Getting to Virginia

Understanding what Fernand Braudel termed the long duree, that is the many years of events leading up to another specific historical occrance, we can now start the Jamestown adventure in earnest.

This podcast explains the details surrounding the London Company’s plans to colonize Virginia, as well as the tense voyage across the Atlantic in late 1606 to early 1607. Virginia, as was the case with many colonies, did not have a mythical beginning. It was rough, and in some cases deadly, even in the beginning, especially as the “evil omen” of a comet flashed overhead seemed to superstitiously indicate.
This colony; however, would persevere. In so doing, the foundations of a new country were lain. Those foundations, in the long duree, still have lasting influence for today.

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LINKS TO THE PODCAST:

SOURCES:

  1. Billings, Warren M.; Selby, John E.; and Tate, Thad W. Colonial Virginia: A History. White Plains, NY: KTO Press. 1986.
  2. Dabney, Virginius. Virginia: The New Dominion, A History from 1607 to the Present. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 1971.
  3. Deans, Bob. The River Where America Began: A Journey Along the James. Plymouth, UK: Rowan and Littlefield, 2009.
  4. Firstbrook, Peter. A Man Most Driven: Captain John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Founding of America. London: Oneworld Publications, 2014.
  5. Horn, James. A Land as God Made It: Jamestown and the Birth of America. New York: Basic Books, 2005.
  6. Hume, Ivor Noel. Here Lies Virginia. New York: Alfred Knopf, 1963.
  7. Hume, Ivor Noel. The Virginia Adventure: Roanoke to James Towne – An Archaeological and Historical OdysseyNew York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994.
  8. Kelso, William M. Jamestown: The Buried Truth. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 2006.
  9. Kupperman, Karen Ordhal. Apathy and Death in Early Jamestown The Journal of American History, Vol. 66, No. 1 (Jun., 1979), pp. 24-40
  10. Kupperman, Karen Ordhal. Captain John Smith: A Select Edition of His Writings. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press published for the Omohundro Institute, 1988.
  11. Kupperman, Karen Ordhal. The Jamestown Project. Cambridge, MA: The Belknapp Press of Harvard University Press, 2007.
  12. Mapp, Alfred J. Virginia Experiment: The Old Dominion’s Role in the Making of America, 1607-1781Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, Inc., 2006.
  13. Price, David A. Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Start of a New NationNew York: Vintage, 2003.
  14. Rothbard, Murray N. Conceived in Liberty. Auburn, AL: Ludwig Von Mises Institute, 1999.
  15. Rountree, Helen C. Powhatan Foreign Relations: 1500-1722.Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1993.
  16. Rountree, Helen C. Pocahontas, Powhatan, Opechancanough: Three Indian Lives Changed by Jamestown. Charlottesville, VA: UVA Press, 2005.
  17. Wallenstein, Peter. Cradle of America: Four Centuries of Virginia History. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2007.
  18. Williams, Tony. The Jamestown Experiment: The Remarkable Story of The Enterprising Colony and the Unexpected Results that Shaped America. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 2011.
  19. Wooley, Benjamin. Savage Kingdom: The True Story of Jamestown, 1607, and the Settlement of America. New York: Harper and Collins, 2007.

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

  1. Historic Jamestowne
  2. Virtual Jamestown

 

 

All photography used on this site is owned and copyrighted by the author unless otherwise noted. This picture is the Cape Henry Memorial commemorating the site where the Jamestown Settlers first landed in 1607.

Events Leading to Jamestown’s Founding

Virginia didn’t just happen. Historical events built upon other historical events that eventually culminated in the London Company’s 1607 colonization attempt. This podcast episode details how government sponsored mercantilism competed with Laissez-faire Capitalism, eventually spurring a group of London merchants to seek new trade outlets in the New World.

LINKS TO THE PODCAST:

 

SOURCES:

