Hobby Historians at their Happy Place

Aloha all,

Joy’s blog post last week was so popular that I am afraid some of you might be disappointed that she doesn’t get to write this one. It’d be a lot shorter, since she spent most of the week on the parking lots in and around Williamsburg. Don’t tell her, but I think she missed some of the most interesting sites of this trip.

There is natural beauty and fascinating history all over this country, but it’s not evenly distributed. The Southwest has more than its fair share of natural wonders, but you still have to drive a few hours to get from the Grand Canyon to Bryce Canyon or Zion. Virginia has three of the most important places in American history less than 20 minutes from each other: 

Jamestown probably has the best claim for being the origin of this country. If you thought it was Plymouth, you might want to read on. 

Williamsburg might be the closest thing to a time machine we will ever have. If you don’t know what I mean by that, you might want to read on.

Yorktown might be the site of the most important battle for American Independence. If you know as little about Yorktown as we did until last week, you might want to read on.

Bush Gardens is right in the middle of it, too. But who has time for a regular theme park when you can have these kind of authentic historical theme parks? We spent a full week in this historical triangle and still have not seen everything. But here is what we did see:

Replicas of the boats that brought
the first settlers to Jamestown in 1607

At Jamestown we spent one full day at the actual historical site, where English settlers arrived in 1607. Then we spent a second full day at the place next door where they reconstructed the three ships that brought the first settlers, the fort and a Powhatan Indian settlement. We had been there in 2005, but this is how bad our memory is (or how prevalent some common misconceptions are): We remembered that the Jamestown settlement was a failure; that they were starving and there were even rumors of cannibalism. We remembered that they abandoned the settlement after just a few years. It’s a good thing we went back to learn what really happened…

According to the most recent scientific consensus, the cannibal thing actually did happened. Just in the past few years, they found pretty clear evidence. But the rest of our memories were wrong. After the “Starving Times” the few surviving settlers actually tried to leave: They had already boarded their ship and sailed out of the Chesapeake Bay when a new leader, new settlers and new supplies arrived. They turned around and the settlement was actually doing quite well from there on out. For the next 92 years Jamestown was the capitol of Virginia, the most successful British colony in America at the time. 

Digging up history at Jamestown 

Surprisingly, the National Park ranger guided tour in Jamestown was the less informative one. We were more confused than before. But we also got to go on an excellent tour with an archaeologist who is currently working on several of the dig sites at Jamestown. This was one of the most active archaeological site I have ever seen, they were digging all over the place. The location of the fort was actually thought lost, possibly washed away by erosion, until archaeologists rediscovered remains in 1994! They have been learning new things about Jamestown every year since. Just this year, they discovered a new thing about their own logo: What was thought to be a flag drawn on this little map by John Smith over 300 years ago, is actually a real part of the fort. They made this discovery earlier in 2022 and they are still trying to figure out what it actually was.

So over 400 years later, it turns out
that thing on the top is not a flag...

I already voiced some questions in my blog post from New England in September why Plymouth gets the reputation of being the origin of the United Sates of America. After visiting Jamestown, that claim seems totally ridiculous. 

Here are just some of the colorful events that happened in Jamestown before the first Pilgrim ever arrived in Plymouth:

1610 only 60 of several hundred settlers survived the “Starving Times”

1612 John Rolfe starts cultivating a West Indies strain of tobacco for export

1613 Pocahontas is captured, but marries John Rolfe in 1614

1616 Pocahontas travels to Europe and dies there in 1617

1619 The first representative assembly in North America is elected

1619 The first African slaves arrive

1620 The Virginia Company sends 90 young women. The settlers can marry them if they pay 150 pounds of tobacco…

So Plymouth clearly wasn’t the first English settlement in America. There were actually several earlier settlements. By the time the Pilgrims set foot on Plymouth Rock, the settlers in Virginia were already growing tobacco, capturing natives, enslaving Africans and electing their first representative assembly. 

By the way, that assembly has been in continuous existence and is today’s General Assembly of the State of Virginia. So Plymouth might be able to claim the first Thanksgiving, but Jamestown can claim the first step towards creating a representative government. So I’ll give that point to Virginia, unless you think eating turkey is more important than democracy. 

