Before the bailout of the banks and the car companies and the rest, Historian Woody Holton showed that indeed both the Revolution and the Constitution themselves were what we called bailouts. The Revolution in Virginia was the solution of a ruling class that had backed itself into a corner. The land owning classes of Virginia had spent their fortunes on land speculation, land speculation that was opposed by Native Americans, In addition, they had invested in slaves, Slaves whose values continued to drop as Scottish merchants delivered more to the colonies. Meanwhile Tabacco's price was chronically falling as other markets opened up. As a result these landholders were chronically in debt, and their only solution was to limit the number of slaves, try to raise the price of tabacco, and to secure lands as well. They tried several things throughout the 70s, they withheld exports to try to drive up tabacco prices, they boycotted imports to do the same with slaves, and closed the courts so no one could be held accountable for their debt. However, these measures hurt the lower classes who demanded an end to them with jailbreaks, riots etc. With a need to regain authority, especially with Lord Dunmore offering to free slaves, and small folk committing crimes in defiance to the landholding class, the Virginians called for Independence, the only measure that would allow freedom from British controll and allow them to reopen courts without debtors being held accountable. Bailout #1.