2020 marks the 450th anniversary of the ill-fated Spanish Jesuit Ajacan Mission. Discussing this topic and a key ingredient to Ajacan’s downfall is Dr. Seth Mallios, who wrote The Deadly Politics of Giving: Exchange and Violence at Ajacan, Roanoke, and Jamestown in 2006. The key ingredient leading to Ajacan’s fate, Mallios argues, is gift giving, or better stated, how the Spanish did not understand how gift giving was properly used in indigenous society. Because of this lack of understanding, when the Spanish returned to establish Ajacan in 1570 the mission quickly and violently ended.
Dr. Mallios then ventures into Roanoke and Jamestown with the same focus, how did gift giving affect those colonies? Tune in to this episode to find out the answer to this and other questions that Seth and I discuss, such as whether or not the Ajacan Jesuit missionaries were martyrs and differences between how European and Indigenous societies viewed transactions.
Don Luis decapitating the Jesuit Missionaries at Ajacan
All photography on this website is owned and copyrighted by the author unless otherwise noted. The featured image is of Dr. Seth Mallios from the dailyaztec.com. The image of Don Luis decapitating the Ajacan Jesuits can be found at virginiaplaces.org.
Music used for this episode – Louis Armstrong and the Mills Brothers,”Carry Me Back to Old Virginia” available on Apple Music, and “”Simple Gifts” performed by the New York Philharmonic, also available on Apple Music.
(L-R) Thomas Mathews, portrayed by Willie Balderson and his bodyguard
Nathaniel Bacon’s 1676 burning of Jamestown was a watershed moment. It symbolized the end of an era, or better stated, the end of eras. The era of Jamestown’s position as colonial capitol, Berkeley’s governorship, Indian peace, and free blacks ended.
The conflict began when Robert Hen, Thomas Mathews’ overseer, was murdered by the Doeg Indians. Matthews, a Northern Neck merchant, witnessed much of the conflagration from start to finish, and penned an account years after the chief players had passed. His account is one of the major primary sources that shed light on this turbulent period.
Each year, on or as close to September 19th as possible, Historic Jamestown reenacts Mathews’ account. Willie Balderson, a spectacular actor with a wide repertoire spanning more than three centuries, transforms into Thomas Matthews, and with the aid of others walks his listeners through a cresset lined path.
Along the path the audience hears from a feisty New Town resident, a runaway slave, and heartbroken Mrs. Drummond as well as musket reports from the battle for Jamestown. It is a captivating performance that brings Bacon’s Rebellion to life before one’s eyes and leaves a deep impression not to be forgotten.
Mr. Mathews was so kind as to sit down and tell me what he had witnessed in this special interview. I trust you’ll be as impressed as I was.
Thomas Mathews discusses 1675’s “Three Ominous Presages”
Sunset on Jamestown Island
New Town resident and chicken recount their experience.
Runaway Swann’s Plantation slave recounts promises and circumstances affecting Virginia’s late 17th Century African population.
Cressets
Thomas Mathews telling of Governor Berkeley’s standoff with Nathaniel Bacon in front of the Statehouse
The Burning of Jamestown reenactors lining the road near the statehouse
Mrs. Drummond poingantly tells the crowd about her husband’s hanging.
All photography used on this site is owned and copyrighted by the author unless otherwise noted. The featured image is of reenactors staging the Burning of Jamestown.
Music used for this episode – Louis Armstrong and the Mills Brothers,”Carry Me Back to Old Virginia” available on iTunes, and “Summer” selections from Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, RV 315 movements I – Allegro non molto and III – Presto performed by Sarah Chang and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra also available on iTunes.
In 1652 it seemed like the Royalist cause was lost. Cromwell had firmly established the Protectorate, and the Stuarts just couldn’t organize a serious threat to Cromwell’s authority.
Berkeley and others like him hoped for Charles Stuart’s return, but news was slow, and generally contained awful stories. Other than a potential conspiracy in which funds were to be funneled to the royalist cause abroad, Virginians seemed to move on in their own independent way.
Then 1659-1660 brought conflicting news reports. Richard Cromwell succeeded his father and then resigned not too long thereafter. Samuel Matthews Jr. died. Who was in charge in Virginia, let alone England?
