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Text
5, No. 2
Volume
July, August
June,
THE INTERPRETER'
The
2006
1774 to 1776
S NEWSPAPER
Historic Area
Revolutionary City"
MD
iif
r s. a .
ikNIS
DAYDAY
t^
COLLAPSE
See p. 2
See p. 4
OF ROYAL GOVERNMENT:
IA-
i
1774 TO 1776
i
JUNE
1774 TO
JUNE
1776
THE REVOLUTIONARY CITY"
Colonic;
auei plantations
in America
have
been, are, and of right ought to be subordinate unto, and dependent upon the imperial
Ne W S 11 n e
crown and Parliament of Great Britain.
r,
1774
31- June 22: Parliament
rebellion.
4r
Acts and the
Coercive
the
passes
s
26,
May
Dissolves
Dunmore
Governor
i
Assembly
the
September
r'A mac- .
of
1774: Enemies
5- October
Continental
meets
in
We are fighting fear the subjection, the unuorrditional submission of a country infinitely
more extended than our own, of which
every day increases in wealth, the natural
AA
26: First
Congress
strength, the population. Should we not sue-
I
Philadelphia
ceed. ..
26,
Raise High
1774:
the
r
41f
1775
A P nil
15
A p nil
A House Divided!
1775:
18: Paul
Revere' s
19: Battles
April
29,
e'
r
ride
of Lexington
the
i
North!
10: American forces
May
Fort Ticonderoga
capture
of Royal
Collapse
Lake
on
Champlain
10: Second
May
Congress
1775:
1 5:
June
Washington
appointed
Aug.
in
the colonies
November
Dec.
31:
open
17,
Proclamation:
III declares
Colonists
eral
Dunmore' s
defeated
are
at
Paine
publishes
Sense
evacuate
troops
at
and
June
held
open
boycott East
Independent
Congress
Free and
States!
4, 1776:
convention
July,
an
xiv- xv]
Continental
had
no
formed
was
1775
in the internal
modeled
authorized
to
towns
create
affairs
Continental
a
Virginia'
on
cities,
committees
November,
had established
The
s.
and
counties,
enforce
to
most Virginia
the
police the association.
intimidation to ensure
of
some
16, 000
More
than
1, 500
1,
were
and
were
it to
on
duty
voiced
1776]
He
so
much
free
into
L.
1"
Y'
of
1775
Otis, " The Rights
of the British
1764)
Kings are the servants, not the proprietors
of the people.
Thomas Jefferson, A Summary Review
of the Rights of British America, 1774)
the
for
colony
war.
General George Washington,
of the
reached
larly reported news of Dunmore' s raids in
the
Norfolk
region.
the
events
quieted
Virginia
and the
men,
truce
Dunmore
down.
and
a
response
Henry, with
marched
toward
governor fortified
for the lost powder was
the
Payment
the
to
week,
the next
immediate. Patrick
arranged and Henry
retreated.
was
short.
opened
the
On
June
General
1,
As-
sembly. The assembly was to consider Lord
North' s peace proposal. Then, in the early
and
morning hours of June 8, Dunmore
his family fled and took refuge on HMS
Fowey moored off Yorktown. Royal government
in Virginia
The
burgesses
liamshurg
before
had
one
such
raid
Dunmore
but
he
forced
was
would
to
remain
Norfolk,
abandon
in
Virginia
1:
fill
iftti:::_ .._
waters
until August 1776. By the end of 1775, the
Continental
number
had
Congress
of Virginia
incorporated
regiments
a
k
into the con-
tinental service.
In early 1776, Virginians had to decide
they were fighting for. Liberty and
what
ilh•_-_-..
1, 1i.-.L,.
4
Sense
mon
made
a
come
lingered
to
an
end.
awhile
for their right
also
powerful
case
that
in Wil-
returning to their homes.
Tv
s //
I/,"
01 f
George was America' s oppressor. To ensure
ties
the
f
f
King
of their rights and liber-
colonies
needed
to win
the
war,
4i'
would
But
no
Euro-
pean country would openly support
outraged,
in Lexington
suspected,
and
After
at Kemps Landing, Dunmore issued his
proclamation that offered freedom to rebelowned slaves. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of slaves joined Dunmore' s forces.
They wanted the right to elect their legislative representatives. Thomas
Paine' s Corn-
things
of 150
14, 1776)
to own property ( both land and slaves).
motion
events
January
items such as salt. The Virginia Gazette regu-
create
conspiracy
company
Streams of
to
was
again
spent
was
companies.
militia
Dunmore threatened
unless
news
1775,
1-- ]
fall
the
freedom, naturally, but
immediately
were
that
so
slaves
But
i)'tli ` _--,,
James
Colonies Asserted and Proved,"
Few people know the predicament we are in.
August 26, 1775.
on
of
and
the Palace.
1'r'
Ii%
A
opposition
counties
allow
set
Williamsburg,
*
Wi -
ended
tion
the continuation
a
s: 4:
rights
of our fellow subjects in Great Britain.
when all around one are wra ppep•
ed in sle
when
was
A,•
essential, inherent, and inseparable
notes
convention
printing £ 350, 000 in treasury
to pay for a possible war. The conven-
led to the removal of gunpowder from
the Magazine
in Williamsburg on April 21,
Concord
ti
were
Hearing that the convention had approved
Henry' s proposal, Governor Dunmore grew
When
absent
entitled to all the natural,
parliament. . .
The reflection upon my situation and that of
this army produces many an uneasy hour
third
The
conventions.
Convention
independent
own
Colonists
sick
or in any other of the British
dominions, is by the law of God and nature, by the common law and by the act of
authorized
1775.
1775
from David McCullough,
IFF'
1775
strong- arm tactics.
1775,
Patrick Henry electri-
March
In
Men
500
The
that
14, 000 fit for
than
Fewer
July
war
footing.
committees'
he called
Militia and Volunteer Troops
Boston,
They
compliance.
1774
months
coun-
of safety
employed
committees
to
their
England
their
on
of the
Congress declared Par-
role
and adopted
colonies
the
alarmed.
New
1775,
put Virginia
tablishing and restructuring the militia. It
created a central Committee of Safety to
Congress in Philadelphia
fied the Second Virginia
S ARMY
to
was
how best to
August
after
Continental
liament
VIRGINIA TODAY
OF
business
main
Convention
17,
July
on
First
to the
SIZE
Third Virginia
manage the colony between the meetings
association
generally quiet, but
WASHINGTON'
the
in Richmond
met
ITWO
new recruits marched into Williamsburg.
The various county committees gathered
war provisions and tried to procure scarce
winter
SNAPSHOT
When
exile.
readying
By late
from Gordon Wood,
The flight of the governor forced those Virginians still loyal to the king to reconsider
their options. Many felt they had to go into
1.
stop all British imports on November
Seven delegates were elected to attend the
ties
Chronology
1775)
Every British subject born on the continent
of America,
Government
to
City"
programs
Pole
Liberty
Most
Congress
of Independence
The American Revolution, pp.
26,
THE CONFLICT!!!
The'
of freehold-
meetings
exports
Association
Continental
Revolutionary
Parliament,
r
of
number
a
association.
The
Wilkes,
October
and
withhold
of
approves the
Declaration
John
The convention passed ordinances establishing a professional
army and rees-
protest the closing of Boston Harbor. They
also elected delegates to the convention.
At
The
1776: Resolved:
15,
i, •
gen-
a
1.
August
on
the
in September 1774.
Boston
July
to meet
to
and inhabitants to decide
ers
Slaves!
to
Company
convention
During
to
May
reassembled
goods and called for
the
Mar. 17: British
burgesses called
the
burgesses
the
counties
1776
Common
Virgin-
show
and agreed
rebellion
1775:
Liberty
10: Thomas
for Boston,
To
India
Quebec
Jan.
1774.
Raleigh Tavern
George
King
19,
day
action,
17: Battle of Bunker Hill
23:
a
which
Act,
of fast and prayer on June 1. After
Dunmore
dissolved the assembly for that
Continental Army
June
support
for
is
of the
commander
ia' s
Port
for the Tea Party, reached
punished Boston
Virginia
by May
The Citizen Soldier!
George
of the Boston
News
Continental
convenes
15,
May
will follow and the grandeur of the British
empire pass away
SIDES OF
an
from
The Gale
1775:
`"
AL
i
Pole!
Liberty
we shall be considered as their most
implacable enemies, an eternal separation
I
October
Blows must decide whether they
are subject to this country, or independent
King George III, 1774)
Quebec Act
Government:
Act, 1766)
The New England colonies are in a state of
r
111- ,
March
Declaratory
-.
rebels.
that
take
allies.
rAr
tow
If the goal was to create an independent
nation,
maybe
back the
new
a country like France
united colonies.
would
A second reason many Virginians supported independence was that Virginia
would
become
it
the
was,
real
lacked
state.
As
and the Commit-
conventions
of Safety
tee
constitutional
a
legitimacy.
There
troubling signs in the spring of 1776.
Slaves still ran to Dunmore. Tenant farmers
were
on
the Northern
Virginians
mon
good.
ernment
Neck
were
restless.
Many
put self- interests above the comBut others believed that a gov-
based
on
a
written
constitution
THE
GENERAL
NEW
WASHINGTON
He [ Washington]
carried
himself
like
a soldier and sat a horse like the perfect
Virginia
gentlemen.
It was the look and
bearing of a man accustomed to respect
and to being obeyed. He was not austere.
There
was no hint of arrogance. "
Amiable"
and " modest" were words frequently used
to describe
him, and there was a softness
in his eyes that people remembered. Yet he
had a certain
distance
in manner that set
clearly spelled out its power and limits
could reclaim order. When delegates to the
him off from, or above others.
Fifth Virginia
his officers, ' lest you subject yourself to a
want of that respect, which is necessary to
support a proper command."'
that
the
a
Convention
wrote"
finnis" in
old house journal on May 5, they knew
had been born.
new age
Submitted
by
Kevin
Kelly
Be
easy. . . but not familiar,'
David McCullough,
1776,
he advised
pp. 42- 431
�1774 to 1776
THE CENTER DOES NOT HOLD !
RUNNING . . .
DISSOLVING . . .
ENLISTING . . .
11
r.1'
J!'
--
tl
i
t.,.-
.„
i
a
s
Dana
by
Metheny
26,
May
of Government:
Fnerniec
Dissolves
Lord Dunmore,
the
of Burgesses
for protesting
Harbor by the British
closing of Boston
government. The burgesses
the
plans to intensify
their
Association,"
an "
East
India
Lord
by
copy of it in hand on
Thursday, May 26, when he summoned
the burgesses
to the Council chamber to
disband
have
by drafting
Order of
boycott
Way!"
Y
of Burmid-
the
marks
in
scene
was
a
response
some
private,
to
public—
As in any
preceding days.
good play, the dramatic tension of this
climax
spawned subsequent actions
on
taken
the
part of the real- life players, culminating in a grand, final act staged at Bruton
Parish Church on June 1.
the
That
Boston
ade
its
British navy was to blockHarbor, cutting off the city from
day
trade.
the
passed
Parliament
which called
Acts,"
called
colonists
for
the " Coercive
for the destruction
retaliation
the
measure (
this
Intolerable
theta "
in
Acts")
of East India
tea by Boston
patriots disguised as Indians
in their" tea party" of mid- December 1773.
19, the Virginia
On May
General Assem-
bly was in spring session when the Williamsburg newspaper reported the British
ministry'
intentions
s
toward
Boston.
Bur-
gesses' plans to hold public manifestations
of support for the citizens of Massachusetts
day
the
on
Dunmore
dissolve
blockade
the
the
began prompted
his prerogative to
exercise
to
s
colony'
only elected
body
of
composed
chronology of events that follows
a difference ten days can make!
