Exciting the Rabble to Riots and Mobbing : Community, Public Rituals, and Popular Disturbances in Eighteenth-Century Virginia

Throughout the eighteenth century, Virginia\u27s populace acted in ways which reinforced the communal will. A deep rationality underlay popular action. While eighteenth-century contemporaries did not view it this way, historians must not view the mob as unruly. This thesis delineates the social laws displayed in the communal actions of pre-revolutionary Virginia, whether labeled by the elite as orderly or disorderly. The Virginia Gazette and other sources during the quarter century before the Stamp Act show a society actively and publicly displaying communal and hierarchical values. Fairs reinforced the hierarchy through festive social interaction. Royal celebrations allowed the elite and populace to express communal as well as monarchical loyalty. Courthouse gatherings, more than any other social occasion, unified the community. Even contested elections, when resolved, often reinforced the hierarchical, yet consensual, community. While society was not without tensions before 1765, disturbances increased when the Whig elite attempted to limit the British government\u27s political and economic influence. The Whig elite organized petitions and demonstrations against the Stamp Act, government agents, and merchants willing to conduct business under the new imperial laws. The Townshend Act further divided the Virginian elite into Patriots and Loyalists. Also in 1768 and 1769 an inoculation crisis divided the elite along the same lines. The inoculation riots were a product of both elite manipulation and customary beliefs. The populace responded to these incidents by attempting to maintain community. While the root cause was Whig elite organization against British governmental officers or merchants, the forms taken in mob action and the victims chosen for public humiliation were distinctly popular: tar and feathering, ducking, burning in effigy, carting. Most riots were clearly orderly. Those people singled out by the mob for correction or humiliation either promoted individual (not community) interests or were viewed as community outsiders. The implications of this study extend beyond 1775. Gordon S. Wood argues that the American Revolution was a radical social revolution. The evidence from colonial Virginia does suggest a breakdown of the consensual community view among the elite well before 1775. But this breakdown did not extend to the popular level. An analysis of popular rituals reveals the popular mentalité. Foremost in the popular eighteenth-century Virginia mind was the maintenance of community. Disorderly popular actions reinforced social stability and order

Exciting the Rabble to Riots and Mobbing : Community, Public Rituals, and Popular Disturbances in Eighteenth-Century Virginia

Throughout the eighteenth century, Virginia\u27s populace acted in ways which reinforced the communal will. A deep rationality underlay popular action. While eighteenth-century contemporaries did not view it this way, historians must not view the mob as unruly. This thesis delineates the social laws displayed in the communal actions of pre-revolutionary Virginia, whether labeled by the elite as orderly or disorderly. The Virginia Gazette and other sources during the quarter century before the Stamp Act show a society actively and publicly displaying communal and hierarchical values. Fairs reinforced the hierarchy through festive social interaction. Royal celebrations allowed the elite and populace to express communal as well as monarchical loyalty. Courthouse gatherings, more than any other social occasion, unified the community. Even contested elections, when resolved, often reinforced the hierarchical, yet consensual, community. While society was not without tensions before 1765, disturbances increased when the Whig elite attempted to limit the British government\u27s political and economic influence. The Whig elite organized petitions and demonstrations against the Stamp Act, government agents, and merchants willing to conduct business under the new imperial laws. The Townshend Act further divided the Virginian elite into Patriots and Loyalists. Also in 1768 and 1769 an inoculation crisis divided the elite along the same lines. The inoculation riots were a product of both elite manipulation and customary beliefs. The populace responded to these incidents by attempting to maintain community. While the root cause was Whig elite organization against British governmental officers or merchants, the forms taken in mob action and the victims chosen for public humiliation were distinctly popular: tar and feathering, ducking, burning in effigy, carting. Most riots were clearly orderly. Those people singled out by the mob for correction or humiliation either promoted individual (not community) interests or were viewed as community outsiders. The implications of this study extend beyond 1775. Gordon S. Wood argues that the American Revolution was a radical social revolution. The evidence from colonial Virginia does suggest a breakdown of the consensual community view among the elite well before 1775. But this breakdown did not extend to the popular level. An analysis of popular rituals reveals the popular mentalité. Foremost in the popular eighteenth-century Virginia mind was the maintenance of community. Disorderly popular actions reinforced social stability and order

Factors predicting reversion from mild cognitive impairment to normal cognition: a population-based study.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is associated with an increased risk of developing dementia. However, many individuals diagnosed with MCI are found to have reverted to normal cognition on follow-up. This study investigated factors predicting or associated with reversion from MCI to normal cognition.Our analyses considered 223 participants (48.9% male) aged 71-89 years, drawn from the prospective, population-based Sydney Memory and Ageing Study. All were diagnosed with MCI at baseline and subsequently classified with either normal cognition or repeat diagnosis of MCI after two years (a further 11 participants who progressed from MCI to dementia were excluded). Associations with reversion were investigated for (1) baseline factors that included diagnostic features, personality, neuroimaging, sociodemographics, lifestyle, and physical and mental health; (2) longitudinal change in potentially modifiable factors.There were 66 reverters to normal cognition and 157 non-reverters (stable MCI). Regression analyses identified diagnostic features as most predictive of prognosis, with reversion less likely in participants with multiple-domain MCI (p = 0.011), a moderately or severely impaired cognitive domain (p = 0.002 and p = 0.006), or an informant-based memory complaint (p = 0.031). Reversion was also less likely for participants with arthritis (p = 0.037), but more likely for participants with higher complex mental activity (p = 0.003), greater openness to experience (p = 0.041), better vision (p = 0.014), better smelling ability (p = 0.040), or larger combined volume of the left hippocampus and left amygdala (p<0.040). Reversion was also associated with a larger drop in diastolic blood pressure between baseline and follow-up (p = 0.026).Numerous factors are associated with reversion from MCI to normal cognition. Assessing these factors could facilitate more accurate prognosis of individuals with MCI. Participation in cognitively enriching activities and efforts to lower blood pressure might promote reversion

Grey matter correlates of BNT.

<p>Brain regions where voxel-based GM volumes are positively correlated with BNT in 344 participants aged 70-90 years, superimposed on the sagittal slices of the brain template. The slices are at 4 mm intervals between and including -48 mm and 44 mm. The colour bar represents the t score ranging from 0 to 5.5; and yellow indicates a higher t score than red.</p

Grey matter correlates of COWAT.

<p>Brain regions where voxel-based GM volumes are positively correlated with COWAT in 344 participants aged 70-90 years, are superimposed on the sagittal slices of the brain template. The slices are at 5 mm intervals between and including -80 mm and 75 mm. The colour bar represents the t score ranging from 0 to 5.5; and yellow indicates a higher t score than red. </p

Grey matter correlates of CF.

<p>Brain regions where voxel-based GM volumes are positively correlated with CF in 344 participants aged 70-90 years, superimposed on the sagittal slices of the brain template. The slices are at 4 mm intervals between and including -48 mm and -20 mm. The colour bar represents the t score ranging from 0 to 5.5; and yellow indicates a higher t score than red.</p

Factors associated with cognitive decline.

<p>Interventions modifying factors with a significant population attributable risk might greatly reduce population-wide cognitive decline. Age and sex interactions suggest further benefits by tailoring interventions to particular demographic groups.</p