Two restorations brought familiar faces back onto the scene – William Berkeley and then Charles Stuart, who became King Charles II. Their restorations didn’t return both lands back to a status quo antebellum, for that matter, no one knew what their returns meant. When Berkeley came back to power, he wasn’t even sure if he could or should rule. But upon Charles’ restoration that question answered itself. Berkeley was Charles’ man.
Still, the situation was fraught with concern. Berkeley had ideas that he had already put into motion before Charles’ restoration occurred. After the king reclaimed his throne, he began governing the Old Dominion in a manner that threatened all Berkeley and his government’s plans.
What else was Berkeley to do? He chose to go back to England.
Music used for this episode – Louis Armstrong and the Mills Brothers,”Carry Me Back to Old Virginia” available on iTunes, and “Wintergreen ” by The East Pointers, also available on iTunes.
Virginia history is filled with many important names, dates, and events. One of those great names who influenced much of 17th Century Virginia is Sir William Berkeley. John Smith is more famous and certainly influenced Jamestown’s early survival, but Berkeley took the struggling colony and moved it into a position that the later First Families of Virginia inherited and made into a powerhouse.
Berkeley is a bridge. But he’s no ordinary bridge. For the time in question, he was an ornate spectacle that shined in a bleak world. His work ensured that the rule of law would expand and remain. He instigated building, better crops, better production, and expanded liberty through local courts and free trade. His work attracted a higher class that might otherwise have never come to the colony, but that class soon plagued him. They ultimately brought him down in the end.
Berkeley’s life spans many worlds, pre-Commonwealth England, the English Civil War, The Interregnum, the Restoration, the Powhatan Wars, Matthews-Claiborne Virginia, Dutch Wars, and Bacon’s Rebellion. He played a part in it all, and above all else, he left his mark on Virginia’s landscape.
No one speaks of this pivotal figure more completely than Dr. Warren Billings, my guest for this episode. Tune in and learn more about this amazing 17th Century figure’s influence on Virginia’s History.
Editor, Robert Joseph Pothier, A Treatise on Obligations Considered from a Moral and Legal View. Union, N.J, 1999. (Facsimile reprint of a classic early American legal work, for which Dr. Billings wrote an introductory essay and furnished the source text.)
All photography used on this site is owned and copyrighted by the author unless otherwise noted. The featured image is of Dr. Warren Billings.
Music used for this episode – Louis Armstrong and the Mills Brothers,”Carry Me Back to Old Virginia” available on iTunes, and “La Rejoussiance” from George Frideric Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks HWV 351 performed by Sir Charles Mackerras and the London Symphony Orchestra, also available on iTunes.
It was my great pleasure to be invited to the Virginia General Assembly’s 400th Commemorative Session.
The Assembly is the Western Hemisphere’s first and oldest representative government. The impact that that first meeting had on Virginia, America, and the rest of the world is immense. To mark the occasion 2019 Commemoration, American Evolution put together a week long program in which Historic Jamestown, Jamestown Settlement, and the College of William and Mary took part.
Historians, businessmen, and world-leaders were invited to participate in the American Evolution Forum on the Future of Representative Democracy, which has produced fascinating discussions covering the wide variety of issues that have affected and still affect representative government today.
Some of the key speakers featured in the Forum were –
Kathy Spangler, Executive Director, 2019 Commemoration, American Evolution
Virginia Representative Kirk Cox, Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates
Virginia State Senator Tommy Norment
U.S. Senator Mark Warner
U.S. Senator Tim Kaine
U.S. Representative Elaine Goodman Luria (VA-2), U.S. Navy veteran
U.S. Representative Bobby Scott (VA-3)
U.S. Representative Rob Wittman (VA-1)
Katherine Anandi Rowe, President, William & Mary (first female president)
Carly Fiorina, American businesswoman and political figure
Robert Gates, former U.S. Secretary of Defense from 2006-2001, scholar, and intelligence analyst
David Rubenstein, Financier and philanthropist, co-founder of The Carlyle Group
Annette Gordon-Reed, American historian and law professor
Eric Cantor, Politician, lawyer, banker
Jeffrey Rosen, American academic and commentator on legal affairs
Andrea Mitchell, television journalist and commentator
Andrew Card Jr., former White House Chief of Staff from 2001-2006
Karl Rove, Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff during the George W. Bush administration
Melody Barnes, lawyer and political advisor; former chief counsel to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and of Center for American Progress
Robin Christian Howard Niblett CMG, British specialist in international relations
Larry Joseph Sabato is an American political scientist and political analyst, and Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia
Marc Short, Chief of Staff to Vice President Mike Pence
Sir David Natzler KCB, former Clerk of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
I attended only the 400th Commemorative Assembly activities, which held 3 sessions.