  1. Billings, Warren M.; Selby, John E.; and Tate, Thad W. Colonial Virginia: A History. White Plains, NY: KTO Press. 1986.
  2. Dabney, Virginius. Virginia: The New Dominion, A History from 1607 to the Present. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 1971.
  3. Deans, Bob. The River Where America Began: A Journey Along the James. Plymouth, UK: Rowan and Littlefield, 2009.
  4. Firstbrook, Peter. A Man Most Driven: Captain John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Founding of America. London: Oneworld Publications, 2014.
  5. Horn, James. A Land as God Made It: Jamestown and the Birth of America. New York: Basic Books, 2005.
  6. Hume, Ivor Noel. Here Lies Virginia. New York: Alfred Knopf, 1963.
  7. Hume, Ivor Noel. The Virginia Adventure: Roanoke to James Towne – An Archaeological and Historical OdysseyNew York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994.
  8. Kelso, William M. Jamestown: The Buried Truth. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 2006.
  9. Kupperman, Karen Ordhal. Apathy and Death in Early Jamestown The Journal of American History, Vol. 66, No. 1 (Jun., 1979), pp. 24-40
  10. Kupperman, Karen Ordhal. Captain John Smith: A Select Edition of His Writings. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press published for the Omohundro Institute, 1988.
  11. Kupperman, Karen Ordhal. The Jamestown Project. Cambridge, MA: The Belknapp Press of Harvard University Press, 2007.
  12. Mapp, Alfred J. Virginia Experiment: The Old Dominion’s Role in the Making of America, 1607-1781Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, Inc., 2006.
  13. Price, David A. Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Start of a New NationNew York: Vintage, 2003.
  14. Rothbard, Murray N. Conceived in Liberty. Auburn, AL: Ludwig Von Mises Institute, 1999.
  15. Rountree, Helen C. Powhatan Foreign Relations: 1500-1722.Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1993.
  16. Rountree, Helen C. Pocahontas, Powhatan, Opechancanough: Three Indian Lives Changed by Jamestown. Charlottesville, VA: UVA Press, 2005.
  17. Wallenstein, Peter. Cradle of America: Four Centuries of Virginia History. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2007.
  18. Williams, Tony. The Jamestown Experiment: The Remarkable Story of The Enterprising Colony and the Unexpected Results that Shaped America. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 2011.
  19. Wooley, Benjamin. Savage Kingdom: The True Story of Jamestown, 1607, and the Settlement of America. New York: Harper and Collins, 2007.

 

 

All photography used on this site is owned and copyrighted by the author unless otherwise noted. This picture is the entrance to the Virginia Historical Society’s “Story of Virginia” Exhibit in the Edmund Randolph Williams Gallery.

Roanoke’s Tragic End

John White never could escape failure’s menacing hand. From the moment he left Roanoke in 1597 to the time he returned in 1590, White endured enough hardship to last a lifetime. In the end, he had nothing to show for it. Raleigh also met with continued disaster before he was executed in 1618. But it is the story of the Lost Colonists that captivates imagination. Tune in to the podcast, where I recount White, Raleigh, and the Colonist’s fate in an effort to tie up the loose ends of England’s first colonizing attempt in Virginia.

LINKS TO THE PODCAST:

Roanoke’s Tragic End on Libsyn

RSS Feed

VA History Podcast on iTunes

VA History Podcast on Stitcher

Like the Podcast on Facebook!

  • (Please allow some time for the newest podcasts to show up on your podcast player).

SOURCES:

Horn, James. A Kingdom Strange: The Brief and Tragic History of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. New York: Basic Books, 2010.

Houston, Lebame and Hird, Barbara. editors. Roanoke Revisited… The Story of the First English Settlements in the New World and the Fabled Lost Colony of Roanoke Island. Penny Books, 1997.

Hume, Ivor Noel. The Virginia Adventure: Roanoke to James Towne – An Archaeological and Historical Odyssey. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994.

Kuperman, Karen Ordahl. Roanoke: The Abandoned Colony. Plymouth,    UK: Rowan and Littlefield, 2007.

Miller, Lee. Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony. New York: Aarcade, 2001.

Mapp, Alfred J. Virginia Experiment: The Old Dominion’s Role in the Making of   America, 1607-1781. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, Inc, 2006.

Quinn, David Beers. Set Fair for Roanoke: Voyages and Colonies, 1584-1606. Chapel Hill, NC: UNC Press, 1985.

Smith, John. The General Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles with the Names of the Adventurers, Planters, and Governors from Their Beginning: 1584-1624. volumes 1-2. Bedford, MA: Applewood Books.

Stick, David. Roanoke Island: The Beginnings of English America. Chapel Hill, NC: UNC Press, 1983.

US History Timeline – This is a great chronological resource!

The First Colony Foundation

Fort Raleigh NPS

Paul Green’s Famous Play – The Lost Colony

The Elizabethan Gardens – Adjacent to Fort Raleigh, and believed to be where the first Roanoke Colonists landed.

All photography used on this site is owned and copyrighted by the author unless otherwise noted.

The Lost Colony

In this episode the planning, journey, and establishment another settlement on Roanoke Island are detailed. Finally, John White’s fateful decision to leave for England is briefly outlined. I plan to resume with White’s journey back to England, and what took place between 1587 and 1607, as well as the many theories surrounding the greatest mystery in American History.

LINKS TO THE PODCAST:

The Lost Colony on Libsyn

RSS Feed

VA History Podcast on iTunes

VA History Podcast on Stitcher

Like the Podcast on Facebook!

  • (Please allow some time for the newest podcasts to show up on your podcast player).

SOURCES:

Horn, James. A Kingdom Strange: The Brief and Tragic History of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. New York: Basic Books, 2010.

