of the great world to Virginia, library, cultivated and interesting minds, The Beggar’s Opera, rooted in American soil, surrounded by family,“Ode to a Fart,” lighthearted without being frivolous, Westover Manuscript, The History of the Dividing Line, Bearskin, "Steady," magnificent brick mansion, "like one of the patriarchs," "innocent scenes that divert leisure," "simplicity, innocence and nature," supervised work at Westover, 180,000 acres, Robert (“King”) Carter, serene quality, sense of humor, presidency of the Virginia Council, buried in Westover garden, single fabric of patriotism.
