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Bound Away: Virginia and the Westward Movement
Bound Away offers a new understanding of the westward movement. After the Turner thesis which celebrated the frontier as the source of American freedom and democracy, and the iconoclasm of the new western historians who dismissed the idea of the frontier as merely a mask for conquest and exploitation, David Hackett Fischer and James C. Kelly take a third approach to the subject. They share with Turner the idea of the westward movement as a creative process of high importance in American history, but they understand it in a different way.
Where Turner studied the westward movement in terms of its destination, Fischer and Kelly approach it in terms of its origins. Virginia's long history enables them to provide a rich portrait of migration and expansion as a dynamic process that preserved strong cultural continuities. They suggest that the oxymoron "bound away" ---from the folksong Shenandoah--captures a vital truth about American history. As people moved west, they built new societies from old materials, in a double-acting process that made America what is today.
Based on an acclaimed exhibition at the Virginia Historical society, the book studies three stages of migration to, within, and from Virginia. Each stage has its own story to tell. All of them together offer an opportunity to study the westward movement through three centuries, as it has rarely been studied before.
Fischer and Kelly believe that the westward movement was a broad cultural process, which is best understood not only through the writings of intellectual elites, but also through the physical artifacts and folkways of ordinary people. The wealth of anecdotes and illustrations in this volume offer a new way of looking at John Smith and William Byrd, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, Daniel Boone, Dred Scott, and scores of lesser known gentry, yeomen, servants, and slaves who were all "bound away" to an old new world.
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First published January 1, 1993
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About the author
David Hackett Fischer
19 books494 followersDavid Hackett Fischer is University Professor of History Emeritus at Brandeis University and one of America’s most influential historians. His work spans cultural history, economics, and narrative nonfiction, with major titles including Albion’s Seed, The Great Wave, Paul Revere’s Ride, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington’s Crossing. Educated at Princeton and Johns Hopkins, Fischer has combined scholarly depth with accessible storytelling throughout his career. His Champlain’s Dream further showcased his skill for biographical history, earning international recognition. Honored with the Pritzker Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing, he is celebrated for both his groundbreaking research and his dedication to teaching.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
December 8, 2015
I liked this book a lot, but since I read “Albion’s Seed” quite recently, the first third of the book was somewhat redundant.
Industrious poor folk were attracted to woods and frontier by unregulated settlements, hoping to get good land of their own. Richer folk were attracted by the potential to increase their land holdings. Both of these impulses were carried over from these populations’ experiences in England which brought them to Virginia in the first place. Virginians, those not anchored by great estates, tended to keep migrating, regardless of their age. New Englanders, on the other hand, moved once or twice (while still young) after arriving, and then settled down. Wealthy Virginians who still wanted to try their luck, as in the cavalier sense of adventure that their forefathers brought to this particular colony, could have a much easier time as they could send some of their slaves ahead to scout the land, make preparations, clear a bit of forest, etc. Kentucky grew in the imagination as a rich, fertile, inhabitable country that people picked up and migrated there with little other knowledge of the place. The migration west occurred so quickly that Kentucky became the 15th state in 1792, marking the end of Virginia having or being the western frontier. Kentucky didn’t hold that title long either, as Virginians made their way towards the Mississippi, as they were attracted to and familiar with working rich bottomlands. Many continued to migrate to Missouri and Texas. Mark Twain is a product of this migration pattern to Missouri, as is the Dred Scott case, which the author contextualizes in terms of legal issues surrounding slavery in states such as Virginia, not just the Missouri Compromise.
What I appreciate most in this book is the equal time given to black Americans. Whether examining the communal work ethic brought from Africa, or the slaves’ drive to enlarge the meaning of freedom from beyond their bodies to include their spirit and senses, the author makes sure to contrast the British and African cultures as they arrive in Virginia and as they eventually migrate away. The author focuses on their migration to the north and to Africa in search of a better life, and to the Deep South and western frontier. 10,000 Virginia slaves were sold to the South every year from 1830-1860, taking with them a combination of African and Wessex-originated folkways. This figure does not account for slaves who emigrated WITH their masters, sometimes into worse bondage, though some made their first steps toward freedom. A small portion went to Liberia – which could practically be called Virginia’s African frontier, as many Virginia folkways migrated with them, such as architecture, dances, culture, food, and the Virginian style of slavery. Some freed men became wealthy and were referred to as whitemen by native Africans due to their replicating the culturally conservative plantation system, including slaves working their land.