The First Meeting took place at Historic Jamestown’s Memorial Church
Elizabeth Kostelny, CEO of Preservation Virginia, welcomed those attending the historic meeting and was followed by Virginia Senate Majority Leader Thomas Norment.
The highlight from this meeting has to have been remarks delivered by Sir David Natzler KCB, retiring Clerk of the British House of Commons of the United Kingdom. His words linked Virginia’s representative government to other historical assemblies as far back as Athens as well as his native United Kingdom.
“These events were important not only in Virginia, not only in America, but throughout the world. The idea took root that people wanted to be governed by laws of their own making.”
Sir Natzler concluded by congratulating British Parliament’s oldest child, the Virginia General Assembly on her 400th Anniversary.
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam followed Sir Natzler’s comments and spoke of the historic context and importance of Virginia’s General Assembly. He also mentioned who was not part of that First Assembly, women and newly arriving Africans. (The Jamestown Brides did not arrive until later 1620-1621 and the “20 and Odd” did not arrive until August, 1619. But followers of this podcast understand that there were a few women and Africans in Virginia pre-1619).
Following Governor Northam’s comments the first meeting adjourned. Lineage societies then placed wreaths outside of the Memorial Church’s tower before those on the Island moved to Jamestown Settlement.
Reconstructed wooden frame inside the Jamestown Memorial Church
Representative government was born near this spot in July 1619
The Jamestown Memorial Church
Historic Jamestown is an active archaeological site. Evidence can be seen of that fact all over the island, such as this exposed brick at the Memorial Church
Jamestown was the first permanent English settlment in North America.
The Memorial Church on Jamestown Island
Entrance to Historic Jamestown that take visitors over the Pitch and Tar Swamp
The many wreaths laid by lineage societies
The famous Pocahontas statue at Jamestown Island with a wreath placed by the Jamestown Society
The Second Meeting took place at Jamestown Settlement’s re-created church
A processional led the Assembly into Jamestown Settlement’s church located within the re-created James Fort.
Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, Kirkland Cox welcomed guests, and was followed by Assistant Fort Supervisor of the Jamestown Settlement Brian Beckley, who played Governor George Yeardley, the man who opened that fateful Assembly 400 years ago.
Mark Greenough, Tour Guide Supervisor and Historian at the Virginia State Capitol, succeeded Mr. Beckley by delivering an interpretation while dressed to play Speaker John Pory.
Speaker Cox followed Mr. Greenough’s period interpretation before introducing the esteemed Presidential Historian Jon Meacham. Mr. Meacham’s speech highlighted some of Virginia’s historic contributions. One such highlight, the First Thanksgiving, brought loud applause. (In fact, Graham Woodlief sat in the row just ahead of me. He was gratified by the attention, as he mentioned to me afterward).
Meacham’s sentiments included memorable statements such as, “Jamestown is a mirror of who we were and who we are.”
Further, “Dreamers and doers came here and they built, and we stand in the light of their achievement.”
Finally, “In our finest hours, America has been about life, it’s been about liberty, it’s been about the pursuit of happiness not just for some, but for all. And in that history, history rooted here in this place, lies our hope.”
Mr. Meacham said many other things that delved into today’s current political landscape, but in my personal estimation, July 30, 2019 was about the beginning of a momentous, history changing event that though perhaps did not include everyone, would build upon this original foundation to include everyone. That being the case, I purposely chose what I deemed the most important and pertinent remarks from what was a well-crafted and articulate speech.
If one would like to find Mr. Meacham’s full remarks, please visit this article by The Hill’s Judy Kutz, which also highlights some of the same comments already mentioned.
