In regard to the recent discussions of state versus national loyalties, the truth seems to lie somewhere between the two poles of "my country is Virginia" (Randolph of Roanoke) and "I am not a Virginian but an American" (Patrick Henry -- please excuse the rough paraphrasing). Many Virginians in the antebellum era saw Virginia as their identity, & loved to celebrate all things Virginian (like famous native sons, their colonial past, Pocahontas, etc.), but they still turned out for the national 4th of July -- and not just because George Washington was a Virginian. Gregg Kimball's fine work on Richmond shows how important national identity was for people in the growing metropolis. Identifying with one's native state was not contrary to such a national identity. Most people in the United States saw their national identity as Americans founded on the union of states created under the Constitution of 1787. The doctrine of states' rights did not become anti-union until Lincoln made it so with his insistence that the union was perpetual and indisoluable. And even then though the Civil War did not destroy the tug of state loyalities -- particularly in the south, but really everywhere in the US; if state loyalty had diminished, people wouldn't identify themselves with such descriptions as "10th generation Virginian." David Kiracofe A Virginian amongst the Carolinians To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html