Emigration left a heavy toll on Virginia, as the young people left with their industriousness and investment went west instead of getting reinvested in Virginia. Old estates often went into a slow decline as the economies changed and capital decreased. The culture of Virginia became more homogenous, as people who disapproved of slavery left, as other groups migrated through without stopping, and innovators went elsewhere. The author wants to show that although the place of Virginia declined in importance and productivity, the ideas of Virginia, for better or worse, spread throughout the nation and beyond.
Industrious poor folk were attracted to woods and frontier by unregulated settlements, hoping to get good land of their own. Richer folk were attracted by the potential to increase their land holdings. Both of these impulses were carried over from these populations’ experiences in England which brought them to Virginia in the first place. Virginians, those not anchored by great estates, tended to keep migrating, regardless of their age. New Englanders, on the other hand, moved once or twice (while still young) after arriving, and then settled down. Wealthy Virginians who still wanted to try their luck, as in the cavalier sense of adventure that their forefathers brought to this particular colony, could have a much easier time as they could send some of their slaves ahead to scout the land, make preparations, clear a bit of forest, etc. Kentucky grew in the imagination as a rich, fertile, inhabitable country that people picked up and migrated there with little other knowledge of the place. The migration west occurred so quickly that Kentucky became the 15th state in 1792, marking the end of Virginia having or being the western frontier. Kentucky didn’t hold that title long either, as Virginians made their way towards the Mississippi, as they were attracted to and familiar with working rich bottomlands. Many continued to migrate to Missouri and Texas. Mark Twain is a product of this migration pattern to Missouri, as is the Dred Scott case, which the author contextualizes in terms of legal issues surrounding slavery in states such as Virginia, not just the Missouri Compromise.
What I appreciate most in this book is the equal time given to black Americans. Whether examining the communal work ethic brought from Africa, or the slaves’ drive to enlarge the meaning of freedom from beyond their bodies to include their spirit and senses, the author makes sure to contrast the British and African cultures as they arrive in Virginia and as they eventually migrate away. The author focuses on their migration to the north and to Africa in search of a better life, and to the Deep South and western frontier. 10,000 Virginia slaves were sold to the South every year from 1830-1860, taking with them a combination of African and Wessex-originated folkways. This figure does not account for slaves who emigrated WITH their masters, sometimes into worse bondage, though some made their first steps toward freedom. A small portion went to Liberia – which could practically be called Virginia’s African frontier, as many Virginia folkways migrated with them, such as architecture, dances, culture, food, and the Virginian style of slavery. Some freed men became wealthy and were referred to as whitemen by native Africans due to their replicating the culturally conservative plantation system, including slaves working their land.
Emigration left a heavy toll on Virginia, as the young people left with their industriousness and investment went west instead of getting reinvested in Virginia. Old estates often went into a slow decline as the economies changed and capital decreased. The culture of Virginia became more homogenous, as people who disapproved of slavery left, as other groups migrated through without stopping, and innovators went elsewhere. The author wants to show that although the place of Virginia declined in importance and productivity, the ideas of Virginia, for better or worse, spread throughout the nation and beyond.
December 3, 2014
Fischer wrote Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America, which is one of the best works published in several decades in comparative and local U.S. history, and in many ways this is a continuation of the “Virginia” section of that book. Which is a bit surprising, since the author is a New Englander and previously showed considerable preference for the folkways of Massachusetts over those in the South. Since I have numerous forebears in Virginia, I was particularly interested in the first three chapters: “Migration to Virginia,” “Migration in Virginia,” and “Migration beyond Virginia.” All of those apply to my people and Fischer’s coverage of the in-through-and-out process is first-rate. As before, he’s an old-fashioned historian, spending a lot of time describing the concrete experiences of particular individuals and families, not spinning out historiographical theory. This is a must-read for anyone interested in Virginia’s first couple of centuries.
November 10, 2022
This book will be of interest only to those interested in American history, particularly its social history. If you count yourself among this group I highly recommend. The author D.H. Fischer begins by disputing historian Frederick Jackson Turner's Frontier Thesis, in which the frontier environment acts as a crucible in forging a new type of society. In the US this resulted in a more free and equalitarian society as the country expanded west. Fischer claims, on the contrary, that pioneer groups brought their culture with them and, with only minor modifications, transplanted it to their new environment.
He argues that in the north Turner's theory often holds true. The New Englanders brought their equalitarian culture west where it became even more equalitarian. But in the South, Virginia, as the main source of southern immigration, brought its rigid and stratified culture to the Southeast and Southwest where it became even more stratified. He explains its origin from the early settlement of Virginia by rich Cavaliers, who were escaping the English Civil War in the 1600's. They in turn coerced poor folk from London and Southern England to immigrate as indentured servants. This resulted in huge landed estates and rule by a small elite. Virginia contributed the largest number of people to western immigration and hence is the source for much of the current Southern culture.