Speaker Cox brought the Assembly back to order, presided over the Mace’s presentation, conducted a roll call, and then called for a recess as the Assembly proceeded to the next venue,a tent set up for the day’s main Assembly meeting.
The recreated Church inside James Fort at the Jamestown Settlement
Inside James Fort at Jamestown Settlement
Jamestown Settlement’s famous 1607 replica fleet
Recreated indian village at Jamestown Settlement
Brian Beckley as Sir George Yeardley
Mark Greenough as Speaker John Pory
Historian Jon Meacham
The Mace
Reenactors at Jamestown Settlement’s Church
The tent audience watches proceedings
The Final Meeting took place at Jamestown Settlement’s Mall Area
The Assembly processional marched from the re-created church to the Settlement’s Mall Area, where organizers erected a tent for the day’s final meeting.
Speaker Cox brought the Assembly back to order before offering his own remarks and welcoming distinguished guests.
Illinois State Senator and President of the National Conference of State Legislatures, Toi Hutchinson followed Speaker Cox. Senator Hutchinson reflected on overcome challenges; challenges that could derail representative government if Americans are not on guard –
“I’m proud because despite the many challenges and setbacks this country has faced, America is still a place where our right to self-governance is not taken for granted, where we can challenge our government and debate our principles, and the institutions which provide for that right are held dear.”
“The institution of the legislature needs to be protected. For it is as strong and as fragile as democracy itself.” Said Senator Hutchinson before a crowd that stood in praise.
President Trump then arrived to deliver the keynote address.
Media doing their work
American Evolution and the Media await the Processional
The Processional from the Jamestown Settlement Church into the Tent
The Tent crowd awaits the day’s final session
Programs line the chairs
Illinois State Senator Toi Hutchinson addresses the Assembly
Speaker Kirkland Cox addresses the Assembly
President Trump Addresses Virginia’s General Assembly
In a historic twist on an already historic day, President Trump addressed the General Assembly. The President’s speech marked the first time that a sitting President of the United States addressed the Virginia General Assembly.
President Trump greeted those in attendance before highlighting Jamestown’s pre-1619 history. I’ll offer just a few remarks here, but if you want to see or read the entire keynote address, please, go here. Otherwise, here are a few key statements from the President’s speech.
Regarding Jamestown’s Early Years
“As we can see today on this great anniversary, it would not be the last time that God looked out for Virginia. Together, the settlers forged what would become the timeless traits of the American character. They worked hard, they had courage and abundance, and a wealth of self-reliance. They strived mightily to turn a profit, they experimented with producing silk, corn, tobacco, and the very first Virginia wines. At a prior settlement at Roanoke, there had been no survivors, none at all. But where others had typically perished, the Virginians were determined to succeed. They endured by the sweat of their labor, the aid of the Powhatan Indians, and the leadership of Captain John Smith.”
“As the years passed, ships bearing supplies and settlers from England also brought a culture and a way of life that would define the New World. It all began here. In time, dozens of brave strong women made the journey and join the colony and, in 1618, the Great Charter and other reforms established a system based on English common law. For the first time, Virginia allowed private land ownership. It created a basic judicial system. Finally, it gave the colonists essay in their own future, the right to elect representatives by popular vote.”
Regarding the Arrival of the First Africans
“As we mark the first representative legislature at Jamestown, our nation also reflects upon an anniversary from that same summer four centuries ago. In August 1619, the first enslaved Africans in the English colonies arrived in Virginia. It was the beginning of a barbaric trade in human lives. Today, and honor, we remember every sacred soul who suffered the horrors of slavery and the anguish of bondage. More than 150 years later, at America’s founding, our Declaration of Independence recognized the immortal truth that all men are created equal.”
“In the face of grave oppression and grave injustice, African-Americans have built, strengthened, inspired, uplifted, protected, defended, and sustained our nation from its very earliest days.”
Regarding the First Assembly’s Impact
“In the decades that followed that first legislative assembly, the Democratic tradition established here late deep roots all across Virginia. It spread up and down the Atlantic coast. One fact was quickly established for all time, in America, we are not ruled from afar, Americans govern ourselves. And so help us, God, we always will.”
“Self-government in Virginia did not just give us estate we love, in a very true sense, it gave us the country we love, the United States of America.”
