Inspiration for the Modern Revolutionary
It’s Friday and that means another blog post to show you how to master the grill for your Fourth of July cookouts! Okay. How many of you love a good pulled pork BBQ sandwich? (You can’t see me, but I’m totally raising my hand). As a southern girl, I’ve tried just about every variation of barbecue out there and let me tell you, this one rises to the top of the list. It isn’t just because of the sauce (which is Carolina-style); it’s also about the flavor of the meat!
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In honor of Father’s Day, we put together a short list of questions ranging from your favorite food to how you’d most like to be remembered. Answer all seven to see which founding father (or two) you have the most in common with. The answer may surprise you!
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By Karen Gonzalez
Peter Pelham’s musical influence found a way into the life of a Founding Father, according to new research.
A manuscript – or copybook – of music bearing the handwriting of Thomas Jefferson’s wife, Martha Wayles Jefferson, and Pelham, the 18th-century Bruton Parish Church organist and music teacher, offers a glimpse into the relationship between music student and teacher.
The Pelham/Jefferson music manuscript dates from 1760 into the 1770s, showing a two-decade relationship between the Pelham and Jefferson families, according to Dr. Nikos Pappas, an assistant professor of musicology, who found the volume in the Jefferson Library. Although Martha’s name is not in the copybook, her handwriting is unmistakable.
“The interesting part about the Jefferson/Pelham copy book is that the earliest part of it is in Pelham’s hand, and she starts to copy her own music in it. About two-thirds of it is in her own handwriting and one third is in Pelham’s,” said Pappas, who is currently taking part at a Colonial Williamsburg fellowship program through the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library.
Martha Wayles - The early years
Martha was born into the prosperous Wayles family in 1748. Her father, a planter, slave trader, attorney and business agent, provided nicely for his family. As was common in that time, wealthy families educated their daughters in the social skills of the day, including keyboard skills, dancing and needlework. Her music teacher was Peter Pelham of Williamsburg.
Martha Wayles proved to be quite talented on the spinet and played at a high level of proficiency.
Her musical gifts extended beyond the keyboard. She also composed musical preludes to some of the longer compositions in the manuscript. More than elementary children’s pieces, these preludes demonstrate her mastery of music theory and prowess as a performer, but more important her creativity as an artist. She not only performed, but also personally shaped the pieces in her repertory.
The recently discovered manuscript includes this piece, written in Martha Jefferson’s hand. It is performed here by Dr. Nikos Pappas.
Played by Dr. Nikos Papas on Spinet by Edward Wright, 2015, Colonial Williamsburg, Va., after Cawton Aston, 1726, in the Colonial Williamsburg collections.
Martha’s life was not always uncomplicated and easy. Her mother died from complications giving birth to her, and Martha was widowed at age 19 when her husband Bathurst Skelton died. She was by then the mother of an infant son named John, who also died before the age of 4.
Jefferson Courtship
After her first husband’s death, Martha returned to her childhood home in Charles City, County, Va. She met Thomas Jefferson around 1768 and married him in 1772. A renowned violinist himself, Thomas and Martha Jefferson reportedly spent many evenings playing music together as was the custom of the day.
“Martha Jefferson is a very mysterious figure in a way. When she passed, Thomas Jefferson destroyed everything of hers. All we have is a letter, an account book and this music book. He just couldn’t stand to have anything around that reminded him of her. To add to the loss is the fact that his library burned down in 1783. We are lucky to have anything of hers just because of the circumstances of what happened to her and the natural disasters,” Pappas said.
The new manuscript
Pappas noted that a music master of the time would often provide a book with music staff lines, which would contain the musical symbols and notes appropriate to the piece.
“The teacher would probably copy in a number of pieces if the student did not purchase sheet music,” Pappas explained.
Michael Monaco, who interprets Peter Pelham for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, said the musical relationship left an impression on Martha Jefferson.
“She was definitely a product of Pelham’s influence,” said Monaco, who is also a harpsichordist/keyboardist at the Foundation.
“Student and mentor – we believe that Pelham probably viewed Martha as a daughter-type figure and would have had that kind of paternal affection for her,” he continued. “It’s music that connects them, not politics, but music. The importance of the daily events of music, even when things are at their darkest and the most difficult times. That’s the unifying force.”