The
what
On
called
and
Jefferson
Lee,
23,
Monday, May
cal burgesses,
Francis
Thomas
by
Richard
Henry
Lee, Patrick Henry,
Lightfoot
and several
group of radi-
a
together
including
perhaps George
others (
Mason
among them) met secretly at night in the
Council chamber to plan a resolution for a
of
day
and prayer
fasting
June
on
1,
the
ef-
fective date of the Boston port closing.
Jefferson and the others felt they needed
to justify
the calling of such an event by
legislature,
the
the
since
fasting
days
crown.
public
of the
Among
Council
the
the
John
chamber,
of
proclamation
was
prerogative
hooks in the
Rushworth'
s
his-
tory of the 17th- century English Civil War
provided plenty of precedents for national
days of fasting proclaimed by the Puritan
Parliament under Oliver Cromwell. In the
of
absence
frequent
monarch ( Charles I had been
a
beheaded)
the
of
use
admonish
Puritan
the
fasting
British
legislators
made
proclamations to
to pray for its
nation
passage through the turbulent times.
The language of these Puritan
Proclamasafe
Lions
in
decidedly
was
more
flavor than that of
earlier
revolutionary
such decrees
rally the people behind
arch in times of danger, such as
to
made
French and Indian
fervor
of
burgesses.
the
War.
Puritans
Based
on
burgesses " cooked
up"
the
mon-
during
the
The revolutionary
suited the radical
these
precedents, the
their
resolution,
explained
action.
He
put it.
On Tuesday, May 24, the conferees
had colonial treasurer, Robert Carter Nich-
House
known for his piety), introduce in the
their proposal for a solemn Day of
and Prayer, includFasting, Humiliation,
ing a procession from the Courthouse
to
the
have
voice,
Church.
The
with
resolution
seems
to
perhaps one dissenting
though Jefferson later called the vote
passed
unanimous.
in
ter who has fallen
November
tended
to
inflame
have
an
the
damaging
in-
by
from meeting in
the burgesses
met
the
next
in
27,
May
Apollo
Lion
They
commodities.
an
attack
to
compel
on
made
threatens
other
East
wrote "
That
sisters
to "
Person
His
colonies,
and
of all,
able
of the
whole
such
the
wisdom
upon
to
the
in
general
those
united
time to time
America
call would be answered
This
when
the
ters
Congress met in Philadelphia
in the fall
of
Meanwhile,
1775.
planned
to
in
bur-
formalize
to
specified
that
nonim-
in
Williamsburg
in
of
the
the
week,
have been
to
able
that
sations
Despite
ball
took
night,
and
his
stepped
hall
Oh,
place.
on
eavesdrop
Friday
events
as
the
to
conver-
of
burgesses
in the presence of the
had been ejected from it
who
day before!
By Saturday, May
the
just
the
spreading
liamsburg.
ters
hack
were
gesses
across
the
pulpits
in
Virginia'
more' s
"
word
28,
about
for
and
the
29,
in
slaves
them.
Lion
the
Before
Dunmore'
half the
and
women
For
seized
Virginians
the
Holton
Virginia,
that " As
early as
had begun liter-
patriots."
finalized
excepted,
morning of Wednesday, June
who were
in town and
the burgesses
1,
most
the
at
of the
surrounding
ten o'clock
at
whence
the
sion
Speaker
Mace"
addressed
Tory
Price,
conduct
the
Courthouse,
in
Parish.
chaplain
Randolph "
and
solemn
procesIn the church,
of
House,
the
Gwatassembly. Thomas
master
of the grammar school
the
Continued
on
page
4
he
and
Richard
Dunmore'
s
Henry
unparalleled
s
has,
from
a
few
Scotch
d Dunmore,
Llor]
extensive
poor— faced
good
Men
has
consequence,"
of all
is in-
war
time
rich,
separation
1
in
everyeng
and
middling,
from loved ones,
armies close to towns and farms.
A Citizen Soldier" focuses on the Hoy
family that had fallen on hard times even
before the war. Although Alexander Hoy
is a carpenter
in
of some skill and is known
the community,
he
has accumulated
debt that makes it increasingly difficult
for him to make ends meet.
At the same
time that he seeks a way to provide a living for himself, his wife, and two young
daughters,
Alexander
senses
that
he
is
shirking
fighting
his responsibility if he leaves the
to other men. In spite of the
dangers
to which
it will expose
the Hoys,
enlistment could place much needed cash
in Barbry' s hands and give Alexander a
renewed sense of purpose in the fight to
secure
independence,
a
cause
which
he
supports.
Back Story: With prices spiraling upward, shortages
of household
necessities
such as salt, and the absence of the family
member
brought
or members
in crops, ran
who customarily
shops, or did the
piecework and odd jobs that sustained
families in peace time, women left on
their
own,
especially
straightened
armies
close
ones
in
circumstances,
already
faced
bleak
on
to
the
move
farms
and
battlegrounds
towns.
and
Confiscation
and destruction of property, not to menLion bodily harm to wives and daughters
left alone, only added to the distress of the
possibility of death, capture, or serious injury to fathers, husbands,
on
the
home
front
and sons. A war
brought
women
face
For poorer women like Barbry, the peelitical beliefs and passions that took their
husbands and sons off to war sparked con-
siderahle resentment.
Barbry was not alone
on this
score,
as is evident
in the words of another woman in similar
circumstances
who was " troubled
to think
that he should love to be going so notch in
the war and
leave
me with
helpless
chil-
dren
in very poor circumstances."
Many
women railed against recruitment
officers,
accusing them of luring their husbands
away, which is precisely what recruiting
was designed
to do!
Nonetheless,
even
united every Man in that large
Archibald
Cary agreed. " The
most
a
neutrals
Virginia,
Proclamation
from
the
Peyton
Lord
in
Colony."
had
them
to the Bruton
Thomas
kin,
led
said "
Lee
of Williamsburg and
countryside
assembled
citizens
into
Dunmore'
argues,
loyalists
the
being
governor. Through-
their
for the coming Wednesday. On Monday
and Tuesday, May 30 and 31, organizers in the capital
city and in the counties
On
fear of
patriots and having a black regiup of their " runaway" slaves
argues
plans.
were
made
turned
their
states
serving with the British army as well as
the loss of their own slave property terri-
out
}
in
Women—
in her lament
subjects
Fast-
slaves
ran
actually
Soldier"
carnage for the first time.
children.
white
as
that
slaves
Citizen
to face with the sheer horror of battlefield
Proclama-
s
great majority of runaway
men, but interestingly
Holton
spring 1775, free
ally to demonize
scheduled
Founders,
found that the proclamation
many ways a disappointment"
Pied them. Holton
Day of
Prayer
leaving
while
A
prospects. A war on home ground meant
masters
patriot
Forced
Proclamation "
Humiliation,
ing,
s
of
ninety- nine percent
who did not accept Dun-
Wil-
from their
Governor'
offer
in
was
that
minis-
in
events
On Sunday, May
Virginia announced
resolution
many burlocales
own
been
offer
behind.
ones
Holton,
s
for
ment
their
s
manumissions.
of life
loss
and
out
points
that
in the
their minuet
an
the
with
slaves
only
capture
of the House
wife
all
families and loved
were
the Governor
Bacon'
people to he freed
when
legislation
1723
since
families
eration.
and
able
to make the
given the opportunity
choice
of uncertain freedom at the risk
bur-
arrived in
who
February.
through
prohibiting
Now
gesses' meeting at the Raleigh Tavern, had
earlier
been picked for a ball at the Capitol
in honor of Lady Dunmore,
are
since
has such
1676
Woody
the
Ne-
were
building, taking advanduring his westday of
in
Virginia
passed
s absence
the
hereby
Servants,
s rare actions
against the Shawnee
campaign
of Life,
And 1 do
c.
impossible for enslaved
allow Virginians
time to prepare for
cutting off trade. Though it is not certain,
we think that the First Virginia
Convention
Ironically, May 27,
S Crown
forfeiture
all indented
Except
would
ern
be looked
of freeing individual
slaves
from petitions who had demonstrated " meritorious service," it had been
of goods would begin August 10, 1775.
nonexportation
The delay in implementing
in the Capitol
every
thereby become liLaw inflicts upon
as
Council'
tion
of Dunmore'
the
made.
the
of goods and slaves would begin
November
1,
1774, and that nonexporta-
tage
ar-
to resort to
or
patriots and they "
to bear arms. Not
are
Rebellion
portation
met
and
scene "
brought
MAJESTY'
of Lands, &
declare
willing"
in Convention in
meet
August
which
Association,
the
when
Arms,
him.
unaccustomed responsibility for family
sustenance, food shortages, high prices,
and outright danger when the fighting
they joining His MAJESTY' S Troops ..."
For enslaved people belonging to" rebels," Dunmore
offers freedom if their mas-
the
from
may
require."
Continental
gesses
of
interests
which
measures
re-
groes, or others, ( appertaining to Rebels,)
free that are able and willing to hear Arms,
deliber-
to
congress . . .
general
to His
such
Offences;
further
on
a
and
orders "
STANDARD,
Penalty
confiscation
meet
bearing
Government,
ommended . . .
ate
S
Traitors
as
be applied. And for
this purpose it is recappointing deputies from
the several colonies of British America,
to
of
capable
MAJESTY'
rights
to
The
What
Lord Dunmore
martial law." He
execute
arbitrary taxes,
all British America,
on
his Proclamation,
In
he is too old and that the
tensely personal and represents the plight
of
offer?
gues that in order to restore peace and order
in the colony it is now necessary for him
to
ruin
united
the
unless
our
submission
attack
an
and
of
one
the
There
that
is all we have.
of freedom?
chance
one
ya' ll gon do
we all free?"
What
in
times, and his
Mr. Hoy. No! I' ll not be
giving you to the army. You
the
endanger
governor
will happen if they are captured
turned to their masters?
nonimporta-
and
also
and
honor his
day, Friday,
a
against tea
families
the
Capitol,
the
session
themselves to
association
India
Will
the
crown,
Raleigh Tavern.
at the
pledged
they
extralegal
Room
and
lives for this
their
Church.
Barred
homes
their
in future.
the
the
or
consider
their rebel masters. Should they leave
t say so explicitly, it must
him that the House had taken
usually taken
action
to
receptive
people
measures
crown' s representative,
1775:
people gather
royal governor' s offer of freedom to slaves
who will take up arms
with him against
he didn'
galled
17,
Liberty to Slaves!
populace with their
the
on hard
family can' t survive without
Proclamation:
c
Enslaved
his
burgesses
that the
making
further
to
is
Dunnzore:
he
for
concerned
Scene:
The
weekend,
reasons
Soldier!
g
wife, Barter Y, engage in a public argument
about his enlisting in the Army. His wife is
such
Dartmouth
the
suspected
as
Jefferson
olas (
I
upon
over the following
Dunmore
Williamsburg
representatives.
shows
highly
accordingly."
letter to Lord
a
Although
this
May 15, 1776:
A Citizen
Alexander Hoy, a 30- year- old carpen-
dissolved
In
House
The Scene:
published by
conceived
House,
reflect
late spring of 1774. Placed in its historicontext,
the
dissolution of the House
some
of Burgesses,
Paper
a
ENLISTING
and
Speaker
his Majesty
and the Parliament of Great Britain; which
are
cal
in
hand
Your
as
resolution,
decisions—
Mr.
of the House
my
point of a series of events that occurred
in Williamsburg over a ten- day period in
portrayed
said: "
makes it necessary to dissolve you; and you
Make
Dunmore
in
a
He
them.