Houston, Lebame and Hird, Barbara. editors. Roanoke Revisited… The Story of the First English Settlements in the New World and the Fabled Lost Colony of Roanoke Island. Penny Books, 1997.

Hume, Ivor Noel. The Virginia Adventure: Roanoke to James Towne – An Archaeological and Historical Odyssey. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994.

Kuperman, Karen Ordahl. Roanoke: The Abandoned Colony. Plymouth,    UK: Rowan and Littlefield, 2007.

Miller, Lee. Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony. New York: Aarcade, 2001.

Mapp, Alfred J. Virginia Experiment: The Old Dominion’s Role in the Making of   America, 1607-1781. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, Inc, 2006.

Quinn, David Beers. Set Fair for Roanoke: Voyages and Colonies, 1584-1606. Chapel Hill, NC: UNC Press, 1985.

Smith, John. The General Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles with the Names of the Adventurers, Planters, and Governors from Their Beginning: 1584-1624. volumes 1-2. Bedford, MA: Applewood Books.

Stick, David. Roanoke Island: The Beginnings of English America. Chapel Hill, NC: UNC Press, 1983.

US History Timeline – This is a great chronological resource!

The First Colony Foundation

Fort Raleigh NPS

All photography used on this site is owned and copyrighted by the author unless otherwise noted.

The 1585 Roanoke Expedition

In this episode I try to recount the nearly year long, disastrous 1585 colonization attempt at Roanoke Island. Please, follow along, as Grenville’s fleet set sail in April, and Ralph Lane hitched a ride back to England with Francis Drake in June, 1586. Along the way, there will be encounters with the Spanish, explorations into the American mainland, and violence with the native Secotan tribe.

Notable Link:

For those interested in more of John White’s artwork, please, go here.

Links to the Podcast:

The 1585 Expedition on Libsyn

RSS Feed

VA History Podcast on iTunes

VA History Podcast on Stitcher

Like the Podcast on Facebook!

  • (Please allow some time for the newest podcasts to show up on your podcast player).

SOURCES:

Horn, James. A Kingdom Strange: The Brief and Tragic History of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. New York: Basic Books, 2010.

Houston, Lebame and Hird, Barbara. editors. Roanoke Revisited… The Story of the First English Settlements in the New World and the Fabled Lost Colony of Roanoke Island. Penny Books, 1997.

Hume, Ivor Noel. The Virginia Adventure: Roanoke to James Towne – An Archaeological and Historical Odyssey. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994.

Kuperman, Karen Ordahl. Roanoke: The Abandoned Colony. Plymouth,    UK: Rowan and Littlefield, 2007.

Miller, Lee. Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony. New York: Aarcade, 2001.

Mapp, Alfred J. Virginia Experiment: The Old Dominion’s Role in the Making of   America, 1607-1781. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, Inc, 2006.

Quinn, David Beers. Set Fair for Roanoke: Voyages and Colonies, 1584-1606. Chapel Hill, NC: UNC Press, 1985.

Smith, John. The General Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles with the Names of the Adventurers, Planters, and Governors from Their Beginning: 1584-1624. volumes 1-2. Bedford, MA: Applewood Books.

Stick, David. Roanoke Island: The Beginnings of English America. Chapel Hill, NC: UNC Press, 1983.

US History Timeline – This is a great chronological resource!

The First Colony Foundation

Fort Raleigh NPS

Image Credit:John White, Indian Village of Pomeiooc.

The English 1584 Virginia Scouting Mission

This episode recounts the 1584 scouting mission undertaken by Raleigh’s group of explorers/colonizers, and shows how that mission sparked further interest toward settling Virginia.

The 1584 Mission on Libsyn

RSS Feed

VA History Podcast on iTunes

VA History Podcast on Stitcher

Like the Podcast on Facebook!

SOURCES:

Horn, James. A Kingdom Strange: The Brief and Tragic History of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. New York: Basic Books, 2010.

Houston, Lebame and Hird, Barbara. editors. Roanoke Revisited… The Story of the First English Settlements in the New World and the Fabled Lost Colony of Roanoke Island. Penny Books, 1997.

Hume, Ivor Noel. The Virginia Adventure: Roanoke to James Towne – An Archaeological and Historical Odyssey. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994.

Kuperman, Karen Ordahl. Roanoke: The Abandoned Colony. Plymouth,    UK: Rowan and Littlefield, 2007.

Miller, Lee. Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony. New York: Aarcade, 2001.

Mapp, Alfred J. Virginia Experiment: The Old Dominion’s Role in the Making of   America, 1607-1781. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, Inc, 2006.

US History Timeline – This is a great chronological resource!