“From the first legislative assembly down to today America has been the story of citizens who take ownership of their future and their control of their destiny. That is what self-rule is all about. Every day Americans coming together to take action, to build, to create, to seize opportunities. To pursue the common good and to never stop striving for greatness.”
“But among all of our America’s towering achievements none exceeds the triumph that we are here to celebrate today. Our nation’s priceless culture of freedom, independence, equality, justice and self-determination under God.”
“That culture is the source of who we are it is our prized inheritance it is our proudest legacy. It is among the greatest human accomplishments in the history of the world what you have done is the greatest accomplishment in the history of the world. And I congratulate you. It started right here.”
President Trump delivers keynote Address to the Virginia Assembly
President Trump delivers keynote Address to the Virginia Assembly
Delegate Ibrahim Sami
President Trump delivers keynote Address to the Virginia Assembly
Fixing the Presidential Seal in preparation of President Trump’s arrival
President Trump delivers keynote Address to the Virginia Assembly
President Trump delivers keynote Address to the Virginia Assembly
President Trump delivers keynote Address to the Virginia Assembly
Concluding Remarks
President Trump’s arrival sparked a little controversy. There were those who did not welcome his attendance, and they expressed as much.
The great thing, as part of Virginia’s 1619 foundational legacy, is that such opposition is tolerated. Before that time, even in Virginia, such opposition would at least earn prison, torture, and usually death. 1619’s Assembly laid the framework from which liberty has evolved. Perhaps the demonstration was misplaced during such a historic occasion, but that still does not take away from the fact that one has the freedom to conscientiously object.
Individual liberty continues to grow today as it faces new challenges. The inheritors of such a legacy must continue to champion that individual liberty on a local, personal level. That is the sentiment upon which Virginia and later the United States was built. That sentiment began 400 years ago on a hot, often disease plagued island, and we still celebrate that event today.
The 400th Commemorative Session Virginia General Assembly Seal
All photography used on this site is owned and copyrighted by the author unless otherwise noted. The Featured Image is of the Virginia House of Delegates Sergent at Arms John L. Pearson, Jr. carrying the Mace into the Tent.
The English Civil war claimed victims in Virginia, and the most prominent casualty was William Berkeley.
Berkeley’s first administration has been painted as rather successful, and for good reason. He had made peace with the Powhatan Confederation, increased trade with other colonies, as well as other countries, such as the Dutch, and he greatly aided in solidifying Virginia’s colonial government. For at least these major reasons Berkeley earned high praise from his Virginian constituents. But though high praise often followed Berkeley, there were still those who fell afoul of the Governor.
Much opposition accounts also had what seemed to be valid issues. The most prominent of those issues centered around religious freedom. Berkeley was a staunch Royalist, who supported the Anglican Church, but his increasingly powerful opponents were Puritans that sided with the Parliamentarian cause. That being the case, when King Charles I lost his head in 1649 the English government had to address their Royalist supporting Virginia governor.
The Mathews-Claiborne faction moved to spearhead Parliament’s response. Religious freedom certainly influenced their cause, but Berkeley’s decision to spurn the Navigation Acts which forbade Virginia to trade with anyone other than the English fueled the faction’s fire. In the end, Berkeley could not withstand his enemies combined weight, nor would Berkeley lead the colony into a bloody war. He submitted, to a point, and retired to his Green Spring Plantation, a subject of Cromwell’s England with powerful Royalist connections.
All photography used on this site is owned and copyrighted by the author unless otherwise noted. The featured image is Governor Berkeley’s addressing the Virginia Assembly regarding the new Parliamentary government following the English Civil War.
Music used for this episode – Louis Armstrong and the Mills Brothers,”Carry Me Back to Old Virginia” available on iTunes, and “Facade” by Sons of the East, also available on iTunes.
Tenacious is an interesting adjective. Part of its meaning can be defined as persistent, not easy to get rid of, or enduring. All of these words describe the historic women who make up Jamestown Settlement’s Tenacity, a special exhibit that runs through January 5, 2020.
The exhibit is remarkable in that it includes documents such as the 1621 Ferrar Papers and the 1625 Colony Muster, both on loan from the Master and Fellows of Magdalene College, Cambridge and the National Archives of the UK respectively. Other notable pieces include items such as a period clothing and furniture.
Joining me in this episode to discuss Tenacity is Nancy Egloff, a returning guest, who was very instrumental in Tenacity’s creation.
All photography used on this site is owned and copyrighted by the author unless otherwise noted. The Featured Image is the Tenacity exhibition logo, copyright Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation.
Music used for this episode – Louis Armstrong and the Mills Brothers,”Carry Me Back to Old Virginia” available on iTunes, and “The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba” from Solomon by George Frideric Handel played by New York Virtuosi.
Economics is at the heart of why Virginia existed. Colony founders wanted to become wealthy, the Crown saw it’s own mercantilistic opportunity, and settlers risked their lives in order to find a better station in life.
How did Virginia’s key players accomplish their goals? Were their policies sound? If not, what impact did they have on the colony? My guest, Tony Williams answered those questions and more in his book The Jamestown Experiment.
Tony argues that in a changing world the Virginia settlers figured out that the key to economic growth hinged upon private property. Once the Virginia Company extended private land ownership to the colonists the Colony began to emerge from her macabre past. The emergence wasn’t perfect, but it was the beginning of a profound economic explosion that made Virginia wealthy.
The lessons learned in 17th Century Virginia influenced later generations and laid the foundation from which the United States built itself into the wealthiest country in the world. As such, it is still wise to take a look back into Jamestown’s experiment today.
All photography used on this site is owned and copyrighted by the author. The Featured Image is of author Tony Williams in his magisterial library.
Music used for this episode – Louis Armstrong and the Mills Brothers,”Carry Me Back to Old Virginia” available on iTunes, and La Danse Macabre Op. 40 by Camille Saint-Saens performed by l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France also available on iTunes.
For decades prevailing thought said that 17th Century Virginia was chaotic, had little to build upon, and therefore left a scanty legacy. Historians such as Bernard Bailyn prominently argued that 17th Century Virginia was untamed and chaotic, but in 1985 Jon Kukla challenged that opinion.
While working at what is today the Library of Virginia, Dr. Kukla was asked to undertake a project concerning the General Assembly which led to his thesis challenging research. His work was packaged in the brilliant “Order and Chaos in Early America: Political and Social Stability in Pre-Restoration Virginia” which was featured as the lead article in the April 1985 American Historical Review.
Dr. Kukla argued that Pre-Restoration 17th Century Virginia was anything but chaotic and did indeed have order. That order may not be what we think of today, yet the foundations that Virginia settlers laid down in the 17th Century allowed for subsequent generations to build a strong colony. That colony would then go on to profoundly influence America’s founding generation, which in turn built what was then a radically different governmental/political entity that the world had never seen.
All photography used on this site is owned and copyrighted by the author. The Featured Image is of Dr. Jon Kukla from our interview at the Library of Virginia.
Music used for this episode – Louis Armstrong and the Mills Brothers,”Carry Me Back to Old Virginia” available on iTunes, and Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis by Ralph Vaughan-Williams performed by the Sir Andrew Davis and the BBC Symphony Orchestra also available on iTunes.
The English Civil War undoubtedly colored Sir William Berkeley’s first administration. Berkeley’s first Assembly answered the issue concerning a revived Virginia Company, but once King Charles sent his reply across the Atlantic war had already broken out in England.
Berkeley was a staunch Royalist, but Virginia had many ties to those in Parliament. Some of those ties were economic, and many were religious. Therefore, Berkeley had to deftly navigate tricky waters in such a way that allowed him to proclaim his allegiance, while also appeasing opposition, and opposition that included the powerful William Claiborne.
Though Berkeley had many years in Virginia to look forward to, the seeds for trouble were being sown as soon as that first Assembly meeting. But seeds for a strong Royalist enclave were also being planted deep into Virginia’s heart, and Berkeley was the main planter.
All photography used on this site is owned and copyrighted by the author unless otherwise noted. The featured image is Charles Landseer’s depiction “The Eve of the Battle of Edgehill, 1642” found at Wikipedia.
Music used for this episode – Louis Armstrong and the Mills Brothers,”Carry Me Back to Old Virginia” available on iTunes, and “Company Man” by Jamestown Revival, also available on iTunes.
Virginia History Podcast 
