Three Virginia Frontiers. By Thomas P. Abernethy.
University, La.: Louisiana State University Press, 1940. Pp. xiii,
96. $1.50.

In 1937 the Graduate School and the Department of History
of Louisiana State University sponsored the first of the Walter
Lynwood Fleming Lectures in Southern History. Dr. Thomas
Perkins Abernethy, Richmond Alumni Professor of History of
the University of Virginia, gave the annual lectures, three in
number, under this series in 1940 under the title noted above.
Specifically, the three frontiers of Virginia as chosen in the
lectures were the tidewater region, the piedmont and the valley,
and Kentucky. Professor Abernethy points out that "the tide-
water, the piedmont, and the transmontane regions of the Old
Dominion appear to be fairly representative of the first three
stages of the American frontier," and has treated them "as
iilustrative examples of the general theme." He asserts that
"the democratizing influence of the frontier" had various off-
sets, and "that much that has commonly been lauded as western
democracy was merely western self-interest and was not a par-
ticularly significant factor in the building of a 'government of
the people, by the people, for the people'."

In his first lecture Professor Abernethy considered the impact
of the frontier "upon those who were first to face it." He
warned his audience that certain areas of the frontier would
have to be subjected to detailed study before any generalizations
about the significance of the frontier could be made. "Only a
start has been made in that direction," he asserted. The sev-
enteenth century passed before the Virginians developed in-
stitutions congenial to their circumstances and environment.
During that part of the eighteenth century in which the
frontier of Virginia pushed westward through the piedmont
and the valley, some beginning was made by the political and
social institutions "to take on the color of the American scene."
At the conclusion of the second lecture, after having considered
many cross-currents, Professor Abernethy stated that the
"westward movement did not roll forward with an orderly
and irresistible force." In the lecture on Kentucky, which cov-
ered approximately the last quarter of the eighteenth century,
Professor Abernethy reached the conclusion that this third
Virginia frontier did not produce any legislation which was
"more enlightened than the contemporary legislation of Vir-
ginia," except "in the matter of manhood suffrage and repre-
sentation according to population." The statement that "the
one outstanding triumph of the popular party--the establish-
ment of the circuit court system--was a step in the wrong
direction" leaves little room for the well-known frontier thesis
to stand on.

Even if the very nature of this study, that is, a series of
lectures, did not preclude the use of footnotes, the soundness
of Professor Abernethy's earlier works would make footnotes
unnecessary. The style is clear, and the narrative moves ever
forward in a forceful and convincing manner. The memory of
Professor Walter Lynwood Fleming is indeed well honored by
these lectures.

The University of Texas.

R. L. Biesele.

How to cite:
"Three Virginia Frontiers", Volume 45, Number 4, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v045/n4/review_DIVL6950.html
[Accessed Tue Nov 24 2:25:12 CST 2009]