Gentlemen
Wayfor
of the
had
Photograph by Dana Methent'
dil
I'
their
Company goods.
dismissal
25 probably saw
printed broadside
the fasting measure. Gover-
Dunmore
Terms
protests
your Governor,
gesses
announce
agreement to
an
Make
The
Assembly
the
royal governor,governor, antownspeople
that he has dis
House
the
of the
nor
Governor Dunmore
`
May
appearance
announcing
1774:
ter
Wednesday,
the
The Scene:
solved
e .}-
9
1
t
i
Photograph
to
ti+,
1
‘,. _,,,,, ,
d.,.
pounces
n
i
Barbry
Alexander' s decision
bravely
to enlist
accepts
once she un-
derstands that he has made up his mind.
She sends him off with words of affection
and encouragement
even as her apprehen-
sion mounts over how she will provide for
herself and her two young daughters. We
are
left
to wonder
how
she will
fare,
but
resent
we can suppose that she might continue to
pointing a dagger to their Throats,
hands of their Slaves."
find work that taps her skills as mistress of
wrote;
white "
ranks
thru the
Following
alist
members
Dunmore'
of
the
Carter
joined
patriots. [ See
Forced Founders,
actions
two
loy-
Governor's Conn-
cil, Robert
the
and
s
William
Byrd
Woody
pp. 156- 160]
Submitted by Anne
III,
Holton,
her own household, simple though it may
have been. Women wove cloth, altered and
repaired
nursed
uniforms,
bandages,
soldiers.
and
Armies
on
the move usually had a few paid positions
for women
Willis]
made
sick and injured
that
made
use
of these
Continued
an
same
page 3
�3
1774 to 1776
p
44. .
yj. ,'
FORUM
r/..'
MONEY
y,
r
ft<,
14.-' '
VPii;:i••`
rip
good
the
on
River
m\
7
Your
last year at this time
consistently high.
above
numbers
are
and
support
your
g
1
programming throughout the
g
g
new
Historic
year is
this
attendance
professionalism
for the
Area,
The
including "
ary City,"
grateful.
from
Colonial
a
has told
us
that
experiences that
take
connect them to
human
ence
our
what
Williamsburg
today' s
audiences
stories
presented
mosphere
that
passionately
told in an at-
and provocatively
them
encourages
be
to
ac-
participants in their learning. We have
all worked hard to do exactly this, and we
have instituted a very successful start. But
rive
all need to
we
intensify
ming
that
Lions
of
of
a
ment that
a
and
to the
expecta-
our guest experience
to
of engagement, authenticity,
elevates
level
new
presenting program-
changing
guests. We must build on the
dynamic, interactive environ-
our
creation
on
appeals
and
our momentum,
sustain
focus
our
this
Tavern,
where
in
the
called
general
general
which
measures
interests of America
sentiments
of
one
the
still
burgesses
a
convention
I,
August
to
ings of' Freeholders
endorsed
and
Boston'
hailed,
Some
for
s
idea of
the
Council
the
a
s
northern
and,
city
directed
to
Now
The
that "
Revolutionary
City"
up and running, and complementary progranuning spanning the years from 1774
through
1781
the Historic
look
is taking
Area,
with
the content
place
fresh
Today and
align
to
new
our
throughout
a
time
Americans
Becoming
at
it' s
take
for Day
rind articles
of scripted
I
Citizens
enrich
and
our
extralegal
convention
A
highlighting
connect
guests
the Historic
As
and
the
Area
in
helping
end of
one
another.
your thoughts
welcome
for making Becoming
and useful tool
karts Today a relevant
our interpreters.
Amer-
suggestions
Have
a
for
It
hard
army of
work, hard work
was
being
the
to
common
with tools, they could drive a yoke
or' hove up' a stump or tie a proper
knot as readily as butcher a hog or mend a
handy
oxen
pair of shoes. They knew from experience,
must
of them, the hardships and setbacks
of life. Preparing
Rare
nature.
seen
was
someone
It
was
for the worst
the
the
different
nationalities,
makeup,
Many
or
the
toil in
noteven
fifteen
were
of
ways
physical
of
condi-
missing teeth or fingers,
or scarred by past wars
smallpox
all- toothe
army and an
of every shape
different colors,
different
talking, and all degrees
Lion.
never
first American
men
common
eighteenth
less
hazards of life and
cenntr .
Some
were
Y
but smooth- faced boys of
David McCullough,
1776,
the
dian
Wood, The American
Gordon
p. 25 and 34]
Humphery
Fulton
William
Con-
12
in
Taylor, for
Hbds.
Richmond,
Of Tobacco,
12000 Staves.
Eppes Greenough,
13 Barrells of Pork,
of Flour, 800 Bushels
Corn,
Bushels
30
Bushels
of Pease,
Kegs
4 Hides
of Rum,
1
of In-
of Wheat,
35
of Leather,
Pipe
of Maderia
Wine, and 4 Hbds. of Tobacco.
24. Sloop
Revolution:
Virginia
for Antigua,
A History, A Modern Library Chronicles
Book, The Modern Library, New York,
Packet,
Charles
Jones,
with 2700 Bushels
of In
dian Corn.
28. Ship Speirs,
47- 48.
John
Dusk,
with 4287 Bushels
aged
fund
a
she saw
by
in
others
Continental
The
states
drive
April 4.
of
price
menfolk
served
Officials
ments.
of
survivors
also
soldiers
their
out
enlist-
sought to provide for
killed in the war and
returning home. The first
of
pension law following the Declaration
Independence
was
passed by the Confor injured
tinental
It
men
Congress
on
August
for half- pay for
men
injured during
provided
enlisted
the
duration
the
26,
1776.
officers
the
and
for
war
of their disabilities.
war
During
of these pensions
payment
mainly to the individual states,
not
until
the
newly
1789
picked
were
they
federal
was
and
up
by
all
their
for Cadiz,
of Wheat
and
did
for
Treasurer
state
not
specify
an
of Oatmeal,
draw
absence,"
those
mother
free black
£
of John Ashby (
Mathew
Ashby)
Cadiz,
nor
Virginia
nephew
1400
Regiment,
of
London,
reduced
The
Virginia
real
collected
of Drugs,
legislature
order
to
raised
1777
meet
by
an
several
Hoy' s
situation,
General Assembly sought to
the pot for potential enlistees in
quota of troops to he
For example,
in May
the
Virginia.
of
act
caries sfor}
subsistence
thvisioe
of
said
Assembly
countycourts
n andrt
the
could,
all
wives,
of the
ing
children,
an
expenditure
expectations
of
Cask
of Snakeroot,
Gazette [ Purdie &
9900
Dixon],
7*
A.
prove very burdensome to the
if
people of this commonwealth,
longer admitted," repealed most of the
must
f
hi
greatly exceedthe legislature,
good
1
i
only " such allowance not to exceed
one barrel of corn and fifty pounds of net
pork for each person, annually."
Barbry and
women
like her would need
71Ira1 ,' I,tl,gi;,
t
•
j(
I
I
former acts. Thereafter county courts
" upon proof to them made" by the wives,
k-
J'
1`
f
W
WSWt
I
i,
LOno' Strip
a
0
o
t
t \ ;
1
_
Nw•I '-
sdc-.
_
c
is
children
as
the
Revolution
ran
course.
Submitted
by
Linda
Rowe]
.,
F ' -=
their ingenuity to maintain themselves
t
nd their
and
2
April 7, 1774
parents, and families of the soldiers
and of the United States" have
the
and
publickall
comfortable
1
Virginia
state
created
the
other
and
wives,
that
at
of Tobacco,
and 4 Cask of Deerskins.
vide
for Barbry
specific
for
and
its generous offer in October 1779. Noting that provisions for the support of the
sweeten
More
Benson,
of Corn,
Staves, 140 Handspikes, and 8 Hhds.
power.
reconsidered
the Virginia
government.
with 488 Hhds.
buying
parents, and families of " any soldier now
in actual service" that they cannot mainwere
authorized to prolain themselves
created
Robert
5367 Bushels
Hhds. and 2 barrels of Ginseng, 1 cask
York County Court. With such
an amount Barbry could
pay a year' s rent
with a little left over, although inflation
inevitably
103 Barrels
1000 Staves.
from
12
of
13 Barrels
35, 000 Shingles.
Rogers,
with
Haynes,
Bushels
Ship Royal Exchange, John Stevens, for
enlisted
who
700
of Flour,
and
Brigantine
funds.
amount
35 Barrels
Francis
with
of Bread, a Hbd of Bacon,
support
industry
their
Savage,
Vincent' s,
Corn,
who
soldiers
poor
own
during
in the Sixth
while
their
Ashby,
was
the
of
Sloop
for St.
did it cap claims, leaving county justices
to match support to apparent need. Sally
Virginia
and the in-
mindful
the
on
The act
her stead.)
Congress
were
in
it that the effort
to
by
themselves
too
was
parents,
cannot
Jef-
Martha
effort.
war
of Governor Jefferson,
wife
undertake
to
left
everyone,
pitted by
had
that
man
second
die . . .
army of
and size
and
was
John
Innermay,
with 459
8 Barrels
September 1774."
travel
to
of enlistment for those left at home
lot. They were familiar with adversity and
making do in a harsh climate. Resourceful,
of
the First Continental
especially
opted
women
other
funds toward
dividual
accustomed
men
an
Port
for Cadiz, with 7700 Bush-
for Piscatawaywith
from town and
press, which convened in Philadelphia
camp. ( Women of greater means at home
spearheaded clothing drives and collected
IN
OF 1775
Lark,
2 Hbds. Of Rum, and
and the newly created
committees
of the colonies—
along with the units in which their husbands served performing similar tasks in
undertaken
SUMMER
from
of Salt.
in Ballast.
Brigantine
23. Ship Bowman,
Continued from page 2
and
skills,
ill
S ARMY
Wilson
els of Wheat.
li-
closed
or
ranged
Enlisting
herself, but
WASHINGTON'
Po-
Staves.
ferson,
summer!
great
crisis,
credi-
issued
11.
Laughton,
provincial congresses to a general congress
the
with
of
moments
from
Cleared Outwards
various
for
dots from
to
we
always,
interpretation,
suggestions
the
in
colonies
Brigantine
March
militia,
between
taxes,
supervised
governments
county
assembly had established
other
to correspond
committee
Young,
Bushels
from Piscataway,
23. Schooner
The
shadow.
the
Eu-
John
with 2500
Glasgow,
became
regime
Lewis,
the
new
gained legitimacy.
until the old
another
Dudley
with
James
26. Ship Venus,
of the people
We will also
programming
and offering
sites
and content
understanding
Area
to circumvent
after
Revolutionarya
background
Historic
on
will
legislature—
Jackie,
Liverpool
in Ballast.
Royal governors stood by in helpless
as new informal governments
These
gradually grew up around them.
began to form
government
royal authority on one issue
shadow
towack,
amazement
had been
moreover,
of the previous
one
You
into the heart
being portrayed.
events
focus
at
of " The
scenes
red
a
War."
that takeyou
City," providing
to
and
Government"
Two, "
whom,
members
offerings.
The first revised issue is really made up
a blue one for Day One, " Collapse
Royal
of
most
bly—
from
25. Ship Jean,
courts.
had
meetings
Brigantine
ropean Goods
of the
organized
levied
debtors,
and
tenses,
generally chosen the same representatives
and the assemfor both the convention
of twoof
before it met. Since local
sion
11.