Additional detail is provided about other ethnic groups that settled in Virginia, such as the Scots-Irish, Germans and French and their profoundly different social customs. One chapter is also devoted to slavery and the culture fostered among African-Americans which itself sprread as slavery spread.
All in all a very enlightening book.
He argues that in the north Turner's theory often holds true. The New Englanders brought their equalitarian culture west where it became even more equalitarian. But in the South, Virginia, as the main source of southern immigration, brought its rigid and stratified culture to the Southeast and Southwest where it became even more stratified. He explains its origin from the early settlement of Virginia by rich Cavaliers, who were escaping the English Civil War in the 1600's. They in turn coerced poor folk from London and Southern England to immigrate as indentured servants. This resulted in huge landed estates and rule by a small elite. Virginia contributed the largest number of people to western immigration and hence is the source for much of the current Southern culture.
Additional detail is provided about other ethnic groups that settled in Virginia, such as the Scots-Irish, Germans and French and their profoundly different social customs. One chapter is also devoted to slavery and the culture fostered among African-Americans which itself sprread as slavery spread.
All in all a very enlightening book.
February 1, 2024
David Hackett Fischer is always a joy to read. His research is deep and his display is balanced. He isn't afraid of arguments either.
This person says X. X has some validity. See A, B, and C evidence. But when compared with Y and Z, their claim falls short. Etc.
More land! - Virginians
We are going to move all over. - Also Virginians
Virginia is the mother of the nation - Also Virginians
Families moving to be with family. Men moving for money. And many other adventures, you will find within these pages.
Communities were often monolithic in the early days. Germans with Germans. Dutch with Dutch. Fischer points out that at one point, there were multiple words for the same item across Virginia, depending on the region someone was from. And he claimed, possibly in jest, that the fold of a bonnet could delineate what nation a lady was from.
This work was nowhere near as interesting as Washington's Crossing, Champlain's Dream or Paul Revere's Ride but it still gives a good overview of the land while also giving small snippets from primary sources. So you get a feel for who these people were and what drove them.
I won't give away the main thesis of the book, but I highly recommend it, especially for any Virginian, but also for anyone who wonders how our nation was formed.
B. Grizenko
This person says X. X has some validity. See A, B, and C evidence. But when compared with Y and Z, their claim falls short. Etc.
More land! - Virginians
We are going to move all over. - Also Virginians
Virginia is the mother of the nation - Also Virginians
Families moving to be with family. Men moving for money. And many other adventures, you will find within these pages.
Communities were often monolithic in the early days. Germans with Germans. Dutch with Dutch. Fischer points out that at one point, there were multiple words for the same item across Virginia, depending on the region someone was from. And he claimed, possibly in jest, that the fold of a bonnet could delineate what nation a lady was from.
This work was nowhere near as interesting as Washington's Crossing, Champlain's Dream or Paul Revere's Ride but it still gives a good overview of the land while also giving small snippets from primary sources. So you get a feel for who these people were and what drove them.
I won't give away the main thesis of the book, but I highly recommend it, especially for any Virginian, but also for anyone who wonders how our nation was formed.
B. Grizenko
February 17, 2025
A history of Virginia, its peopling and waves of emigration and immigration, and a book-length attempt at answering The Frontier Thesis, Frederick Jackson Turner's argument that the frontier was essential to explaining America's democracy. The answer turns out to more complicated than either Turner or his critics thought - the frontier neither straightforwardly led to democracy or pushed against it(as historians drawing on the Russian serdom experience argue). Open land had many effects: it raised the price of slaves and kept the system alive in Virgina; served as a cultural safety valve that attracted anti-slavery dissenters; "brain-drained" people from Virginia as the land quality there detoriated; created a more middle-class society in places like Wisconcin, and many more things besides.
September 9, 2019
Strong survey of Virginian history, but I probably would have felt fine just sticking with what I got from Albion's Seed. My favorite line came during the discussion of Virginian food culture: "The Chesapeake elites created the only haute cuisine in British America and lingered over their dinners. Virginians dined; New Englanders merely ate."
May 4, 2017
Too academic for me.
December 28, 2022
Tremendously fascinating both for its overview of Virginia’s early history as well as for how that history helps one reassess major aspects of Frederick Jackson Turner’s well-known “frontier thesis.”
