Year of Graduation
1997
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
MALS: Social Sciences
Directing Professor
Daniel Kilbride
Abstract
The nineteenth century was an era of transition for the young American nation. George Plater Tayloe was born in 1804 and died in 1897. His life spanned an age of American politics from Jefferson to McKinley. He grew up in the post-colonial period and matured during the antebellum years. By the end of the Civil War he was in his sixties and lived on through Reconstruction and the emerging capitalism of the late nineteenth century. He grew up in a slaveholding society and was a man of his times. A member of one of the "first families of Virginia," he fulfilled the role of civic leader, patron of institutions, and slaveholder. His antebellum plantation home still overlooks the modem city of Roanoke. Much has been written about his civic involvements and philanthropy. Little known and less talked about is his role as plantation master, an owner of over 200 slaves by the Civil War.
Recommended Citation
Payden-Travers, Jack, "A Case Study of George Plater Tayloe and Buena Vista" (1997). Liberal Studies (MA) Final Essays, Hollins University. 46.
https://digitalcommons.hollins.edu/malsfe/46