Baltimore Sun photo
We just returned from a trip to Colonial Williamsburg. It was only happenstance that put us there just after the 4th of July, but the timing seemed to make the colonists’ cries for freedom from British oppression just that much more poignant.
I wasn’t aware that at the time of the American Revolution in 1776 that Williamsburg was the capital of Virginia. It was also the Virginia home of Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson.
The reason I mention Henry and Jefferson is because each in their own different way was very instrumental in persuading the rest of the colonies to separate themselves from the British Empire.
Seeing the re-enactments of the events leading up to the thirteen colonies’ becoming the United States and seeing the hardship and peril that each man put himself and his families in seemed to make this 4th of July more real and palpable than any I have experienced to date.
The buildings are either original or faithfully restored. The costumes are all from that period.
We watched blacksmiths, jewelry makers, cloth makers, basket weavers, printers and other tradesmen and women doing things exactly as they were done in the 18th century.
Every day of the week there is a different enactment of historically important events. The day we were there we were able to watch a portrayal of the events that led up to the collapse of the Royal Government from 1774 to 1776.
We were there when Lord Dunmore dissolved the local government because it was not totally loyal to the crown.
We then watched the events leading up to the betrothal of a young Militia officer and their immediate separation by the war.
We were there to see the reaction of the slaves when the British Governor offered freedom only to the slaves who belonged to disloyal colonists, if they would take up arms against their masters.
We were there when a local tavern owner was to be tarred and feathered because he spoke out about the futility of the undertaking, considering the lack of training and the ineptness of the Continental Army when compared to the task of overcoming the then most powerful war machine in history.
We were there when the Declaration of Independence was rolled out to the people and preparations were put in place to establish and defend a new government over the 13 colonies.
Now having been there and seen it, I can hardly wait to tell my friends about the things I saw and tell them how much more connected I now feel with our founding fathers.
In this time of political and financial upheaval in the United States it would be a good time to go to Colonial Williamsburg or someplace like it, so that you can be reconnected with the spirit of honor and sacrifice that were required for us to become a great nation – hopefully, never to become a once-great nation such as Greece, Babylon (Iraq) or Persia (Iran).
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