The summer of 2003 my family and I went on vacation to visit Williamsburg, at least
that was the plan. Now myself, I'm the kind of person who packs two weeks ahead
of time, so of course I went online to see what I could find out about Williamsburg,
Jamestown and Yorktown. I couldn't seem to find very much, from a tourists
point of view, so I went to my back up source, the AAA Auto Club. I picked
up a book for Virginia, found the section covering the three towns and started
to read. The more I read, the more I discovered how little I knew and the more
I wanted to know. Now, we've all had vacations and trips that were disappointing. Our expectations were high and the reality failed miserably. This was not the case with this trip. My expectations came no-where near the beauty and wonder of the reality. I thought I knew what to expect - how wrong I was! I hope that people seeing these pages will go out of their way to visit these wonderful historical sites, you won't be disappointed. I would suggest one thing above all else, give yourself plenty of time. A week would be good, you might get to see it all. So far we've split our trip up into two different visits, if you don't count the time I took for pictures, it would have taken us three days so far. We have another visit planned soon for the rest of Yorktown, the Yorktown Victory Center and Williamsburg, we figure at least three more days maybe four. That's without visiting the beautiful plantation houses in the area, I can't even guess how long that would take, because there are a lot. I really hope that these pages help someone in their research and you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the visit. As I mentioned, we haven't finished our "vacation" so the pages here are not complete, we still have Yorktown and Williamsburg to visit. I want to thank all the National Park personnel, the members of the Living History Museum as well as the other folks at the other places we visited, everyone was wonderful, helpful and very nice! :) |
Names from sign forthcoming |
This monument is dedicated to the sailors and soldiers of the French expeditionary
force who died for the independence of the United States during the campaign
of Yorktown This monument has been erected to reflect the ideal of justice and liberty which unites the United States and France |
Fusiliers Redoubt Here, just west of Yorktown, the British built an earthwork to control the road to Williamsburg. This fortification was manned by the Royal Welch Fusiliers throughout the siege. The path leads to the reconstructed redoubt. |
Royal Welch Fusiliers Redoubt "... the enemy presumed that he would get possesion of the redoubt on the right cheaply... the French... attacked the redoubt right before our eyes... they were so warmly received there by the English, who did not fire a shot until the French were in the abatis, that they gave up the business and had to fall back..." Captain Johann Ewald, Field Jager Corps, Auxillary Forces, British Army, September 30, 1781. |
The reconstructed portions of the Royal Welch Fusiliers Redoubt mark the location
of a star shaped earthen fort that protected the extreme right of the British
defenses. Initially held by 150 troops of the 23rd (Royal Welch Fusiliers) Regiment
of Foot, the redoubt's defenders prevented two French attempts to take the
position. The British surrender ended French plans for a third assault on the
redoubt. Though British forces were required to relinquish their regimental flags at the surrender ceremony, the flag of the Royal Welch Fusiliers was smuggled back to Great Britain by two paroled officers of the regiment. |
The information above, is not directly in the Yorktown Victory Center, but is down
the road slightly. I tried to create the pages as the sites were visited so visitors
might get an idea of location. |
Road to Revolution 1750 - 1776 "But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American War? The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people." --- John Adams, 1818 During the years before the American Revolution, an important change occured in the hearts and mins of the American people. Colonists who considered themselves loyal British subjects in 1750 were in open revolt by 1776. As conflict over taxation and self - government increased, the colonies began to work together to defend their rights and to resist the mother country. |
Enraged by colonial defiance, the British responded with force. Road to Revolution presents words and actions of leaders on both sides of the Atlantic. A timeline and four pavilions focus on critical events and issues that ultimately led to American independence. |
Road to Revolution 1750 - 1776 |
1750 The rapidly growing poplulation of Britain's North American colonies now numbers one million, while about six million people live in England and Wales 1752 Georgia, the last of the thirteen English settlements to be founded, become a royal colony. In this, as in other royal colonies, the kind appoints a governor and council. 1754 July A skirmish between French troops (supported by Indians) and American colonists on the western frontier begins the French and Indian War. This conflict is a prelude to the Seven Years War, a worldwide contest for empire between Great Britain and France, and their respective allies. 1759 September A British army led by General James Wolfe wins a decisive victory over the French in Canada during the Seven Years War by taking Quebec. |
"We can't conceive that being Americans should deprive us of the benefits of British
subjects." --- George Washington, colonel of a Virginia regiment, protesting the British army's unequal treatment of its colonial allies during the Seven Years War, 1757 |
1760 October George III becomes King of England and ruler of the British empire. He favors new political leaders and advisors who follow a stricter policy toward the colonies. |
"We have an old Mother that peevish is grown, She snubs us like Children that scarce
walk alone; She forgets we're grown up and have Sense of our own..." --- From "A Mother Country," a song by Benjamin Franklin, 1760's |