Jamestown was well established years
before the Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth

Apparently, we are not the only ones with misconceptions about Plymouth and Jamestown. We talked to several of the historians here and they had a few possible explanations: 

1. History is usually written by the winners. The north won the civil war, so maybe they were trying to claim more of the origin of the country than they deserve? 

2. Most publishers are located in New York and Boston, Virginia does not even crack the top 20. So who printed all those history books claiming that the Pilgrims in Plymouth founded America? 

3. It just sounds like a good story that the Pilgrims moved to America in search of “religious freedom”. Unfortunately, they only meant the freedom to practice their own religion, but still sounds more noble than the the main goal of the Virginia Company: They founded Jamestown to make money.

In 1699 the Virginia capitol was moved from Jamestown to Williamsburg and in 1780 from Williamsburg to Richmond. Both of those dates are important for the creation of our “time machine”. As the capitol of the largest and most prosperous colony and with the prestigious College of William & Mary next door, Williamsburg was the place to be. That’s why George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry and many other Founding Fathers got their start in politics right here. Had the capitol stayed in Williamsburg, the town would probably be the size of Richmond now. Most of the colonial buildings would be long replaced and there is no way any non-profit organization could afford to turn the downtown area into a historical park. But after the capitol moved, Williamsburg became a very sleepy town. That is until 1926, when the rebirth of Colonial Williamsburg began. By now, so many of the original buildings are restored or rebuilt that it is the best place to be if you ever want to pretend you were there when the revolution was just beginning.

We had very lucky timing: Just as we arrived at Williamsburg George Washington addressed the townspeople and talked about the importance of a strong union and his hopes of winning the war. We also met Washington’s lovely wife Martha and heard how she described slavery as a ‘burden’. That sounded like a lame excuse at first. If it’s such a burden, why wouldn’t you just free your slaves? Apparently, that wasn’t always that easy. There were times when it was illegal to free your slaves. And if you had done it anyway, they could be snatched up and be sold again. Darn, history always gets more complicated the more you learn.

Martha and George Washington

We actually met Robert Carter III, the largest slave holder in Virginia. He talked about his decision to free all of his 450+ slaves and even though he was fully committed and could easily afford it, freeing his own slaves was not an easy process and ended up taking several decades.

The Marquis de Lafayette

We also had the honor of meeting the French Marquis de Lafayette. He told us how intrigued he was by the ideas of the American Revolution and that he came to America at his own expense, actually disobeying the orders of his king to stay in France. At first he was turned down when he wanted to be a general. But luckily he was independently wealthy and when he offered to serve without pay, the Americans gladly accepted. That turned out to be quite the blessing, especially later when France got into war with England and started to support the Americans officially. Even Washington confirmed, there was no way America would have won without the French Navy. However, Lafayette did say that if he had known that America would not abolish slavery during the revolution, he would not have come. Apparently, he thought when Jefferson wrote that ‘all men are created equal’, he actually meant ‘all men’. Something must have gotten lost in translation.

We also witnessed Lord Dunmore, the last Royal Governor of Virginia, just as he was deciding to free the slaves of the rebels to turn them into British soldiers to fight against their owners in return for their freedom.  

George Mason,
the Forgotten Founding Father

George Mason is one of the least known Founding Fathers, probably because he never wanted to be president and nobody wrote a musical about him. But it was fascinating to talk to him about writing the Virginia Declaration of Rights and later  lobbying for a Bill of Rights for the US constitution. 

George Washington came back on another day and by the magic of the time machine, it was 1796 when he was just finishing his second term. When I asked him about term limits, to my surprise he was strongly opposed to them. He made a valid point: If we wanted to have term limits, we would have written them into the constitution. George Washington reminded me that he spent 50+ years in public service. Personally, I still like term limits, but I will never again argue for them by saying that the Founding Fathers never intended for career politicians.

Between meeting all these famous people, we also toured the Governor’s Mansion, Payton Randolph’s fancy home and the Capitol, where we learned how Virginia was governed. We attended and even participated in a trial at the courthouse: Despite my pale skin, they mistook me for a slave. Luckily, I was able to prove that I had fulfilled my years of servitude and regained my freedom. How is that for white privilege?

