The Making of American Whiteness: The Formation of Race in Seventeenth-Century Virginia

Carmen P. Thompson's The Making of American Whiteness: The Formation of Race in Seventeenth-Century Virginia challenges the traditional narrative of race and Whiteness in America, revealing that Whiteness predates European expansion and was the principal dynamic in the settlement of Virginia. It also shows what Whiteness looked like in everyday life in the early seventeenth century, eerily prescient to Whiteness today.

Format: Hardback
Length: 182 pages
Publication date: 22 November 2022
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

The Making of American Whiteness: The Formation of Race in Seventeenth-Century Virginia challenges the prevailing narrative about the origins of race and Whiteness in America. Through an extensive examination of archival documents, Carmen P. Thompson reveals that Whiteness existed before European expansion to the Americas, as evidenced by their involvement in the transatlantic slave trade since the fifteenth century. Moreover, she demonstrates that Whiteness played a central role in the settlement of Virginia, the first colony in what would become the United States of America. The book highlights how Whiteness shaped the organization of civil society in Virginia, including the establishment and enforcement of laws, social, political, and economic policies, and the governance system. It also provides a vivid depiction of what Whiteness looked like in everyday life in the early seventeenth century, eerily reminiscent of Whiteness today.

Weight: 467g
Dimension: 236 x 160 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781666923216