1763 February The treaty of Paris ends the Seven Years War. France, in defeat, gives up most claims to North American territory. |
1750 - 1763 After 1750, as the colonies matured, the British and Americans disagreed more and more on their respective roles within the empire. The British viewed the colonies as inferior and dependent children. The Americans saw Great Britain as an overprotective parent. These differing views set the stage for future conflict. The war with France had forced the British to loosen control over the colonies in order to gain their cooperation. With victory, however, the British attempted to tighten their colonial rule. One change in policy was especially important: a new willingness to use Parliamentary authority and military power to achieve their goals. With a growing population, expanding economy, and freedom from French threat, the colonies increasingly resented British interference. |
An Uneasy Connection The Seven Years War was only one episode in a century-long struggle between Great Britain and France for dominance in the Atlantic. After a series of decisive British victories, the war ended in 1763 with the Treaty of Paris. By giving up its North American claims, France left Britain supreme on the American continent. Protecting the American colonies plunged Great Britain deeply into debt. As a result, the British were determined to exercise greater control over the colonists and force them to help pay the war's costs. But the maturing colonies were increasingly ready for self-government. |
1764 April Parliament passes the Sugar Act to raise money from the colonies through import taxes. In response, Boston merchants refuse to buy English luxury goods. 1765 March The Stamp Act, the first tax to affect all the colonies equally, becomes law. The Quartering Act requires the colonies to provide lodging for British troops. |
And now will these Americans, children planted by our care, nourished by our indulgence...
will they grudge to Contribute... to relieve us from...the burden under
which we lie?" --- Charles Townshend, member of Parliament, speaking in favor of the Stamp Act, 1765 |
1766 March Bowing to pressure from British merchants, Parliament repeals the unsuccessful Stamp Act but restates its supreme authority over the colonies. |
"Great Britain protects America; America is bound to yield obedience. If not, tell
me when the American's were emancipated?" --- George Grenville, member of Parliament, in debates over repeal of the Stamp Act, 1766; as prime minister, he had secured passage of the act the year before. |
"I desire to know when they were made slaves?" --- William Pitt, member of Parliament and proponent of colonial rights, responding to Grenville's question, 1766. |
1767 June The Townshend Acts impose duties on glass, tea, and other items imported into the colonies. The Americans react by adopting nonimportation agreements and refusing to buy British goods. 1769 May Virginia's House of Burgesses restates its exclusive right to tax Virginians and condemns British actions. "Let us behave like dutiful children, who have received unmerited blows from a beloved parent...But let us speak out against these new taxes. They take away some of our liberty." --- John Dickinson (Pennsylvania), concerning Townshend Duties, 1767 1770 March British soldiers, sent to support local British officials, fire into an agry Boston crowd and kill five people. This incident soon becomes known as the Boston Massacre. 1770 April Realizing that the Townshend Acts are discouraging the purchase of British goods, Parliament repeals all the taxes except that on tea, which cannot be grown in North America. 1770 Having doubled in only twenty years, the population of Britain's thirteen North American colonies exceeds two million. 1765 May Virginia's House of Burgesses adopts Patrick Henry's Stamp Act Resolves, protesting taxation without representation. 1765 August Angry mobs force stamp distributors to resign, and many merchants and other patriots agree not to import British goods. 1765 October Colonial delegates to the Stamp Act Congress in New York reject Parliament's right to tax the colonies. |
Failing to raise money with the Stamp Act, Parliament passed the Townshend Acts in
1767, placing duties on glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea, which could only
be legally imported from Great Britain. The colonists at once adopted nonimportation
agreements, to prevent the British from collecting taxes. Parliament withdrew
all duties in 1770, except that on tea. After years of conflict, no progress toward a compromise had been made between Britain and her American colonies. Each remained convinced of its own position and became more distrustful of the other. The colonists believed that they had twice defeated British tax schemes and were confident that they could do it again. The duty on tea, however migrated Britain's intention to uphold its right to tax. Faced with continuing resistance. Parliament became more determined to use force, if necessary, to assert its authority. |
Although not always enforced, British trade regulations were a fact of life in the
American colonies. After 1763, Britain expected the colonies to help pay its
huge war debt. Taxes on molasses under the Sugar Act and other unpopular actions
met with limited, local resistance. However, the Stamp Act of 1765 -- the first
direct tax laid on all the colonies to raise money -- sparked riots and mob
violence. Opposition spread swiftly from colony to colony, accompanied by the rallying cry, "No taxation without representation!" Responding to pressure from British merchants, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766, but reaffirmed its right to tax the colonies. |
1773 May The Tea Act gives the British East India Company a monopoly on sales. In protest, patriots in New York and Philadelphia force ships to return to England without unloading their cargoes of tea. "There will be no such thing as selling it, as the people would rather buy so much poison, than the tea with the duty thereon." --- Abraham Lott, New York merchant, commenting on the Tea Act, 1773 |
"The Ministry could not have devised a more effectual Measure to unite the Colonies...
