War often unites a society behind a common cause. Looking at the Revolution in Virginia from the bottom up, this title demonstrates how contests over waging war in turn shaped society and the political settlement. It offers insights into the mobilization of popular support, the exposure of social rifts, and the inversion of power relations.

McDonnell uses the Revolution in Virginia to examine the political and social struggles of a revolutionary society at war with itself as much as with Great Britain. He documents the numerous contests within Virginia over mobilizing for war--struggles between ordinary Virginians and patriot leaders, between the lower and middle classes, and between blacks and whites. From these conflicts emerged a republican polity rife with racial and class tensions.