April 19, 2025
I can only judge this book by how much I learned from it.
Genealogical research had revealed to me that during the first half of the 1800s, many families moved west across the South, over and over. That was baffling to me because the act of moving into the wilderness was so difficult. I couldn’t understand why a family would do all the work of clearing a forest to create fields and build a house, only to pack up and move, less than 10 years later, and then do it again.
It is true that farming of cash crops like tobacco, tended to exhaust the soil. But, still, moving every 10 years is extreme! I was hoping this book would explain why so many people were living in a different place each time the Census was taken, and how they managed it.
To some extent, the book does explain. It points out that there was a strong wanderlust in America, even from Colonial times, both in the South and North— and it gives evidence of it. And it also gives evidence that during the early 1800s there was a general feeling of greener pastures— that there was better land just ahead. So just after people had moved to one place, they would start hearing of better land further ahead (i.e. further west).
But I still wish Fischer had gone into what the labor of moving to new land involved, and how so many people— including the majority who did not have slaves they could force to do the work for them— managed to pull it off so many times in a single lifetime.
Nevertheless, the book was informative.
One fact I had not known was that the slave system in the original Southern states, was dying, due largely to the fact that the soil was exhausted. If there had been no westward expansion, slavery would have lost all its economic power, and become much easier pickings for the abolitionists. The only way it stayed alive so long was by slaveholders moving west and taking the plantation system with them, to fresh land where they could still make huge profits off the system. Of the families who stayed behind, many ended up selling huge numbers of the people they held enslaved, because they could no longer afford to keep them. If there had been no west to move into, slavery would probably have died earlier.
This explains why the southern politicians were so focused on allowing slavery to spread into new states. I had never understood before why they cared so much. If they could have slaves where they lived, why did they care what anyone else did? The answer is that the inability to push slavery to the west, meant that slavery was more likely to die where they lived.
The book also points out that Virginia came within a few votes of outlying slavery quite early — in 1832–because it had become so weakened as an economic force in the state. And if most of the dissenters against slavery, such as Quakers, had not already moved out of the state, slavery might well have been outlawed then and there in Virginia.
There is a powerful lesson in that: if you’re trying to stand up for right against a majority who believe in what is wrong, it’s good to remain a dissenting minority and keep speaking against the majority—rather than run away to someplace where the right ideas are already accepted.
Overall the book was interesting and informative. It focused exclusively on the western movement out of the state of Virginia, not any of the other southern states. And sometimes it seemed a little too Virginia-centric. But, nevertheless it was an interesting study. And the facts regarding Virginia most likely apply to the other southern colonies-turned-states as well.
Genealogical research had revealed to me that during the first half of the 1800s, many families moved west across the South, over and over. That was baffling to me because the act of moving into the wilderness was so difficult. I couldn’t understand why a family would do all the work of clearing a forest to create fields and build a house, only to pack up and move, less than 10 years later, and then do it again.
It is true that farming of cash crops like tobacco, tended to exhaust the soil. But, still, moving every 10 years is extreme! I was hoping this book would explain why so many people were living in a different place each time the Census was taken, and how they managed it.
To some extent, the book does explain. It points out that there was a strong wanderlust in America, even from Colonial times, both in the South and North— and it gives evidence of it. And it also gives evidence that during the early 1800s there was a general feeling of greener pastures— that there was better land just ahead. So just after people had moved to one place, they would start hearing of better land further ahead (i.e. further west).
But I still wish Fischer had gone into what the labor of moving to new land involved, and how so many people— including the majority who did not have slaves they could force to do the work for them— managed to pull it off so many times in a single lifetime.
Nevertheless, the book was informative.
One fact I had not known was that the slave system in the original Southern states, was dying, due largely to the fact that the soil was exhausted. If there had been no westward expansion, slavery would have lost all its economic power, and become much easier pickings for the abolitionists. The only way it stayed alive so long was by slaveholders moving west and taking the plantation system with them, to fresh land where they could still make huge profits off the system. Of the families who stayed behind, many ended up selling huge numbers of the people they held enslaved, because they could no longer afford to keep them. If there had been no west to move into, slavery would probably have died earlier.
This explains why the southern politicians were so focused on allowing slavery to spread into new states. I had never understood before why they cared so much. If they could have slaves where they lived, why did they care what anyone else did? The answer is that the inability to push slavery to the west, meant that slavery was more likely to die where they lived.
The book also points out that Virginia came within a few votes of outlying slavery quite early — in 1832–because it had become so weakened as an economic force in the state. And if most of the dissenters against slavery, such as Quakers, had not already moved out of the state, slavery might well have been outlawed then and there in Virginia.