Thompson,
in Virginia
in many
1774,
intervened
trade,
and
tors
inadvertently handed his opponents
advantage
by proroguing the new ses-
an
responsibility
for
sentiment
The Revolution
appointments,
managed
assembly in early August,
for it as well. Again the gov-
ernor
is
March
regulating various aspects of Amerivoters,
life. Committees
manipulated
can
new
elections
as
JAMES RIVER
also
colonies local associations were controlling
and
supplies
Dunmore
persuaded
the
Entered in the Upper District of
Fairfax,
April 4.
trade.
on
funds and
n
SHIPPING
ex-
and Stafford— had
end of
the
By
1
a. -_,
4
own
differences
some
restrictions
voted
beleaguered
the
Virginia'
as
with
-
'" •
4, ;;„
1783, The Colonial Williamsburg
Foundation,
1989.
1775-
inhabitants'
other
cause
albeit
meetings
held
and
Dunmore,
counties—
Selby,
\\
r 9i" _____ _
met,
convention
British grew."
E.
i;,:
most expedi-
committee
the
John
will be
t
0d
Z..\, :,
of
once more adopting that strategy against
the rest
about
one
given their committees
of enforcing a boycott
of the colony. In towns and
of the counties
meettwo- thirds
from
1,
y`t
=
4
their
"
response
P
enthusiastic
tF:,
4
1
of the
proposal.
the
consider
received
as
Norfolk,
Frederick,
on December
from Virginia
Norfolk,
some
1774.
of the rights of the
the time the
least five
at
l tc,
present. . . Alarming sit
and ' to take such steps
effectual,'
plained. By
about
committees
shall appear
as. . .
and
ent
in the vicinity summoned
on
to meet in Williamsburg
1774,
call
The
colonies,
urging a halt to exports to Great
as
well as imports. Twenty- five
Britain
the
of America'
affect
to Britain
Alexan-
communicate
for. .. the establishment
earliest
proposals for a Continental Congress. . .
A few days after the meeting in the Raleigh Tavern, a circular letter arrived from
Boston
to
on
by
formed
meetings,
uation
was
followed
4,
it-
first,
letter
Williamsburg.
Fredericksburg,
April
trade
acted
towns
circular
as
correspondence
may from time to time
resolution
day
the legislature
port
the
Dumfries,
county
require.'
This
s
and Portsmouth,
united
the
Virginia'
same
dria,
aside from
received
having
meeting of colonial delegates
on
congress. . .
to deliberate
annual
an
a'
British imports and
against
ciation
arrived.
adjourning to the Raleigh
they formed another asso-
by
governor
convene
Gevertz
Crevieaux-
Margot
organization
to
disallowed.
formal
little
11
longer permitted and the next year when
all exports
oppo-
self until the call for a ban on British
when
Letter from
had needed
in Virginia
the
otherwise
members
again
previous December. . .
of the House of Burgesses thwarted the
the
in detail,
excellence.
Thank you for being an integral part of
exciting, interpretive adventure.
but
sessions,
sition
crave
journeys and
on
them
guests
experi-
between
as-
sembly for declaring a day of fast in support
of Boston after that city' s famous Tea Party
those
research into
Extensive
am
dismissed the
Lord Dunmore
When
for
Revolution-
wonderful and I
have been
extremely
want
March
1774 when imports from Britain are now
so
First
percent
the
Draught
VIRGINIA' S SHADOW GOVERNMENT
many of our guests
and foremost let me
see
to
far this year. Our
and
the Bitter
Swallowing
from
Consider how the economy of Virginia
will radically change once the Associariot of 1774 takes
from Rex Ellis
street.
sixteen
Doctor
The Able
thank all of you for what has been a sea of
changes
in the direction of our visitation
so
"'
s.
Letter
It' s
It
interesting to note the shipping
P
activity forcthe Upper District of James
c—
r?;
i1
p
`.
--_-'
r'`,
s.
�4
1774 to 1776
THE COLLAPSE OF THE ROYAL GOVERNMENT
The Historic Area before " The Revolutionary City"
household slaves. On one day of the week,
volunteers lead young guests in an inter-
''
voice was nonetheless
T^- '
nial and continental
J
-'.
members
and
tutor
to
had
been
asked
the
excused
Price'
governor' s eldest
to do the sermon
understand
changed
page '
I
son,
S
Journal
of the House
with
righteous
answered, "
will
I
but
of Virginia'
noted
simply: " Went
Church
to
and
nature
ten' s
ill
the
Talk to
to
and the effect of the
sad
engage
like
was
shock
a
and
man
every
his
on
solidly
attempt
quash
to
solidarity with
home had the
of
Thus
center."
burgesses'
the
by
Boston
of
An extract
ten
on
June
years,
and
in
in
Prayer
19: "
July
Never
have
Virginia
I
are
a
hats
ent
of
of
happening
day
s
t
bu
of this trades
newspaper
Dunmore is
Governor'
the
look at
a
The
the
Area
differ-
MANY
take
s
outside "
and inside
upon
Revoluon
sites
the
pleased with the burproclaimed a Day of Fasting
gesses, who have
and Prayer. Guests
the
realize
is the focus
of this interpretive
to '
the
remember
predicament
-
k,•:.`
hear Divine Service. What
event,
be
a
God knows. ..
which may
she
depends
as
has
instructions
with
The
litia
a
d
SUMMER
ages.
staff interprets the mi
and the development
system
Guests
companies.
pendent
"
of all
children
Magazine
are
participate in the program in the
recruits,"
drill in formation, and
demonstrations
of musket
or
Tobacco:
of inde
invited
to
of
role
witness
fir-
cannon
ings. Third- person interpretation of events
such as the Second Virginia
Convention' s
fall
of arming the militia of each
in defense of the colony and the
county
Gunpowder Incident
offered.
are
of" Order in the Court," a thirty- mininteractive first person presentation of
court cases casting several members
of the
sions
ute
audience
court
as
officials,
de
or
plaintiffs,
chiefly
England,
on
her
on
Trade.
than
her. You
without
can
possess, and I will most cheerfully comply
with whatever may be thought for the
General Good, though it will be considSo much for
erably to my disadvantage.
public Affairs, I fear I shall turn Politician,
I
always
dislike in
Submitted
by
Female."
a
Bob Doares]
C( '-.;.
living
board
on
off Norfolk, he
waters
on
was
still
a
the
governor and making decisions that affected
the lives of every resident of Virginia.
They
learn of the
see,
as well
my Sister, I talk like an American,
I may; she has been kinder to me than my
native Country; to her I owe
every thing I
a character
ship in the
every
England
of ordinary citizens. It is this system that
patriots seek to protect even as the rule of
from the Palace
family
"
from England
came
past winter" and the lifestyle that
enjoyed at this official residence. On
this
just
they
occasion
member
guests may find Lord Dunmore or a
of his council in discussion, but the
of the interpretation is to put the
loyalist view into perspective.
thrust
main
royalist
or
The
Mr.
family
that
Everard
Everard' s
1774-
House
staff
in the
role
political
Through
1775.
documents
the
share
use
the
interprets
crisis
of
of primary
he
concerns
guests
has about this " unhappy dispute," about
his brother John back in England
and
what
it could
mean
how Dunmore'
s
if
war
function
of
the
courthouse
as
a
govbased on
and community center
the English system of law and participation
ernment
royal governance
Guests
to
Virginian'
falters.
Randolph
the
will
House
story of enslaved African
ethical dilemmas, their choices,
the
experience
s
decisions and consequences in 1775 during
Dunmore' s Proclamation by understanding how
slave
the
dynamics
changed
American
of their
during
Revolution.
slavery and
chattel
the
and
master
and their domestic
relationships
activities
Plant and replant, weed, manure,
town, cut, bind, and stack, sell straw in
town,
thresh
Concepts
At Great Hopes
Plantation
mul-
the
the
the
events
of fall 1775,
Gunpowder
from
Proclamation,
such
the
as
unrest,
slave
and
Incident,
Dunmore'
s
of rural
perspective
tons
owner
Benjamin
decisions
their
and
Valentine
affected
the
calves,
kill veals
for sale,
and
veal
for
sale,
wean
calves,
make butter
August:
Kill beef for sale to ships,
tons, veals and shoats
kill mut
for sale, sell wool,
separate sheep, choose cattle for fattening, make butter
Fishing
Housekeeping/ Gardening/
Food Preservation
Summer
Housekeeping
Doors
and
windows
kept
open
for
most
ventilation. Mosquito netting added to bedsteads for protection from insects. Gauze
covers to protect looking glasses and expensive pictures. Carpets and window curtains
removed
and stored. Furniture
to passage
enslaved people and their middling plantation
sow,
July: Kill beeves for sale to ships, kill mitt
creat-
tidepartmental staff interprets the impact of
and
make butter
of political
slavery clashed,
tread
June: Shear sheep, kill muttons
of the
crisis
slavery for the twenty- four enslaved people
and widow Elizabeth Randolph.
affected the
for seed,
plow and harrow in
Vegetables: Sow turnips, plant peas and
potatoes, sow vegetables, weed peas
and pumpkins
August:
Orchard:
Make cider, gather
Peaches, make peach brandy
work
ing the American paradox of liberty and
breaks out, and
Proclamation
FARMING
worm, top, and sucker.
In August top, gather seed, begin cutting
Corn: Plow and hoe ground, plant and re
plant, weed with plows and hoes, and
cart last year's crop to town
Wheat: Cart last year's crop to ships or
for sale, wean
the
the
June 8, 1775. Despite his
thing within herself
that is necessary and convenient. . . and
can
do much better without
England,
America
British
himself and his
and Exporta-
heavy
from
"'
authorization
ministry, he
removed the gunpowder from the Magazine.
They come to understand why he removed
We expect there will
to Importation
Stop put
tion,
will be the
1
77_ _
Congregation as was this DayassembledLivestock:
in which he found himself when, followingfendants. This programming g demonstrates
P g
to
E
children'
The Courthouse presents several sesLord
Palace,
too
none
patriot,
collapses.
s
e;,?-
story
and junior interpreters return to the site to
history
Historic
are
royal governance
that
At
its
hook
the
the
hook. Let'
the
City"
tionary
and
is
City"
whole
on
is
what
seen
silversmith'
a
orientation. In this particular site we are
that
many acres,
interpretation. " The
hangs its hat, but there
wide
my Residence
so
large a
since
ever
the
of Fasting,
reprinted
was
England,
Manchester,
a
on
in the Day
and
Humiliation,
which
letter purportedly writa" Lady of Williamsburg"
participated
who
andyou
encompass
styles
Revolutionary
Wil-
a
by
1
enough
big
them
into a colonyof civil disobedience.
manifestation
is
enough to
liamsburg happening
days
y
the
programming
broad
a
as
since
liamsburg
s
consequence
began
what
the
that
of
act
sending
unintended
transforming
Dunmore'
y
think
to
these
anyone
goes by
that name takes
place only between 2: 30
and 4: 30 each afternoon. Or does it? Wil-
of electricity, arousing
placing him erect and
Congress.
house interpretation
The
admonished
likely
colony
of
advancement
this
only thing happening in Colonial Williamsburg' s Historic
Area is " The Revolutionary
City." That is
thro' the
conventions,
staff interprets
House
scope
day."
