My understanding is that at Williamsburg, the governor tried to remove the gunpowder the magazine after Patrick Henry's "liberty of death" speech, which caused militia from the countryside to march on the city. After heated negotiations the militia dispersed, and the governor fled in the dead of night for Norfolk because he read the political tea leaves. After a few months of battle, Norfolk fell and the British troops evacuated Virginia (I'm sure this is pretty jumbled up).
My question is really several questions. Was this a fairly typical series of events? How did this work within the town itself--would the townspeople have viewed this as a militia occupation or were they the people in the militia? And in areas that didn't have the opportunity for "events" because there were no governors or British soldiers, how did they become "revolutionary"? Would the people of a small town come together and have a big debate about whether to join the uprising or stay with the Crown?
I feel that the events of Massachusetts have sort of choked out the events happening everywhere else-at least in general education.
(side question: if Virginia was by far the wealthiest and most populous colony, why was its independence essentially uncontested after 1775?)
A follow-up. I've read American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence by Pauline Maier. It addresses some of the issues OP brings up. I found the book interesting, enlightening, and thought-provoking. But as a non-expert, I can't really say how good it is. What do more knowledgeable people think of this book?
The narrative it presents goes something like this. What we call the "American Revolution" was initially just local tax revolts. Even in late 1775 there was generally great reluctance to consider these as part of a larger conflict. However, this changed rapidly in the winter of 1775-76, in response to two events: (1) George III declaring the American colonies outside of his protection and sending a fleet to pacify them, and (2) the publication of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense", which advocated the previously unthinkable idea that a king was unnecessary. As a result, in 1776 any number of towns had debates of the kind the OP asks about. And many of them wrote their own declarations of independence. The American move toward independence was thus much more of a grass-roots thing then it is usually presented as today. And the declaration by the Continental Congress in July 1776 was really a secondary event, expressing a change that had mostly already occurred.
Would the experts on here consider that to be an accurate and helpful way to look at these events?
I can speak to Virginia in particular, but not so much the rest of the colonies. Williamsburg was the capital of Virginia, housing the highest levels of government. Part of this government was what we can the House of Burgesses, an assembly of elected representatives from each county in Virginia. They would meet twice a year, working in cooperation with the Governor's Council (12 men chosen by the governor and the governor himself.)
The road to revolution was the result of various events. After the incident with the tea in Boston, the Virginia House of Burgesses called for a Day of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer in solidarity with the people of Massachusetts. The governor, John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, saw this as overstepping their bounds, as holidays such as this can only be declared by the king or his representative (i.e. the governor). Lord Dunmore dissolved the House of Burgesses and more or less immediately departed the city for Dunmore's War (another story for another post).
In Lord Dunmore's absence, two important things occurred: 1) the Burgesses, no longer an official body, continued to meet at the Raleigh Tavern, now referring to themselves as the Virginia Convention, to discuss ways in which they could continue to protect the rights of Virginians, and 2) an official order from the Earl of Dartmouth, Secretary of State for the American Colonies, arrived in the colonies (dated October 17th) to arrest and secure any gunpowder being imported into the colonies.
Lord Dunmore returned to the city in December of 1774 to find the order, and (in what some consider an overstepping of his own bounds) charged Lt. Collins of the HMS Magdalen with the task of removing the gunpowder from the Magazine in Williamsburg. In the early morning hours of April 20th, 1775, (the day after Lexington and Concord, news of which had not yet arrived) 15-20 British sailors departed the Magdalen, took 15 half-barrels of the colony's gunpowder from the Magazine, and secure it upon several Royal Navy vessels. They were discovered in the process, sparking a mob to gather at the Courthouse across the street. The Speaker of the House of Burgesses and two other city leaders calmed the crowd, presumably dispersed them, and took a petition to the governor themselves. In the meantime, word had spread quickly that the powder was taken, and several independent companies of armed men (not technically militia) formed. Two smaller companies arrived in the city, while another larger company, which had chosen Patrick Henry as its leader, marched towards Williamsburg, stopping before they reached the city and sending an envoy to the receiver general's house instead. There, they received a payment for the powder taken (to the amount of £330) and went home peacefully.
