Family of First Enslaved Africans in America Marks 400 Years-- Part 2

The men and women who came from what is now Angola in Africa arrived on two ships and were traded for food and supplies from the English colonists in Virginia.  The landing is considered a pivotal moment in American history, setting the stage for a system of race-based slavery that continues to haunt the nation.

Many of the first Africans in America are known only by their first names.  That included Anthony and Isabella, who became servants for a Captain William Tucker.

They had a son named William Tucker who many believe was the first documented African child born in English-occupied North America.

"We're still here," Wanda Tucker shouted in her family's shaded cemetery, which included many worn gravestones, as well as white crosses where ground penetrating radar had recently found unmarked graves.

The Africans were just 12 years after the founding of Jamestown, England's first permanent colony, and weeks after the first English-style legislature was convened there.

Five Things You May Not Know About the Pilgrims-- Part 2: Not Plymouth, England, Been There, Done That, and Tolerance

3.  THE PILGRIMS DIDN'T NAME THEIR COLONY AFTER PLYMOUTH, ENGLAND.

The site had actually been named that before the Pilgrims had arrived and had already been shown as such on maps (with some variations of spelling such as Plimoth).

It is sheer coincidence that the Pilgrims had originally sailed from Plymouth, England.

4.  SOME OF THE MAYFLOWER'S PASSENGERS HAD BEEN TO AMERICA BEFORE.

Several of the crew had already been there.  One man, Stephen Hopkins, had already tried to settle in the New World at Jamestown ten years earlier, but his ship wrecked off the coast of  Bermuda, stranding him before his eventual return to England.

William Shakespeare admitted that he had based his play "The Tempest" on this story and had even named one of its characters, Stephano, after Stephen Hopkins, who was once one of his neighbors as well.

5.  THE PILGRIMS WERE RELATIVELY TOLERANT OF OTHER RELIGIONS.

They were strict on their interpretation of religion but did not attempt to convert others.  They did not observe Christmas, but allowed others to take the day off.  They allowed men who were not of their faith to hold public office.

Gosh, I Didn't Know Some of This Stuff.  --Cooter

Virginia Commemorating 400th Anniversary of Arrival of African Slaves-- Part 3

Though little noted at the time, the arrival of the enslaved Africans in England's first successful colony in the New World is now considered a pivotal moment in American history.

Englishman John Rolfe documented the landing of the first slave ship, the White Lion, at what was then called Point Comfort (where Fortress Monroe is located).  He wrote that the colonists traded supplies and provisions for the slaves.

From the White Lion, and a second ship, the English colonists took more than 30 Africans to properties along the James River, including Jamestown.

By that time, more than 500,000 enslaved Africans had already crossed the Atlantic to European colonies, but the Africans in Virginia are widely considered the first in English-controlled North America.

They came 12 years after the founding of Jamestown, England's first permanent colony, and weeks after the first English-style legislature was (the House of Burgesses) was convened there.

Virginia Commemorating 400th Anniversary of Arrival of African Slaves-- Part 1

From the August 23, 2019, Dubuque (Iowa) Telegraph Herald by Bill Finley A.P.

Officials will mark the pivotal moment in American history when enslaved Africans arrived by holding a 'Healing Day.'

Norfolk, Va.  --  Four hundred years after American slavery and democratic self-rule came to what became the state of Virginia, ceremonies will mark the arrival of enslaved Africans and seek healing from the legacy of bondage that still haunts the nation.

Yet, the weekend ceremonies will take place against the backdrop of white supremacism across the country, racist tweets by President Trump and a lingering scandal surrounding Virginia;s governor and a blackface photo.

The commemoration will include Sunday's "Healing Day" on the Chesapeake Bay where two ships traded men and women from what is today Angola for food and supplies from English colonists in August 1619.

A bell will ring for four minutes, while churches across the country are expected to join in.

A Very Unfortunate Event in History.

May 24-- Part 1: "What Hath God Wrought!" in 1844

Kind of a special date to me  as I was born this day in 1951.

From the May 24, 2018, Chicago Tribune "On May 24..."

1607--  100 English settlers landed at Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in what was to become the United States.

1686--  Physicist Daniel Fahrenheit, who developed the temperature scale that bears his name (and we use here in the U.S.) was born in modern-day Gdansk, Poland.

1819--  Queen Victoria was born in London.

1830--  "Mary Had a Little :Lamb" by Sarah Joseph Hale published.

1844--  Samuel F.B. Morse transmitted the message, "What hath God wrought!" from Washington to Baltimore as he opened America's first telegraph line.

More.  --Cooter24

Prohibition Comes Early to Virginia (1916)

From the October 3, 2016 Roanoke (Va.) Times)  "Looking Back."

1916, 100 Years Ago.

"At the stroke of midnight tonight, Old John Barleycorn will be banished from Roanoke and Virginia for the first time since Captain John Smith landed at Jamestown."

What Would the Baldwin Sisters and Their Father's "Recipe" Do?  (If You Watched the "Walton's.)  --CootDry

Jamestown Church Where Pocahontas Married Is Found

From the Oct. 23, 2011, Daily Press (Va) "Jamestown dig reveals footprint of 1608 church" by Mark St. John Erickson.

Student archaeologists in the summer of 2010 first discovered a site that had been scoured by slaves for a Confederate earthwork near the 20th century statue of Captain John Smith.

They found large post holes at the site of a 1608 church where Pocahontas and John Rolfe were married.  Further digging in 2011 revealed the entire footprint of an enormous building by early Jamestown standards, the 24 by 64 foot church.

Finding the Old Stuff.  --Cooter