Y
Of the people across Virginia, it was
reported that they " met generally, with
anxiety and alarm in their countenances,
day
Third
movements
within
the city preceding
fall of royal governance. James Geddy,
Y
zen
and
fasted all
lifestyle
that Mr.
a
i
by highlighting James
Y
Geddy' spersonal involvement in those citi
f
!
depth
that
English
to the Continental
and the social
And he
not
the
events
and
First
s
destroyman's family.
also
wicked?"
the
theill
that
Genesis 18,
on
destroy it for
Washington' s diary for
George
sake."
day
record
sermon
23 and 32: " Wilt thou
verses
of
Geddy
based his
and how
was directly connected to including being a:.
member of the Committee of Safety, Clerk
,/
and delegate
citing a " disorder of the
words do not survive,
butThe
s
how
because
himself,
breast."
from
of the Wythe household
the ideas of the day in law, science, and
government influenced their lives. Guests
will
Continued
heard in local, cold-
halls. The Wythe House
staff interprets the personal life stories of
L
i
Dissolving
INTERPRETATION
you decorate this original home?
At the Wythe House guests are introduced to one of the quiet patriots whose
k
M-•
Spaces— How will
program:' Trading
active
INTERPRETATION
often moved
to enjoy cross- ventilation.
Gardening and Food
how
interdependent
Preservation
relationship of master and slave and the
Revolutionary
for
struggle
freedom.
Their
relationship is contrasted against the gentry' s
appeal to middling farmers like Benjamin
Valentine to join the Revolutionary move
ment with promises,
including property
rights such as slave ownership. Guests expethe
rience
III
MIME
daily
of
activities
a
rural Virginia
plantation and the necessity of land and
slave labor through
experiencing the work
Make wine, sugar Preserve fruits, dry fruits
in oven because of humidity; picking and
drying of beans, carrots, onions, melons,
artichokes,
etc.
In hot weather, raw meat spoils rapidly and so must be cooked and eaten up
quickly, thus only smaller cuts of meat are
served
in
summertime
The
story of how Benjamin
to
prominence as
how he made his
building
a
III.
IIIIIernment contracts
interpretation
at
Powell
rose
contractor
and
tol and Gaol.
reputation
is the
on
o
public govbackbone
of the
Powell
the
married
He
Burwell
the
powerful
ties
I
began and the
a
man
who
Her
husband
1
Congress
met
Congress
adopted
was
Virginia
11
These began
12
Independent
14
Archaic
16
Epicenter
Virginia'
replace
the
royal
for
for"
5
plain
Printed
notice
This
of liberation
this
government
shot
heard
round
the
8
Britain'
This
jured
World"
17
s
Coercive
Acts
were this
act
of
this
Day
to colonists.
was
9
was
He
House.
Word
intended
by
Washington
to
describe
on
Lake Cham-
Fasting
outlawed
General
George
Congress
in Virginia
to
assist
in-
17th- century English
independent
the
day- to- day,
before difficul
daughter married
present
declared
Capitol.
at the
in the Capitol
herself
a
free
learn
that
responsibilities
state.
Guests
season- to- season
realities
guests young and old to participate in the
that keep the household together.
activities
Department of
Interpretive
The interpretations,
activities,
and
sto-
historian
of army life
Number of Virginia delegates
to
1st Congress
Training
Editors:
Margot
Cr
neWix
Gevertz,
Anne Willis
Contributors:
Bob Doares, Rex Ellis, Jim Horn,
Kevin Kelly, Linda Rowe,
Rose McAphee, Dana Metheny
Nancy Milton, Lou Powers,
and Phil Shultz
Production:
Beth Lawrence, copy editor
Diana Freedman,
production
ries in the whole of the Historic Area presage
Scourge
15
other
in
of running a household
must still be met. Junior interpreters
invite
The dissolved House of Burgesses met here
13
used
fort
family
daughter
soldiers
10
DOWN
2
of
slaves
in 1723
humility"
the "
to
Americans captured
6
model
s
companies
usage
of
4
here
to
freedom
day
and
and
This offered
one
in the Hall
sat
the
7
whole
Becoming AMERICANS TODAY
is a publication of the
was named keeper of the Keys of the Capi-
3
the
of agriculture, gardens, carpentry, livestock,
and the ongoing construction on the site.
III
ACROSS
unless
animal will be eaten in a day or two.
the
events
that
are
carried
forward
in
The Revolutionary City."
Submitted bythe Historic Area
Revolutionary
City
Team]
2006 The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
All rights reserved.
All images are property of The Colonial
Williamsburg Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Becoming Americans Today
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Becoming Americans Today</em> was a newsletter developed by the Department of Interpretive Training for interpreters. Presented in a newspaper format loosely based on USA Today, it was developed to support programming by providing interpreters with the news that would have shaped the thoughts and lives of Williamsburg residents during the years interpreted in the Historic Area. It was considered a training material that combined diverse historical information in a readable contemporary format, utilizing headlines as a hook that interpreters could use to draw guests into the story. It was published 2002-2008.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Becoming American Today, volume 5, number 2, June - August, 2006
Description
An account of the resource
1774 to 1776.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
[2006]
-
https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/45914/archive/files/0768414ec955c4df0cc9f15497a0b497.pdf?Expires=1712793600&Signature=Iikw%7ERW40nL5wcDKixARkd6Umhj4GRoHzJ5YZ5PRDweluxP2VitOrBcwEf6Mpz5z4YsReO6%7EWyBzC%7EPQOuUvQJxolMuZRqUmuLkBVnukxREo0jET28kzeEieipUMggcjR2c7-6V5hLpGApZY97XuRQGw8iNEW8gl-l0Plypr2zVSKy8Z21yq1wFCMJMxyePrlteMTZf8zE7YFyBF%7E0Zzp-VEh%7E4KnS7P%7EZyyilyjgc0atWa53eRSPV02Muj0176F-XRBqkWaeYu4aLU7liqcacYhQOywweht71OiS1a9mPgHUj2ZJ6TlXN8GSVMf73y1-pnDmFSE5ML%7ESXxR%7E7YIZA__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM
c1478d604f8d903215ae3a6ffbaff10f
PDF Text
Text
January and February 1774
January and February 2006
Volume 5, No. 1
THE INTERPRETER'
S NEWSPAPER
RAISING
MILITIA
RAISES
ANS
DAY
4
4 „.
HAPPY
NEW
NO. 1 FOR COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG
Y'- AR!
JANUARY AND
FEBRUARY
CAIN!,,"';.
THESE ARE THE TIMES
1774
DREADFUL FIRE!
NEW YORK, December 30, 1773
THAT TEASE MEWS SOULS
Newsline
MR.
Douglas,
and
the
American
Company of Comedians, are all arrived at Charleston, South Carolina,
January 5, 1774
Twelfth
where
Night: "
Spend the night
in enjoyment and reveling" with
Last
a
January 6, 1774
Epiphany or Twelfth Day
board
caped
January 7, 1774
Williamsburg Hustings Court
meets
for
Hillary Term begins at the College
of William and Mary
January 14, 1774
James City County Court meets
January 21, 1774
York County Court meets
January 30, 1774
King Charles I, martyr:
Commemoration of the king' s
execution
Anniversary of the Capitol fire in
1747
February 1, 1774
Merchants from Norfolk and the
lower parts of the " country" state
they will meet in Williamsburg
and stay four days
February 2, 1774
Purification of the Virgin Mary/
Visiting in this New England port city,
your narrators of the news happened upon
a most extraordinary occurrence! At Griffin's Wharf on the evening of the 16th of
December, we witnessed
Boston Harbor
being transformed into a giant teapot expressly for the brewing of 45 tons of Ceylon
and Darjeeling tea. This tea, belonging to
the East India Company, steeped in the
cold waters of Boston Harbor and provided
drink only for the fishes.
to make the acquain-
of the band of " Indians"
I immediately dressed myself in the
costume of an Indian ... we arrived at
the wharf ... and were immediately
ordered by the respective commanders to
nor, Beaver)
April 14, 1774
Easter Sunday and the end of
Lent
at the same
VIRGINIA TODAY
The Party' s Over?
Colonies Await Britain' s Reaction
To The Boston Tea Party
22, 1773
Ship leaves Boston for England
These
reporters
have
was
destroyed
or even
damaged
save
Boston' s North
End
Caucus,
the
Townshend
the
an or-
Duties
back in ' 67, in which Parliament levied im-
order, or instruction of any kind moved
than the speed
of a horse
over
port duties on glass, paint, lead, paper, and
tea. After heated protests from the colonists,
Parliament
rescinded
the Townshend
Du-
ties, except the tax on tea. Why was the tea
tax retained? To make a point: Parliament
still has the authority to tax the colonies
land or a ship over the seas. [ Stephen E.
whether
Ambrose,
And what about the Tea Act? By early
1773, the East India Company was on the
Undaunted
Courage,
52]
the Americans
Indies.
The
crown
would
undersell
even
the
was
smuggled
the Reports
like it or not.
and al-
from the Turkish
colonists,
was
the
retention
posed by Russia concerning the Independency of the Crimea, or even to
admit Russia to have any part thereof
in her Possession;
lowed Russia
of the Black
which
for if this was al-
would soon be Mistress
Sea, in Consequence
the Ottoman
Throne
of
in Con-
stantinople would be as unguarded
of Warsaw,
Thus,
if not
Russia
as that
insists
of
upon
what the Porte will not comply with;
so that another Campaign is resolved
upon, which, by all Appearances,
minister
Lord
North
was
aware
on this addiction
and
their thrift
will finish
is why
those "
organized
took matters
Mohawks" (
by Sam
Virginia
they
pur-
Adams)
in
the Struggle
Gazette ( Purdie
EARTH SHAKES
IN VIRGINIA!
tax.
WILLIAMSBURG,
The
people should never rise, without doing
something notable and striking. This Destruction of the Tea is so bold, so daring,
so firm, so intrepid and inflexible, and it
have so important
Consequences,
and so lasting, that I can' t but consider it
as an Epocha in History.
Perhaps so, Mr. Adams, but just how
respond
to this destruction
of property? As Mr. Adams asked himself:
What measures will the Ministry take,
in Consequence of this? — Will they resent it? Will they dare to resent it? Will
they punish Us? How? By quartering
Troops upon Us? — by annulling our
Charter? —by laying on more duties?
our Trade? By Sacrifice
of Individuals, or how?
We don't yet know, Mr. Adams, what
Britain's reaction will be to Boston's tea party
but you may find the response " intolerable."
Submitted by your roving reporters Phil
Shultz and Nancy Milton]
February 24.
LAST Monday, about two o' Clock, a
felt at Westover,
By restraining
and Dixon),
Thursday, January 27, 1774
into their own hands
the tea with the dreaded
will Parliament
on one Side
or the other.
smart
must
to carry on
than comply on a single Article pro-
Corsica.
of the
determined
the War as long as possible, rather
as that
the Patriots, that I greatly admire.
that
September 17.
to be a pacific Disposition,
though
cent moment of all. There is a Dignity, a
Majesty, a Sublimity, in this last Effort of
their lives and fortunes."
with
CONSTANTINOPLE,
THE Sublime Porte, although known
into the Sea. This is the most magnifi-
voted to oppose the sale of the tea with
It started
that
and destroyed
ganization led by silversmith Paul Revere,
no idea,
27, 1774
immoveably
West
The next day, John Adams ( Sam' s lawyer
cousin) wrote in his diary that
3 Cargoes of Bohea Tea were emptied
Well, to hear the colonists tell the story,
it was all about taxes. In the fall of this year
1773,
the colonists
predisposed to save the East India Company from going under because of the
company's valuable influence in India.
Enter the Tea Act of May 1773, which
granted the East India Company a monopoly to sell tea to the colonies at a rate
Boston
Bostonians?
of
and Dixon),
January
Armies are not very favorable, yet is
Danish
That
But just what occasioned such a destructive outburst on the part of these
side
Purdie
and
portedly
tea.)