Old Jealousies are removed, and perfect Harmony subsists between them." --- Samuel Adams, Massachusetts patriot, commenting on the Tea Act, December 1773 |
1773 December Patriots dressed as Indians board ships in Boston harbor and dump more than 300 chests of tea overboard to prevent its unloading and sale. 1774 March Parlliament passes the Boston Port Act, closing the harbor to all seaborne trade as punishment for the Boston Tea Party. |
"We must punish, controul, or yield to them." --- Lord North, British prime minister, referring to the citizens of Boston, March 1774 |
"We ask but for Peace, Liberty and Safety." --- First Continental Congress petition to King George III, September 1774 |
1774 May Virginia's House of Burgesses supports Boston by observing a day of fasting and prayer. Virginia calls for a unified colonial response through a boycott of British goods. 1774 October Virginia militia commanded by Colonial Andrew Lewis defeats Indian forces led by Shawnee Chief Cornstalk at Point Pleasant, West Virginia. This battle reduces the Indian threat on Virginia's western frontier and opens up the area west of the Alleghenies to Virginia settlers. 1774 October The First Continental Congress declares that Americans are entitled to the rights of "life, liberty, and property." It forms the Continental Association, an agreement calling on the colonies to stop all imports from Britain, and providing for local committees to enforce its provisions. |
"The dye is now cast, the Colonies must either submit or triumph." --- King George III to Lord North, September 1774 |
1774 November Yorktown residents stage a southern tea party, boarding the ship Virginia and dumping chests of tea into the York River. Throughout the colonies, local leaders begin to prepare for military resistance and develop new political institutions to replace British authority. |
The Events that followed the passage fo the Tea Act demonstrated how irresolvable
the conflict had become, and marked the turning point in relations between Britain
and the colonies. Parliament's harsh response to the Boston Tea Party served
to unify all thirteen colonies. There was a feeling of desperation in America,
as none of the traditional ways of obtaining justice seemed to work. Realizing the need for a unified defense of their rights, all the colonies sent delegates to the First Continental Congress in September 1774 to forge a common plan of action. Political leaders were kept informed of news through an effective system of correspondence, as they worked to develop new governing institutions. Widely read political pamphlets motivated Americans to take a stand, and prepare to defend themselves. Armed struggle appeared inevitable. |
Tempest in a Teapot The continuing struggle between Britain and its American colonies had expanded beyond the issue of taxation to include all British control over colonial affairs. By 1773, the conflict centered on tea, an ordinary beverage that became a symbol of both oppression and resistence. By 1770, tea was the only item that still carried an import tax. In 1773, Parliament pass the Tea Act, lowering the tax to encourage its acceptance and giving the British East India Company a monopoly on its sale. Outraged colonists saw this as one more attempt to rob them of their liberty and responded by preventing the unloading of tea cargos, and finally by dumping tea in the Boston harbor. An angered Parliament passed the "Intolerable Acts" to punish the Americans. |
1775 February Parliament declares Massachusetts in a state of rebellion. British General Gage is authorized to use force to control the colony. |
"The die is cast... it seems to me the Sword is now our only, yet dreadful, alternative..." ---Abigail Adams in a letter to a friend, February 1775; her letters and writings frequently expressed strong political views and she was an early advocate of greater political rights for women. |
"I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me
death!" --- Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775, urging the Virginia Revolutionary Convention meeting at St. John's Church in Richmond to authorize arming a militia force to defend colonial rights. |
1775 April British troops, attempting to capture colonial military supplies, exchange gunfire with Massachusetts minutemen at Lexington and Concord. Lord Dunmore, royal governor of Virginia, seizes the colony's store of gunpoweder at Williamsburg. "Our men had very few opportunities of getting good shots at the Rebels, as they hardly ever fired but under cover of a Stone wall, from behind a tree, or out of a house; and the moment they had fired they lay down out of sight until they had loaded again, or the Column had passed." --- Lt. Frederick MacKenzie, British officer , describing the retreat from Lexington to Boston, April 19, 1775 |
"The barbarous Murders on our innocent Brethren on Wednesday the 19th Instant, has
made it absolutely necessary that we immediately raise an Army to defend our
