Williamsburg, Jamestown, York Va Nov 2-4

The Governor's Palace

Patrick Henry discussing the concerns of the day (July 17, 1776)

These are the settlements that the Virginians would have you believe were the beginning of everything American.  They may be right.  Jamestown, founded in 1607 by the English, (James Smith, Pocahontas. Etc) struggled to evolve into the beginnings of the Virginia Colony with representative governance (free, white, male and propertied) and were the first to declare independence from England.  They also were the first to separate church and state. (Sharon Angle take note)

The locals here with the help of John D. Rockefeller, have turned all this history into multiple theme parks, at Williamsburg, Jamestown and York.   It is kind of cool, we attended a diatribe by Patrick Henry who in character spoke quite candidly of the state of affairs in 1776.  He was not very kind Thomas Jefferson.  We met with members of the House of Burgesses who engaged us in a debate as to whether voting was a God giving right or a privilege granted to citizens by government.  We had coco in a coffee shop where we conversed with the local pastor and the innkeeper about the stamp tax and how unfair it all was.  We visited the blacksmith where the smithy was forging a hinge out of wrought iron in coal fired hearth.  We went to a glass factory in Jamestown, and watched as the glassmaker made a pitcher out of molten glass.

In purgatory again

At Jamestown we went to the national park and attended a ranger talk that was quite good, The presenter was very informative  and gave us a an understanding of why they came, what happened when they got here, and how they overcame the difficulties that they experienced here.  It was pretty grim.  Over 50% percent of the settlers died within the first two years.  Average life expectancy was in the mid 20s.  If you survived two years, then you could figure , then you could figure you successfully adjusted to the new world and would be okay. 

   Pocahontas, In real life she didn't wear so many clothes

One interesting item, it was thought that the original fort had been washed away in the James River over the last 400 hundred  had been washed away in the James River over the last 400 hundred years.  In 1994, archeologists discovered the foundations of the original fort  and have found over 1 million artifacts from the site.  The museum on the site is quite fascinating and has recreated many details of what life was like in the area in the early 1600s.