No human being, no manufactured
Gazette (
might have about paying a token tax. Was
he wrong!
and we
told
and
to sweep away any minor scruples
no other property on board the three ships
News Arrives in London
threatened
the cheaper smuggled tea from the Dutch
counted
to open all
been
warehouses,
weren' t buying any of it, rather preferring
that Americans are great tea drinkers. He
thrown overboard every tea chest to be
found on the ship, while those in the
other ships were disposing of the tea in
the same way, at the same time. ( From
a Memoir of George Hewes)
The Boston Tea Party
its London
First
went on board, we had thus broken and
16, 1773:
worsened for the company. It had a staggering 17 million pounds of unsold tea in
Duties.
immediately proceeded to execute his orders, first cutting and splitting the chests
with our tomahawks, so as thoroughly
to expose them to the effects of the water.
In about three hours from the time we
SNAPSHOT
Duties, the crisis only
of the three -penny tax per pound of tea
that was originally part of the Townshend
time, which
tea and throw them overboard,
England
Time
TURNS RED
and the Townshend
among
some
Elea-
the hatches and take out all the chests of
in Dover,
considerable
So, what' s the problem with these provincials? Well, the problem, according to
keys to the hatches and a dozen candles.
We then were ordered ...
faster"
was
BLACK SEA
corruption
England!
as soon as we
we promptly obeyed....
the comwere on board the ship ...
mander of the division ... ordered me to
go to the captain and demand ofhim the
Season
beef, no letter, no information,
Fort
So rapid
its em-
and
tea. This is good, right? India tea at bargain rates! Cheaper in America than in
way to the ships.
Ash Wednesday: First day of the
no
Lives.
ployees. With the Americans' refusal to buy
British products because of the Stamp Act
agement
December 1773
board all the ships ( Dartmouth,
of wheat,
at
TRAVEL WARNING:
that boarded the tea ships. We joined his
story at the point where the group made its
January 19, 1774
a
verge of bankruptcy because of misman-
Dateline: Boston
ing on pancakes
February 28, 1774
bushel
their
Thursday,
tance of a member
Shrove Tuesday: The day before
the beginning of Lent and fasting,
marked by the tradition of feast-
no
with
Virginia
We were fortunate
February 14, 1774
St. Valentine' s Day
February 27, 1774
item,
o' Clock
out
the Safety of the whole City.
Candlemas
Arrives
eleven
broke
the Destruction, that every Article of
Property fell a Sacrifice to the insuperable Ranging of the Flames, which
January 8, 1774
News
about
Fire
such amazing Violence, that His Excellency the Governor, His Lady and
Daughter, being in bed, barely es-
The Duchess of Gordon arrives in
New York with Lady Dunmore on
December
night,
dreadful
George in this City.
It was so sudden, and raged with
January 6, 1774
December
in a new and
elegant Theater.
dinners, balls, or a special cake
Lenten
they have a very favorable
Prospect of Success
Shock
of an
Earthquake
was
the Seat of the Hon-
ourable William Byrd, Esq; which
shook the Dwelling House very
much. It was likewise felt in this City
the same Day by a few People, and on
Wednesday Night following there was
a violent
TYemour
of the earth.
And
by a Gentleman from Richmond we
learn that the shock was severely felt
in that Town, at the same Time it was
observed
at
Westover,
accompanied
by a loud Noise like Thunder; and at
Petersburg and Blandford the Motion
of the Earth was still greater, many
Houses
have
been
moved
consider-
ably off their Foundations, and the
Inhabitants
so much
alarmed
as to
run out of Doors. The same Gentleman
says,
that
the
Earthquake,
he
heard, had been much greater up the
Country.
Virginia
Gazette (
Purdie
and Dixon),
Thursday, February 24, 1774
�2
Winter 1774
MONEY
BOUNDARY DISPUTE
January 24
When Dunmore's representative, Dr. John
Connolly, attempts to raise militia at Pittsburgh under a Virginia
sylvanians
commission,
Penn-
arrest him. Released
afterward,
he
take
Fort
over
returned
Pitt,
with
which
shortly
a
force
he
to
renamed
Fort Dunmore. The Virginia governor and
Council authorized military support for
him, and
in April
1774 he appeared
with
an armed band to defy the Westmoreland
County Court of Pennsylvania. He agreed,
however,
not to interfere
routine
him.
operations
Alarmed,
if
with
it
did
Governor
the court' s
not
John
The Whitehall Pump, unknown maker black and white line engraving ( England, 1774).
Printed in Westminster Magazine shortly after the Boston Tea Party, this print has Lord North
and his supporters trying to revive Britannia' s vitality. John Wilkes, as a friend to the colonies,
protests North' s attempts at reprisals for the Tea Party. Colonial Williamsburg collections.
bother
Penn
im-
Jon Butler
Puritans
Becoming America: The Revolution before 1776
in
mediately sent commissioners to negotiate
Cambridge,
with Dunmore at Williamsburg, but they
Massachusetts,
and
Virginia,
1973).
don, Harvard University Press, 2000), 2.
Boston,
December
17,
YESTERDAY we had a greater Meeting of
the Body than ever, the Country
coming
in from twenty Miles round, and every
Step was taken that was practicable for
returning the Teas. The Moment it was
known,
out
of
Doors,
that
Mr.
Rotch
society
in 1680 most European
and
Coffin,
was
the captains
immersed
Hall, Bruce
in
the
Bay,
without the least Injury to private Property. The Spirit of the People on this Occa-
not completely
modern,
characteristics
of modern
never appeared
in the colonies.
sive technological
settlements
change
never were
that transformed
1670. As early as 1720 cities of real urban
complexity emerged from the meanest and
simplest of towns. Modest as well as prosper-
nineteenth- century America and Europe.
But the colonies emerged as surprisingly
modern in five important ways. They became ethnically and nationally diverse,
not homogeneous. They developed trans-
ous farmers increasingly
atlantic
into international
thrust themselves
market economies, some
happily, some less so. Eighteenth - century
colonial merchants and planters created
predecessors scarcely could have comprehended it. Complex, sophisticated politics
replaced the rudimentary political mechanisms typical of the seventeenth -century
colonies. New patterns of production and
Street, and in a little Time every Ounce of
was an America
overwhelmingly urban, and they were
not driven by or beset with the mas-
although
and
the Teas on Board
then,
Africans,
Castle, a Number
in the
Here,
inherited
consumption
wealth
so
vast
accompanied
that
the
rise
their
of re-
sion surprised all Parties, who viewed the
fined crafts and trades.
Scene. We conceived it our Duty to afford
you the most early Advice of this interesting Event by Express, which, departing
immediately, obliges us to conclude.
By order of the Committee
and
supported
international
a vigorous
economies
domestic
that
trade
and
production. Their politics looked ahead
to the large- scale participatory politics of
modern societies. They exhibited the modern penchant for power, control and authority over both humanity and nature
that brooked few limitations or questions
about their propriety. And they displayed
a religious pluralism that dwarfed the mild
religious diversity found in any early mod-
pluralism overran the old orthodoxy of the
Virginia
Gazette (
Purdie
Thursday,
ern European nation.
religious
3 Dozen of Axes, 4 Barrels of Mackerel,
Polly, John Gillason, from Salem, with
1
Hhd.
Hhds.
Iron,
attempts of our Assembly to prohibit the
further Importation of Slaves by an imposi-
in our Gazette
and as it seems
tion of high Dutys, has been frustrated ( as I
find is the case in N. York) does
thou
think
the
Phisition
not think
certain
has
that
Acts of the
term
of Servitude
like
other foreigners taking place at
a future period so as that all
have notice
to expect
to share
the thanks
concerned
with
I
expect
able
will
to him,
be
more
pertinent
the
Trade
might
of such law, would
reasons)
more
with
effec-
tually to put an end to it, and
be more likely to be approved
by the King and Council than a
prohibition by Duties for I have
agree-
the approbation
in
not be ( when accompanied
of the
Affrican Company, but let that
be as it may, he will receive what
of
Judicious sencible men. I highly
approved and sincerely wish the
several petitions to the King and Parliament may have the desired effect, but I fear
not unlikely others also) has instructions to
pass no such laws. I just drop this hint for
there
thy consideration.
is not virtue and resolution
sufficient
been told our Governor ( and its
Elizabeth
to forgo or withstand a present ( tho false
and imaginary) interest in the continua-
Donnan,
Cleared Outwards
for Glasgow, with 473 Hhds. of Tobacco,
and 15, 500 Staves.
Donald, Thomas Ramsey, for Glasgow,
with 538 Hhds. of Tobacco, and 15, 500
Staves.
18. Canadian,
mouth,
have sent one of the papers containing the
tional
address and advice to those Mercht., to the
of a wicked
and
destructive
Trade.
It was ushered into Europe, A. D. 1679, by
the
extravagant
Benetekoe,
Encomiums
of Cornelius
a Dutch Physician. The Tyranny
of Fashion spread it with amazing Rapidity, though the general State of Health has
undergone a great Revolution by it; so that
our Race
weak,
and
is dwindled,
and become
disordered,
to
such
a
puny,
Degree,
that were it to prevail a Century more we
should
be reduced to meager
Gazette (
Thursday,
Purdie
and Dixon),
January
13, 1774
Fal-
of Wheat,
don, with
308 Hhds.
Green, for Lon-
of Tobacco,
8000
Staves, and 800 Feet of Plank.
Elizabeth,
John
Sampson,
for
Bristol,
and
John,
with
William
Langdell,
118 Bushels
of Wheat,
of Corn,
and 40 Bushels
Gazette (
Purdie
Thursday,
of
and Dixon),
January
6, 1774
BUILDING TRADES
Brickmaking: Clay dug and left to break up
with frost, no burning.
Bricklaying: Difficult to work in cold and
damp weather; threat of frost in bricks
and improper binding of mortar; bricks
should be covered to prevent freezing.
Mortar
Manufacture:
harder
in
Mortar
winter (
should
mixed
with
months
because
of moisture,
often no
work in winter.
Timbering:
Trees felled during this time
thought
to be stronger.
Carpentry and Joinery: Fewer daylight
hours; if working by day, less work
done.
Painting: Rain and snow of winter put an
end to painting outdoors.
AGRICULTURAL
CALENDAR
husk, and cart corn
Thresh wheat and cart to town
Becoming AMERICANS
TODAY
is a publication of the Department of Interpretive Training
Clean, grub, and ditch meadows
Sow early vegetables
Cart cider to town
Plant fruit trees
Editors:
Calves and lambs born
Margot Crevieaux- Gevertz, Anne Willis
Pen and feed cattle
Kill hogs and fatten beeves
Contributors:
Haul out manure
Laura Arnold, Harvey Bakari, Bob Doares, Kevin Kelly, Carl Lounsbury
Rose McAphee, Nancy Milton, Lou Powers, Linda Rowe
Phil Shultz,
Lorena
Walsh
Hunt ducks and seine fishing
Stem and prize tobacco
Prepare
beds and sow tobacco
Ditch and fence fields
Production:
Cut firewood
Beth Lawrence, copy editor
Diana Freedman, production
m 2005 The Colonial Williamsburg
Foundation.
All rights reserved.
All images are property of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
be
less
water), but good bonding difficult.
Plastering: Difficult to work in winter
Clear, manure, and plow fields
Pigmies.
PHILO- ALETHEIAS
Virginia
for
Bushels
and 428 Barrels of Flour.
Gather,
the Point of being given up for Tea? Is this
exotick Plant necessary to Life? Or does our
upon it? Just the reverse.
Abbott,
7766
John and Bella, Andrew
William S. Hein & Co., 2002), 4: 161.
depend
William
with
ed.,
Can Posterity believe that the constitu-
Health
of Pot
January 17. Virginia, Alexander Thompson,
Slave Trade to America ( Buffalo, N. Y.:
on
50 Weight
Wooden and Earthen Ware.
Documents Illustrative of the History of the
I
tion
were
11
England
the
Colonys making all free after a
his antagonist
America
of Molasses,
of New
15 Hhds. of Salt, and sundry
Printer, and doubt not they will shortly
2, 1774— ROBERT
reason
of North
1 Tierce
8 Barrels
Rum, 4 Dozen Axes,
Virginia
handled the subject of Slavery
in a masterly manner, altho I
suppose he may have very little
Liberties
And
and
550 Bushels
appear
I
Dr. Young
of
Rum,
and 9 Quintals of Fish.
FOR ENDING SLAVERY
Philadelphia.
Name!
180 Weight
Beans.
In this letter, Pleasants, a Quaker and the president of the Virginia Abolition Society, discusses
the fact that the other 12 colonies were also faced
with the problem of how to end
slavery, with Benezet, a resident of
at the baneful
Wine,
17 Hhds. of New England
Wine, and 6800 Staves.
PLEASANTS TO ANTHONY BENEZET
how I tremble
of Spanish
Coffee,
with 459 Hhds. of Tobacco, 2 Pipes of
BENEZET SUGGESTS SOLUTION
6, 1774
Like Lethe, fatal to the Love of Fame."
Salem, with 20 Casks of Raisins, Six
Casks
William
FEBRUARY
TEA!
JAMES RIVER
January 17. Britannia, George Rapall, from
for Salem,
and Dixon),
January
A vigorous
Entered in the Upper District of
Anglicans
Britain' s mainland
could not obtain a Pass for his Ship by the
of People huzzaed
Virginia.
and
Scots, Germans, Dutch, Swiss, French, and
ows in the mainland colonies as late as
1773
Massachusetts
colonies
were
of course. Tivo
By 1770 Britain' s mainland settlements
contained a polyglot population of English,
settlers were English. By 1770 slavery had
profoundly reshaped colonial life everywhere, whereas it cast only curious shad-
BOSTON TEA PARTY
in
already modern in important ways.
Britain's eighteenth - century mainland
Lon-
reached no agreement.
John E. Selby, A Chronology of Virginia and
the War of Independence, 1763- 1783
Charlottesville, Va.: University Press of
COMMERCE
Driving Evolution in the Colonies 1770
and cart to town
Build roads and saw timber
Slaves hired
out
seeds
�3
Winter 1774
LIFE
FORUM
COOK' S CORNER
Food has been associated
tions since
ell
a " subspecies"
u.,
Gordon S. Wood, The American Revolution: A
In 1773, Parliament provided the occasion for a confrontation by granting the
East India Company the exclusive privilege of selling tea in America. Although
the North government intended this Tea
Act only to be a means of saving the East
India Company from bankruptcy, it set off
final
series
of explosions.
For
the
act
not only allowed colonial radicals to draw
attention
once
again
to
the
unconstitu-
tionality of the existing tax on tea, but it
also permitted the company to grant monopolies for selling tea to favored colonial
merchants — a provision that angered those
American
Tea
Act
traders
spread
who were excluded.
an
alarm
The
throughout
the
colonies. In several ports colonists stopped
the ships from landing the company's tea.
When tea ships in Boston were prevented
from
unloading
cargoes,
Governor
Hutchinson,
Thomas
their
whose
merchant
family had been given the right to sell tea,
refused
to allow the ships to leave without
landing the tea. In response, on December
16, 1773, a group of patriots disguised as
Indians
dumped
about £
tea
Boston
harbor. "
into
magnificent
movement
10, 000
This
of
worth
is the
of
most
exulted
all,"
John Adams, an ambitious young lawyer
from
Braintree,
This
Massachusetts. "
de-
struction of the tea is so bold, so daring, so
firm,
intrepid,
have
so
and inflexible,
important
and
it must
consequences,
and
WINTER 1774 IN WILLIAMSBURG
Winter
weather
was
right.
lb
the
British
colonies
com-
protection from winter's blast and watched
anxiously as their supply of firewood dwindled. In Williamsburg, as elsewhere in the
colony, the citizens resigned themselves to
monotonous
diets of fresh meat, corn, and
root vegetables and adjusted to long, dark,
cold nights.
Radesmen
of it with shorter
had a difficult
daylight
time
hours and bitter
Colds, & Bilious Peripneumonies;
Inflamation
After the
was removed gentle Purges
were of Service, but when attended with
Expectorations; the Purges were left, &
drinking
plentifully
Pectoral
Decoctions
the
the Massachusetts
charter and reorganized the government:
restricted,
and
the governor' s power of appointing judges
and
act
sheriffs
allowed
charged
was
royal
with
strengthened.
officials
capital
who
offences
The
third
had
sick
at
the
same
time,
WEATHER
to be
11th Still a good deal of ice upon the flats.
at south
west,
fresh &
cold
all
day — at night shifted to north west
again &
grew very cold. ( George Wash-
wind fresh at northwest. ( Washington)
but
Gage,
free
from
ice
afterwards
except
upon the flats. Day cloudy but little
wind. ( Washington)
28th Snowing until the afternoon but not
fast covered 2 inches. Very cold river
quite shut up. Wind northerly. ( Washington)
30th Very stormy this morning with rain
and hail which instantly freezes; the
trees hang bending with ice, & the ways
Through
are all glassy & slippery....
this whole day it storms but the evening
is terrible!
Almost an inundation
rain; the wind violent
at northeast;
of
The
snow, hail, and rain freezing together
on the ground. ( Philip Fithian)
ACROSS
commander in chief of the British army in
America, was made governor of the colony
1
Eat ' em on Shrove Tuesday
7
Parliament
of Massachusetts.
9
Acts were the last straw.
They convinced Americans once and for all
that Parliament
these
responds
to " tea party"
with
acts
Governor
of Massachusetts
after " tea party"
11 Tba tossing instigator
12 Governor of Massachusetts
at time of " tea
party"
had no more right to make
laws for them than to tax them.
New
unfrozen.
Ships
England
entered
Glasgow,
and African
Native
ervation of corn and, while the colonists
never gave up their preference for wheat
as a grain source, the abundance of corn
made it an easily obtained, inexpensive
food staple.
Cattle
African influence is seen in the use of
of succotash.
the
news three weeks after it occurred on
December 16, 1773. Concern about future
and
relationships
with
Britain
from
spices and in cooking techniques. Slaves
were truly creative cooks, combining a few
ingredients to produce what is now part of
when
announced
and hogs brought
England joined the variety of indigenous
game found in fields and forests... .
traditional
Gazette
the
and
Salem, and Falmouth.
Virginia
introduced
early settlers to the cultivation and pres-
During the cold January of 1774, Williamsburg residents pondered their political future. News of the Boston Tea Party
reached Williamsburg on January 6, 1774,
the
slaves.
Americans
from
sailed back to the ports of London, Bristol,
con-
tions. At the same time there were great
excitement and curiosity among adults and
her six children.
meal
Southern
rations
were
cuisine.
turned
Slave
into
corn-
hoecakes,
and dried corn became hominy or was
combined
based
Africa
with dried beans
soups
Fish
stews
as well
as native
to make a form
and
were flavored
thick,
meat -
with spices
herbs.
from
Consider
a
holiday dinner in Tidewater Virginia to help
understand
how
the
earliest
cooks
com-
bined the cooking traditions they brought
from England with the necessity of adapting to available, often unfamiliar foodstuffs
and the new methods needed to prepare
them.
Submitted by Anne Willis]
February
January 1774
tried
in England or in another colony to avoid
hostile juries. The fourth gave the governor
power to take over private buildings for
the quartering of troops instead of using
These Coercive
were
and
1774
15th Clear &
been
barracks. At the same time, Thomas
rivers
devoted to
United States, these
a reflection of the
that is unique to
Southern cuisine,
traced to their pre-
Crab Gumbo
Virginia Ham
house,
were now to be appointed by the royal
governor rather than elected by the legiswere
Travel from plantations to town was
difficult on icy roads, limiting supplies
coming into Williamsburg.
Commercial
trade continued as long as the James and
children in town about Lady Dunmore' s
anticipated arrival in Williamsburg
with
members
making care most hard in cold and unlighted places that were difficult to keep
clean. Prudent wives and mothers prepared
as the Coer-
cive Acts. The first of these closed the port
of Boston until the destroyed tea was paid
meetings
was also a
several
13th River entirely closed in the morning,
town
from injuries
threat.
sumed merchants and government officials
as they discussed Britain' s possible reac-
establish our authority," Lord North told the
House of Commons, " or give it up entirely."
In 1774, Parliament passed a succession of
lature,
an-
In Williamsburg there was no hospital
for the ill and dying; therefore, all people
were cared for at home by family members
if they were available. Families often had
12th River almost close froze —day cold,
or upper
Without
trade
to legislate for the colonies. " We are now to
Council,
remedies.
was of service."
ington)
of the
constant
Death was more prevalent in winter
months and families were haunted by
respiratory and other illnesses. Dr. deSequera' s Diary describes the illnesses of
Winter 1774: " The Winter produced some
America with the issue of Parliament' s right
members
threat of infection
Britain
Wind
altered
European
Americans
in town sold
tibiotics, many people suffered and sometimes died of secondary infections. The
York
Angry officials and many of the politically
active people in Great Britain damored for
a punishment that would squarely confront
for. The second
while the apothecaries
various
of cookbooks
influence of the cooking styles of Native
so
Boston Tea Party was the ultimate outrage.
laws that came to be known
woods,
with celebra-
and has spawned
dominantly English roots with the added
herbal medicines from their gardens and
cold.
lasting, that I can' t but consider it an epocha in history."
Adams
in the
plicated and shaped family life and life' s
activities. All but the wealthy struggled for
times
holiday cooking. In the
holiday traditions are
ethnic "
melting pot"
American society. In
these traditions can be
History, Modern Library Edition, 2002, 37- 38.
the
ancient
17 Tea tax relic of these duties
18 End of Christmastide
19 Rocks Virginia in late February
20 Will meet on first day of February
DOWN
2
This English legal case inspires some Ameri-
3
This institution increasingly in question
can slaves to seek freedom
4'
Tis the season
5
One way slaves consume
to sow these
seeds
6
8
Virginia has border dispute with this colony
Food staple introduced by Indians
corn
10 Winter causes challenges for these trades
12 Requires weeks of salt and smoke to prepare
these
13 This weekday begins Lent
14 Granted to East India Company
15 Turkish dynasty
16 Quaker leader of Virginia abolitionists
northerly.
Roast Turkey with Cornbread Stuffing
cold
with but little
River
quite
shut
wind, &
Gravy
up again.
Scalloped
Washington)
21 st Morning lowering, but dear calm &
Mashed
pleasant afterwards. ( Washington)
21st Earthquake
felt at Williamsburg,
Cranberry
Pickles
Sweet Potato Muffins
Pumpkin
cuts of fresh meats for the table. Hams to be
pickle, or pot smaller
cuts of meat as well as fish, fowl, and game.
indude spinach,
bage, and root vegetables (
Stored
items
cauliflower,
carrots,
such
cab-
turnips,
as apples
and pumpkins on hand. By February eggs
become plentiful for Lenten dishes as well
as to hatch.
Pie
Lemon Chess Tarts
salted for 6- 8 weeks and then smoked.
etc.).
Peaches
Sally Lunn Bread and
Gardening and food preservation:
Slaughtering in cold weather, so large
potatoes,
Sauce
and Relishes
Brandied
HEARTH AND HOME
Make sausages,
Potatoes
Corn Pudding
Westover, and Richmond.