Whether it's 1776 or 2022, the brickyard
 in Williamsburg is making bricks

We met a native American who talked about the traditional concept of “captive taking” in their culture. It sounds unusual by our standards, but slightly more civilized than kidnapping or slavery. We visited the brickyard to learn how to make bricks. There is an actual working cabinet maker. We went to the milliner shop, where they don’t just sell hats, but all kinds of accessories. For example, we learned what bum pads are…and I would argue that those made more sense than today’s butt implants.  

Bum pads are just what they sound like

Our fortunate timing continued: On the second day we arrived just as news of the Declaration of Independence was read on the streets of Williamsburg. We sat close to one of the local taverns keepers. He didn’t dare say it, but I got a feeling that he was actually a loyalist. He was not thrilled about the declaration, but played along with the rebels; for fear he might be driven out of business or even out of town if he spoke his mind. I guess that whole ‘freedom of speech’ thing was just a lofty goal, but not actually practiced during the revolution.

The townspeople of Williamsburg
react to the news of the day

I know it sounds unbelievable that we were so lucky, but when we arrived on the third day, the news from the first battles at Concord and Lexington broke. I guess news traveled slowly back then since the battles had already happened when we were in Concord a month ago. After the general excitement on the street calmed down, we started talking to one of the town physicians and his sister in law. He was enthusiastically calling for an open revolt, while she was more cautious and trusted that the Royal Governor would come around and address their grievances. The four of us talked for over an hour and it was a fascinating conversation. We played along and did not tell them that we were actually time travelers and knew how the revolution would end. They probably would not have believed two weirdly dressed people from some imaginary island in the Pacific anyway.

Our best friends from the 1770's

We remember listening to Patrick Henry for hours with growing enthusiasm last time we were in Williamsburg in 2008. So after visiting his Red Hill estate and meeting his great great great great great great grandson earlier on this year’s trip, of course we were thrilled to see this famous orator again. Or favorite part was when he was asked about his “ex friend” Thomas Jefferson. He went on a 15 minute rant in front of the whole town about how much of a selfish coward Jefferson was. Patrick Henry concluded by saying that even though Jefferson said all those nasty things about him, he would never sink as low as Jefferson. That’s why he would never say a bad word about Jefferson in public.

Patrick Henry is still at it

That was a befitting end to our return visit to Williamsburg. We stepped out of the time machine somewhat reluctantly, but we are already planning our return trip for next year, whatever year that might be in Williamsburg.

Great ranger program at the Yorktown Battlefield 

Yorktown is the site of the crucial victory in the Revolutionary War. Washington’s Continental Army with the assistance of the French Navy, including our friend Lafayette, beat the British decisively. According to Wikipedia, the 1781 “Siege of Yorktown” is also called the “German Battle”, because mercenaries from places like Hessen, Bayreuth and Ansbach were fighting in all three armies involved: Germans actually made up about a third of the British troops. The French column taking out the important Redoubt No.9 was under the command of some Wilhelm from Zweibrücken. And I always thought it was Washington who transformed the ragtag bunch of militias into a professional army. But George Washington and most historians seem to give most of the credit for that to Friedrich von Steuben from Prussia.

Colonial Army camp at the
American Revolution Museum at Yorktown

After the siege and a brief battle, the British surrendered and over 7000 soldiers were captured. Britain still held New York at the time, but this loss was too devastating and the king and parliament lost interest in fighting the rebellion. There were no mayor battles after the surrender in Yorktown on Oct 19, 1781. Peace negotiations began and in 1783 the Treaty of Paris ended the war, acknowledged the United States of America as an independent country and established new borders in North America, some of which are still in place today.

Washington slept here

The Revolutionary War lasted 8 years and involved battles even outside of North America, but Yorktown is probably the best place to find out how Independence was finally won. It’s also another great place to learn how terrible our memory is. We went on a long tour with a ranger and half way through the museum before a tent from General Washington looked a little bit too familiar. Then I finally realized that we had been here before. I really should read my own blog more often. This time, we also spent a full day in the adjacent American Revolution Museum. Maybe that helps us remembering at least some of the things we learned. If not, we’ll just have to come back.

Colonial and Revolutionary Greetings from Virginia,

Chris & Sandra