Wives and our Children..." --- Joseph Warren, president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, from a broadside printed shortly after the battles of Lexington and Concord, April 1775 |
1775 May Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys capture Fort Ticonderoga, New York, and its heavy artillery from the British. Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia 1775 June Battle of Bunker and Breed's hills, Boston. British win the struggle but suffer heavy losses. George Washington is appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental forces. Congress enacts Articles of War. |
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"Our cause is just. Our union is perfect. Our internal resources are great,
and...[we are] resolved to die freemen rather than live slaves." --- Declaration of the Second Continental Congress on the necessity of taking up arms, July 1775 |
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Delaware English Colony Established 1664 Constitution Ratified: December 7, 1787 |
Pennsylvania English Colony Established 1681 Constitution Ratified: December 12, 1787 |
New
Jersey English Colony Established 1664 Constitution Ratified: December 18, 1787 |
Georgia English Colony Established 1733 Constitution Ratified: January 2, 1788 |
Connecticut English Colony Established 1635 Constitution Ratified: January 9, 1788 |
Massachusetts English Colony Established 1620 Constitution Ratified: February 6, 1788 |
Maryland English Colony Established 1634 Constitution Ratified: April 28, 1788 |
South
Carolina English Colony Established 1670 Constitution Ratified: May 23, 1788 |
New
Hampshire English Colony Established 1623 Constitution Ratified: June 21, 1788 |
Virginia English Colony Established 1607 Constitution Ratified: June 25, 1788 |
New
York English Colony Established 1664 Constitution Ratified: July 26, 1788 |
North
Carolina English Colony Established 1653 Constitution Ratified: November 21, 1789 |
Rhode Island and Providence Plantation English Colony Established 1636 Constitution Ratified: May 29, 1790 |
Nike of Samothrace, reproduction. Presented by Nick and Mary Mathews The Classical Age and The American Revolution The Classical Age of Athens, Greece was a period of great artistic achievement and political experimentation. Under the leadership of Pericles from 461 - 429 B.C., Athens created the world's first democracy. This brief experiment in democracy later became an inspiration for America's leaders as they struggled to win independence and to create a democratic republic. Most of the founding fathers had studied the classical works of Greek philosophers and historians. They later incorporated their knowledge into speeches, pamphlets and engravings to express the ideals of the new American nation. |
The young (political leaders) boasted that they were treading upon the Republican
ground of Greece and Rome. --- Edmund Pendleton describing the Virginia Revolutionary Convention, 1776. |
America Presenting at the Alter of Liberty, Medallions of Her Illustrious Sons, 1785. (Based on the engraving by B. Reading) In this classically inspired print, Victory is shown holding a palm branch and stepping on Britannia's shield and spear. Other goddesses surround Washington, presenting thirteen medallions bearing the names and portraits of Revolutionary heroes. |
Nike of Samothrace, 200 - 190 B.C., Parian Marble This statue of Nike, found on the island of Samothrace in the Aegean Sea, is the most famous "Winged Victory" to survive from the ancient world. Nike is shown landing on the deck of a ship proclaiming victory after a naval battle fought in 250 B.C. The goddess Nike, characterized by massive wings, has been used by both the ancient and modern worlds to symbolize significant military victories, such as the decisive American victory over the British at Yorktown in 1781. |
Farm Life after the Revolution "Those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God, if ever he had a chosen people..." --- Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, 1787 The new nation that emerged in the years following the Revolution was mostly rural. Despite Jefferson's optimism, the typical Virginia farmer of the 1780s had to struggle to support his family during a period of economic and political change. Most Tidewater planters -- those from eastern Virginia -- lived in small wooden dwellings, surrounded by gardens, a kitchen, and a few outbuildings. Tobacco and wheat were grown for sale. Corn was raised for sale or use on the farm, and animals were kept to provide meat, eggs, and dairy products. |
At the Farmsite, costumed interpreters demonstrate typical seasonal and daily farm
activities, and discuss rural life after the Revolution. |
The Growing Orchard |
Corn Field |
Tobacco Bed |
The Main House |
The Kitchen |
Yorktown Victory Center Yorktown,York County Virginia |
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