Vegetables
Oysters
Candied Sweet Potatoes
Fewer
than
half the dishes
are English
in origin, which is a tribute to the influence
of the
Native
Americans
whose
land
was
usurped and the African slaves whose labor
guaranteed
the success of the Southern
agrarian economy.
Laura Arnold, The Interpreter, Fall 1988.
�4
Winter 1774
BLACK
PRESIDENTS
HISTORY
WEEKEND
MONTH
Presidents Weekend, February 18- 20, 2006
Presidents Weekend is our yearly opportunity to commemorate the lives of the first three
presidents who called Virginia home and to interpret the special relationship that each
had with Williamsburg.
In recognition of Black History Month,
Colonial Williamsburg will feature its
fourth annual Black History Month Weekend programs on February 24- 26, 2006.
These programs will explore how a diverse enslaved community used, survived,
resisted,
George
Washington
obtained
his
surveyor' s license
from
the
College
of William
and
Mary and was a burgess and part- time resident of Williamsburg from 1759 through
1774. Washington had a warm friendship with the last royal governor, Lord Dunmore,
in the years just before the Revolution.
Thomas Jefferson' s association with Williamsburg dates back to 1760, first as a student at William and Mary, then as a law student under George Wythe. He practiced law
in the General Court, served as a burgess and delegate to the Virginia Assembly from
1769 through 1778, and was governor in Williamsburg from May 1779 through March
and
American
influenced
the events
Revolution.
Programs
of the
will
be
performed in the Historic Area and the
Hennage Auditorium.
The
weekend
events
will
begin
with
James Madison' s relationship with the capital began with his entree into colonial
politics in May 1776 as a delegate to the Virginia Convention that adopted the Resolutions for Independence. As a member of the new government, Madison contributed to
the drafting of the Virginia Constitution and the Declaration of Rights and served as a
member of the Governor' s Council in Williamsburg until March 1780.
Submitted by Bill Weldon]
and their clashing
interests
a heated
and inevitable
was later made law), and in September he delivered before Congress his " Farewell Ad-
dress," which owed much to Hamilton, and in which he advised his country on its future
course.
In March
1797,
he returned
once again
to Mount
Vernon....
THOMAS (
of settlement
a number
reach
a slave taken to Encourt system
of slaves
in British
Great
Britain.
Between
of Af-
enslaved
after 1800.
Quakers
and
others
establish
the
Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery, for the Relief of Free
Negroes and for Improving the Condi-
1773
eral petitions to the governor in hopes
of attaining freedom.
tion of the African
Race.
1787
1775
April 14: First abolitionist society in British
North
America
established
in
July: Northwest
Phila-
from
delphia.
Thomas Paine' s " African Slavery in
America" published; denounces slavery and demands
bans slavery
Territories (
north
that " Negroes"
rivers).
September:
be
Southern
and
indentured
masters
who
servants
will fight
is defeated
at Great
states
to count
allows
three - fifths
1791
king. As a result 800- 1, 000 blacks run
away to the British.
9: Dunmore
adopted.
Representatives.
of
for the
Constitution
of their slave populations in determining representation in the House of
November: Lord Dunmore proclaims the
colony in rebellion and offers freedom
to slaves
U. S.
The " three - fifths compromise"
given land.
rebel
Ordinance
the Northwest
of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi
Kentucky becomes the first new slave
state admitted
to the Union.
1793
Bridge.
December
13: Hoping
to entice
Congress passes the first fugitive slave
law, compelling judges to return run-
runaway
the Virginia
Convention
promises
away slaves to their owners.
to
the pardon. Many of the loyalist slaves
Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin makes large- scale production
of cotton profitable. Cotton planta-
evacuate
tions proliferate
masters
Jefferson
was chosen and was the first president to be inaugurated in Washington, D. C. There soon followed a controversy over federal appointments as, though his
actions were greatly exaggerated by the Federalists, Jefferson first introduced something
like a spoils system. His first administration was signalized, however, by the Louisiana
Purchase, an action that, in the irony of practical affairs, violated Jefferson' s political
principles in having no constitutional authority behind it. Nonetheless, he demonstrated
his freedom from doctrinaire policy on France' s financial difficulties to acquire a vast new
territory for American expansion. Soon after his reelection in 1804, he was faced with
the almost impossible problem of maintaining neutrality in the war between England
and France. Determined to avoid war, he resorted finally to the Embargo Act of 1807,
which, though based on firm constitutional grounds, was again a great extension of
federal power and was widely criticized. In 1809, he retired permanently to Monticello
there for the rest of his life.
within
10
days.
with Dunmore
1751- 1836),
political philosopher, public official, and fourth
U. S. president. Born in Port Conway, King George County, Virginia,
on March 16, 1751, Madison was of a moderately wealthy family of
Few
accept
when he re-
1776
Forced
Samuel Hopkins publishes " A Dialogue Concerning the Slavery of the
Africans,"
which
throughout
the Upper
South, Southwest, and Deep South,
expanding the use of slave labor.
treats from Virginia.
appeals
to the Con-
migration
disrupts
slave
fami-
lies and communities.
1806
The
tinental Congress to abolish slavery.
Virginia
legislature
reverses
the
major provisions of the 1782 Manumission Law, requiring all slaves man-
1777
Self- proclaimed state of Vermont' s
constitution makes slavery illegal. Several other states will follow suit during
and after the American
Revolution.
umitted
in the future
to leave the state
within one year.
1808
January: U. S. Constitutional ban on the
importation of slaves goes into ef-
1782- 84
An estimated
20, 000 blacks — loyalists
fect, as does the British Abolition
Act
In 1808, he [ Madison] was the clear successor to the presidency. He
won a strong victory over his Federalist opponent and continued the
policies of Jefferson unaltered. The difficulties with Britain and France
continued and worsened, particularly with the former; Madison was
apparently deceived by Napoleon into issuing a nonintercourse proclamation against Great Britain in November 1810, making war with
that country virtually inevitable. In June 1812, war was formally declared, beginning a
painful and dangerous period for the nation, which was totally unprepared and part of
which —New England — was totally unsympathetic. Military disasters fostered the growth
of popular discontent. New England seriously considered secession, great areas of the
Northwest were lost to British forces from Canada, and Washington, D. C., was burned.
who fought for the crown during the
prohibiting British participation in the
American Revolution —
evacuate the
Virginia planters... .
Atlantic slave trade.
U. S. from New York, Savannah, and
Charleston,
bound
for
the
1832
British
Nat
Turner' s Rebellion.
Some are relocated to Freetown, Si-
the
Virginia
erra
gradual
West
Indies,
Canada,
and
England.
Leone.
slave
1782
Virginia passes a manumission bill
encouraging private manumission of
code
American
1783
prohibits
the
the edu-
Anti - slavery
Large- scale
first half of the 19th century, during
Venezuela,
to Montpellier in 1817.
which
livia.
enacts
emancipation
had
Society
founded in Philadelphia.
victories — notably by Gen. Andrew Jackson at New Orleans — restored to the president
much political favor. The remainder of his administration was marked most prominently
by his brief backing away from Jeffersonian principles in approving both the charter of
the second Bank of the United States and a system of protective tariffs. Madison retired
C. Merriman
against
makes
1833
tion.
1304- 1306, 1048- 1049, 1109- 1110.
stricter,
response,
slaves.
But the mere fact that the war was over, coupled with a few spectacular though belated
1971),
In
votes
cation of slaves, and places limits on
black preaching.
Virginia
Source: Webster' s Guide to American History ( Springfield, Mass.: G. &
legislature
emancipation,
Nevertheless, Madison managed to win reelection in 1812. The war was ended by the
Treaty of Ghent in December 1814, with the United States having failed to gain a single
one of its war aims and having had to bargain from weakness simply to regain its territory.
Company,
within
Congress votes against Thomas Jeffer-
pardon all slaves who return to their
JAMES (
values
North
tied in the electoral
MADISON,
and
and " Jumpin'
the survival
son's proposal to prevent slavery from
expanding into the western counties
and
Jefferson and Aaron Burr, defeated the Federalists but were themselves
and remained
Comes"
underscore
culture
slaves away from Dunmore' s control,
of Representatives,
Freedom
Submitted by Harvey Bakari]
and 1776, blacks in Boston write sev-
In the election of 1800, the Republican candidates for president,
In the House
the
communities.
America to run away in attempts to
in Virginia... .
college.
to control
Evening programs such as " Remember
Me When
wins. Word of the case encourages
December
Public official, public leader,
philosopher, and third U. S. president. Born on April 13, 1743, on his
father' s plantation Shadwell in Goochland County on the western
fringe
Somerset,
dom in the British
He has remained
1743- 1826).
attempted
lived.
gland by his master, sues for his free-
in the century and three- quarters since his death, in the words of Henry Lee' s famous
eulogy, " first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."
JEFFERSON,
institutions
enslaved people and how slaves attempted
to make sense of the world in which they
1784
James
clash between
Jefferson and Hamilton, the resignation of the former, and the polarization of politics
into party camps. While seeking to steer a middle course, he more often than not found
himself aligned with the Hamiltonian Federalists particularly in issuing his proclamation
of neutrality upon the outbreak of the Anglo- French War in 1793, in sending troops
under Hamilton to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania in 1784,
and in signing the Jay ' Treaty with England in 1795. The treaty provoked a particularly
bitter attack from the opposition, and the president resisted an attempt by the House of
Representatives to gain a share of the treaty -making power. In 1796, he firmly rejected
pleas that he accept a third term ( setting a precedent that endured for 144 years and that
Re-
Enslaving Virginia Time Line
his officers, and conducted himself with republican decorum and restraint. His first term
witnessed
Revolution.
shared values.
WASHINGTON, GEORGE ( 1732- 1799), soldier, public official, and first U. S. president.
Born on February 22, 1732, in Westmoreland County, Virginia, Washington grew up on
the family plantation... .
On April 30, [ 1789], he was inaugurated at Federal Hall in New York City. As the first
president of a new and unsure government, not the least of his responsibilities was to
avoid creating potentially harmful precedents. He constructed his cabinet with an eye to
sectional and ideological balance, strove to maintain cordial relations with and among all
but his second
tive
and
1772
crisis,
as
accused slave felons and a religious gathering will illustrate how Virginia' s forma-
rican
explore the lives of free black and enslaved
as well
enactments of oyer and terminer trials of
Historic Area houses and outbuildings
will
relationships
the crisis of the American
Jonkonnu"
people
major
master - slave
the enslaved communities' perspectives on
a presentation of the history of Colonial
Williamsburg' s African American interpretation. A special walking tour through
1780. Jefferson was a cousin to the Randolphs.
without
Other programs will provide insight
into
served
of
legislation
certain
as soldiers
for
slaves
1834
August:
in the Revolu-
Parliament
abolishes
in the British Caribbean
migration
of
Virginians
to Kentucky begins. Migration
Virginia
the
who
will continue
slave
owners
from
throughout
will
take
the
the
in-
stitution of slavery with them into the
new territories.
slavery
colonies.
1851
Slavery abolished in Columbia, and
over the next few years, in Argentina,
Peru,
Ecuador, and Bo-
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Becoming Americans Today
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Becoming Americans Today</em> was a newsletter developed by the Department of Interpretive Training for interpreters. Presented in a newspaper format loosely based on USA Today, it was developed to support programming by providing interpreters with the news that would have shaped the thoughts and lives of Williamsburg residents during the years interpreted in the Historic Area. It was considered a training material that combined diverse historical information in a readable contemporary format, utilizing headlines as a hook that interpreters could use to draw guests into the story. It was published 2002-2008.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Becoming Americans Today, volume 5, number 1, January /February, 2006
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
[2006]
Description
An account of the resource
January and February 1774