There is a powerful lesson in that: if you’re trying to stand up for right against a majority who believe in what is wrong, it’s good to remain a dissenting minority and keep speaking against the majority—rather than run away to someplace where the right ideas are already accepted.
Overall the book was interesting and informative. It focused exclusively on the western movement out of the state of Virginia, not any of the other southern states. And sometimes it seemed a little too Virginia-centric. But, nevertheless it was an interesting study. And the facts regarding Virginia most likely apply to the other southern colonies-turned-states as well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 12, 2016
In Bound Away, David Hackett Fischer puts Virginia to use as a testing ground for various theories of cultural development in the English colonies and later the nascent United States, the most prominent theory being Frederick Jackson Turner's "frontier hypothesis." Of course, the work would hardly be worth writing if it simply credited an existing theory and dismissed the others, and accordingly Fischer presents a layered thesis demonstrating that culture resulted from both persistent folkways flowing from the old world into Virginia and also adaptations to the hardships and opportunities of the frontier. The book is broadly organized into three parts, the first examining immigration to Virginia, the second part migration within Virginia, and the third emigration from the colony and state. The movements of various folkways are considered, including architecture and law, among others. While Fischer provides demographics and statistics to capture the broader trends, he also depicts the stories of individuals, making his arguments more vivid. In sum, the work not only synthesizes scholarship across a broad range of fields, but more importantly contributes a new theory for scholars to engage, test, and refine.
February 25, 2014
A fascinating account of the history of Virginia and Virginians. Fisher gives all justifiable credit to those former historians who studied western migration; yet, he shows where their theories fell short of explaining what actually happened. The author is not bound to any one theory or school of thought, but offers his own theory based on the true complexity of the issue at hand. He is not afraid to debunk the modern historians' trend that discounts the influence of powerful individual men and women, and yet gives weight to those environmental and psychological forces that played a part in the process of change as well.
All in all, it is a subtle and penetrating analysis of the key factors in the formation of the Virginia culture, and its spread. From this one might believe that the entire book is focused on analysis of historical trends, but this is not the case. It is an excellent treatment of Virginia history as well, giving us a glimpse into the lives and fortunes of the early settlers, down to the personalities of the chief players. It is all that a good history book should be--both facts and analysis.
All in all, it is a subtle and penetrating analysis of the key factors in the formation of the Virginia culture, and its spread. From this one might believe that the entire book is focused on analysis of historical trends, but this is not the case. It is an excellent treatment of Virginia history as well, giving us a glimpse into the lives and fortunes of the early settlers, down to the personalities of the chief players. It is all that a good history book should be--both facts and analysis.
August 1, 2016
A work that uses Virginia and migrations to, within, and from Virginia to test Turner's Frontier Thesis and other historians' theories of migration and the creation of America. Divides the work into three sections, migrations to Virginia, migrations within Virginia, and migrations out of Virginia from its first European settlements to the Civil War. Attempts to answer the main questions of America: who, when, why, and where of migration and how it & Virginians played a role in creating institutions/ways of life specific to American culture.
Pros: Strong foundation in the long history of Frederick Jackson Turner's Frontier Thesis and the theme of westward migration in American history; covers not just political/economic topics, but also cultural items like architecture, city planning, and gender roles
Cons: Does not pay enough attention to non-whites and their active roles in producing Virginian/American culture/society; needs more attention and explanation to why Virginians moved to free vs slave regions; considers migration to end with the Civil War
Pros: Strong foundation in the long history of Frederick Jackson Turner's Frontier Thesis and the theme of westward migration in American history; covers not just political/economic topics, but also cultural items like architecture, city planning, and gender roles
Cons: Does not pay enough attention to non-whites and their active roles in producing Virginian/American culture/society; needs more attention and explanation to why Virginians moved to free vs slave regions; considers migration to end with the Civil War
September 20, 2009
I read and enjoyed the book. I was disappointed that there was little information concerning western Virginia - the territory west of the mountains - in fact I think at one time all the way to the Mississippi was Virginia, too. The story is a good insight into the move west - could have been even better.
March 28, 2013
Fischer writes with great skill and detail about migration to and westward from Virginia. It repeats and expands ideas from his wonderful book "Albion Seeds." For this reason, I recommend that you read "Albion Seeds" first and then scan "Bound Away" to gauge your depth of interest.
December 21, 2013
Fascinating! I didn't realize that the seeds of the North-South cultural divide went back so far!
May 21, 2015
Fascinating history....
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews