He teaches classes on the American Revolution, Early American Women, Creating the Constitution, and Early African Americans. In 2000, the Organization of American Historians awarded his first book, Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia its prestigious Merle Curti award. Forced Founders is required reading on more than 150 campuses across the country, from Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania to Stanford and the University of California—Santa Cruz. Dr. Holton holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a doctorate from Duke. Before he started teaching, he directed numerous environmental campaigns and was founding director of the environmental advocacy group “Clean Up Congress.”