The First Colony Foundation

Fort Raleigh NPS

Picture Credit: John White’s 1585 Map

 

Sir Walter Raleigh

In this episode, I briefly illustrate some of who Virginia’s founder was, and the events that led to Raleigh’s colonization attempts.

If you like what you’re hearing, please, subscribe! Thanks for listening.

Sir Walter Raleigh on Libsyn

RSS Feed

VA History Podcast on iTunes

VA History Podcast on Stitcher

Like the Podcast on Facebook!

SOURCES:

Horn, James. A Kingdom Strange: The Brief and Tragic History of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. New York: Basic Books, 2010.

Hume, Ivor Noel. The Virginia Adventure: Roanoke to James Towne – An Archaeological and Historical Odyssey. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994.

Kuperman, Karen Ordahl. Roanoke: The Abandoned Colony. Plymouth,    UK: Rowan and Littlefield, 2007.

Mapp, Alfred J. Virginia Experiment: The Old Dominion’s Role in the Making of   America, 1607-1781. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, Inc, 2006.

The First Colony Foundation

Fort Raleigh NPS

Picture Credit – Sir Walter Raleigh

 

 

Early English New World Exploration

The English were latecomers in regard to New World Exploration, but once they appeared on the scene, the world would never be the same. It is these early, few, and tragic tales that are briefly recounted in Episode 2 of the podcast.

Early English New World Exploration on Libsyn

RSS Feed

VA History Podcast on iTunes

VA History Podcast on Stitcher

Like the podcast on Facebook!

SOURCES:

Horn, James. A Kingdom Strange: The Brief and Tragic History of the Lost  Colony of Roanoke. New York: Basic Books, 2010.

Hume, Ivor Noel. The Virginia Adventure: Roanoke to James Towne – An  Archaeological and Historical Odyssey. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994.

Kuperman, Karen Ordahl. Roanoke: The Abandoned Colony. Plymouth,    UK:  Rowan and Littlefield, 2007.

Mapp, Alfred J. Virginia Experiment: The Old Dominion’s Role in the Making of     America, 1607-1781. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, Inc, 2006.

Picture Credit – The Hondius Map Displaying Frobisher Strait.

The Mariner’s Museum

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(This is not a paid advertisement! This is simply an amazing deal to an incredibly fascinating museum, and it had to be shared.)

The Mariners’ Museum is offering  a special $5 admission available on Saturday 12/4. I cannot express in print or in spoken word how wonderful this museum is, so a few pictures from my recent visit with Brandon Huebner of the Maritime History Podcast will have to suffice.

I hope that my few pictures sufficiently enticed you, the reader, to visit this wonderful museum! There is so much more to see, such as the world’s largest figurehead collection, artifacts from the age of exploration, pieces from the Napoleonic era (including rigging from Nelson’s HMS Victory), and much more.

If you can make it out to the Newport News, VA museum, you will be very glad you did, as this attraction is worth well more than the special admission being offered.

 

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A huge attraction at the Mariners’ Museum is the USS Monitor Center, where the Museum is preserving artifacts from the Monitor‘s wreckage, such as the main gun turret.
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Brandon Huebner, of the Maritime History Podcast, enjoying the USS Monitor‘s remade captain’s quarters
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In addition to the fascinating exhibition dedicated to the USS Monitor, the Museum recreated a life-size model of the famous ironclad.
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Though there are many exciting artifacts and exhibits throughout the Museum, the most breathtaking, in my opinion was the Crabtree Gallery, which contains ship models, such as this longboat.

 

For more information, and even more of an overview, please check out the Mariners’ Museum website.

 

 

All pictures are copyrighted, Robert Van Ness 2015.

Don Luis and the Spanish Ajacan Mission

European Virginian History began with the swashbuckling story of Don Luis, Paquiquineo, who outwitted the Spanish both in the New World as well as the Old.

The scantily recorded history is recounted in this, first edition of the Virginia History Podcast.

Ajacan on Libsyn 

RSS Feed

VA History Podcast on iTunes (Please, subscribe!)

Virginia History Podcast’s Facebook Page (Please, like us!)

Sources:

Horn, James. A Land as God Made It: Jamestown and the Birth of America. New York, Basic Books. 2005.

Mapp, Alfred J. Virginia Experiment: The Old Dominion’s Role in the Making of America, 1607-1781. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, Inc. 2006.

Rountree, Helen C. Powhatan Foreign Relations: 1500-1722. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press. 1993.

The Mariner’s Museum. Colonial Period, Ajacan – The Spanish Jesuit Mission

Wikipedia – Ajacan

Wikipedia – Don Luis

Wolfe, Brendan. The Encyclopedia Virginia – Don Luis     Velasco/Paquiquineo

 

 

 

Photo Credit – Diego Gutierrez’ 1562 Map of Spanish North America.