It started off with 64… now only 2 remain. It’s the day you’ve been waiting for—the time when the ultimate champion of Junto March Madness will be decided. Strong challengers have fallen by the wayside; now your votes will decide who walks away with the fame, fortune and accolades for being recognized as the best early American history book since 2000. Final Four results, and the final poll, all after the jump!
In the Final Four, the overarching theme of this year’s tournament continued, in that original seedings played little role in determining the outcome of the semifinals. Both lower seeds won their matchup by a handy margin, leaving Rebecca Goetz’s The Baptism of Early Virginia and Michael Jarvis’s In The Eye of All Trade the last two title remaining. Voter turnout remained high, with well over 400 votes recorded in both matchups.
What are your thoughts on the final bout, and the tournament as a whole? Let us know, either in the comments or on Twitter, using the hashtag #JMM14, As ever, voting closes tonight, at midnight EDT. Happy voting!
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
6. Rebecca Anne Goetz, The Baptism of Early Virginia: How Christianity Created Race vs. 13. Michael Jarvis, In The Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783
FINAL FOUR RESULTS
6. Rebecca Anne Goetz, The Baptism of Early Virginia: How Christianity Created Race 58%
def. 2. Brett Rushforth, Bonds of Alliance: Indigenous and Atlantic Slaveries in New France 42%
13. Michael Jarvis, In The Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 57%
def 8. Woody Holton, Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution 43%
The Junto 
One thing that’s interesting about this final-round matchup, Ken, is that it’s between two works that are very much colonial history — something the Junto’s sometimes been accused of slighting. Is this a sign that we have good reach among colonialists, and therefore should be happy with our coverage. Or have both these dark horse runs been fueled by colonialist anger at our revolutionary-dominated programming? I’m a bit worried it might be the latter!
I’m becoming convinced that Goetz has a ground-game that rivals Obama’s!
It isn’t for nothing that I have 2000 twitter followers on six continents!
Sibling Rivalry!
The final match-up pits England’s first two colonies against each other – sisters, in fact, both colonized by the Virginia Company (1607 and 1612). Will the upstart Atlantic little sister upset her more famous Continental sibling? Voters will decide today!
Oh that’s awesome! I did write to my friends at the Library of Virginia this morning with the subject line “Virginia vs. Bermuda.” 🙂
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I can’t get enough of Jarvis’s book (which is good since it’s an important resource for my dissertation!). I’m eagerly awaiting the results!