The following year, the Fifth Virginia Convention met at the Capital, where they drafted the Virginia Declaration of Rights.
There is a whole lot more to this already long story, but basically it was a slow compilation of several offenses coming to a head. As far as the citizenry themselves were concerned, some joined the militia, some remained loyal, but the majority really didn't care. They somewhat cater to whichever power currently held the city, but they really just wanted life to go on as normal. And Virginia's independence really wasn't uncontested, considering an entire war was fought to prevent it... That being said, the Dutch recognition of the United States in 1776 helped the American claim to independence.
Edit: Sources finally here! Sorry about the delay; we had a busier day than expected...
Primary:
Governor Earl of Dunmore to Earl of Dartmouth, Documents of the American Revolution - 1770-1783, Volume VIII - 1774, K.G. Davies, Editor, Irish University Press, 1975, p. 128-129
The Council to Dunmore, Executive Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia, Volume VI, Benjamin J. Hillman, Editor, Virginia State Library, Richmond, Virginia, 1966, p. 574
Dunmore to the Council, Executive Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia, Volume VI, Benjamin J. Hillman, Editor, Virginia State Library, Richmond, Virginia, 1966, p. 577-578
Governor Earl of Dunmore to Earl of Dartmouth, Documents of the American Revolution - 1770-1783, Volume VIII - 1774, K.G. Davies, Editor, Irish University Press, 1975, p. 252-270
Earl of Dartmouth to Governor Earl of Dunmore, Documents of the American Revolution - 1770-1783, Volume IX - 1775 - January to June, K.G. Davies, Editor, Irish University Press, 1975, p. 62-63
Governor Earl of Dunmore to Earl of Dartmouth, Documents of the American Revolution - 1770-1783, Volume IX - 1775 - January to June, K.G. Davies, Editor, Irish University Press, 1975, p. 107-110
Royal Chief Magistracy - Governor Dunmore to His Council, Virginia Gazette, Pinkney, 4 May 1775
Royal Chief Magistracy - Advice of His Council to Governor Dunmore and His Excellency's Resultant Proclamation, Virginia Gazette, Pinkney, 4 May 1775
Governor Earl of Dunmore to Earl of Dartmouth, Documents of the American Revolution - 1770-1783, Volume IX - 1775 - January to June, K.G. Davies, Editor, Irish University Press, 1975, p. 133-135
Philadelphia, May 24 Virginia Gazette, Pinkney, 8 June 1775, Page 3, Column 2
Williamsburg Virginia Gazette, Pinkney, 8 June 1775, Page 3, Columns 2 and 3
Virginia Gazette, Pinkney, 8 June 1775, Page 3, Column 3
Governor Earl of Dunmore to Earl of Dartmouth, Documents of the American Revolution - 1770-1783, Volume IX - 1775 - January to June, K.G. Davies, Editor, Irish University Press, 1975, p. 200-207
Governor Dunmore to the House of Burgesses, Journal of the House of Burgesses, 1773-1776, Richmond, Virginia, 1905, p. 206
House of Burgesses to Governor Dunmore, Journal of the House of Burgesses, 1773-1776, Richmond, Virginia, 1905, p. 207
Governor Dunmore to the House of Burgesses, Journal of the House of Burgesses, 1773-1776, Richmond, Virginia, 1905, p. 214-215
Secondary:
Selby, John E., Dunmore, Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1976, p. 13-19
Selby, John E., The Revolution in Virginia 1775-1783, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, Virginia, p. 1-6, 41-54
A ton of Colonial Williamsburg training materials with endless citations (more of which I will provide if requested, many of them being additional primary sources)