What better place to celebrate the anniversary of our nation’s birth than right here in the Revolutionary City? If you’re planning to spend July 4 with Colonial Williamsburg, you’ll want to check out this Insiders’ Guide which includes everything from a breakdown of the day’s events to the best places to park—even how you can take home a unique piece of history!
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It’s been a busy few months for Colonial Williamsburg as we start to roll out our summer programs. Last week, we kicked off our archaeological dig for kids. And yesterday, we began setting up our outdoor animal exhibit behind Market Square. But that’s just the beginning! We have several brand new and returning activities for kids of all ages.
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By Mac McKerral
Grantham, England — Americans might not appreciate this week’s anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta, but here in the United Kingdom, it’s a right proper big deal.
Attending one of the innumerable commemorative events, I found myself drawing connections between Magna Carta and the primary documents that helped shape the United States.
One of four known surviving copies of Magna Carta from 1215.
Dr. Alexander Lock, an expert on the post-medieval history of Magna Carta based at the British Library, placed the “Great Charter” more in the shadows than in the bright lights of human rights.
Lock came with strong credentials and a fascinating story to tell, and the British Library plays a significant role in the anniversary events — an anniversary that as Lock stated celebrates a document that Pope Innocent III declared null and void just 12 weeks after its signing by King John.
None of Magna Carta’s feudal law remains on the books today, Lock said. The document in essence was a peace treaty agreed upon grudgingly by King John and 25 barons out to oust him if he refused.
The vast majority of its 3,500 words (give or take) focuses on gripes those barons launched at the king for what they perceived as a series of missteps (failed wars against France) and injustices (taxes to pay for the wars, and to pay for royal marriages and other excesses of the king).
But stuffed unceremoniously in the middle of the charter, which King John signed under duress lest he face a civil war, came two clauses (of 63 total) with some legs — numbers 39 and 40 — that dealt with due process, habeas corpus and trial by jury: “To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.”
Of this we should take note, Lock said.
So why the big fuss over Magna Carta?
Lock landed on the age-old axiom: Perception sometimes outweighs reality.
Indeed, it took some 300 years before Magna Carta began to somewhat influence British law, more than 400 years before it served as a cornerstone for the British Bill of Rights in 1689 and more than 500 years before it helped lay the foundation for the Declaration of Independence, Lock said.
Renowned British barrister Sir Edward Coke in the mid-1600s used the charter extensively in launching his battle for the supremacy of common law over monarchial law, and he elevated the charter to symbolic status — a flag for the rights of the commoner, Lock said.
In fact, when it came to actual legal influence, Lock said the charter played better in the colonies than it did in England.
Coke helped draft Virginia’s colonial charter, Lock said. And William Penn drew heavily on Magna Carta. He founded the province of Pennsylvania with a large parcel of land deeded to Penn’s father by Charles II to pay off a debt. Penn because of his religious beliefs got sideways with British law all the time, but his arrest in 1670 proved most significant.
He landed in the Tower of London on charges of being a religious heretic and breaking a law that prohibited assembly. The judge, the Lord Mayor of London, refused to let Penn see the charges lodged against him — a right that flowed from Magna Carta.
A jury acquitted Penn, and the Lord Mayor threw the jury in jail and fined them. Their obstinacy led to the creation of a key legal right: English juries became free from judicial control. And the appeal process that won them victory also found its roots in Magna Carta.
But history aside, the point Lock made was that Magna Carta’s real measure of influence through some 800 years has been that of a propaganda piece rather than a foundation for human rights.
He cited a long history of it being used by lawyers, monarchs, parliamentarians and politicians to defend their sometimes diametrically opposed positions.
Many who never read the document or understood its influence on the law beyond fair trial issues, nevertheless used it as a battle cry for human rights.
And so Lock summarized that Magna Carta serves not as a significant legal document but rather a “powerful totem” of English liberty and legitimate political rights.
He reiterated this point about symbolism with a series of British historical nuggets and some U.S. nuggets, too: Magna Carta was cited during the Nixon Watergate Era and during the President Bill Clinton’s rough patch with Congress — in both cases in the context of presidents (monarchs if you will) not standing above civil law.
I smiled throughout this part of the lecture because in my experience, even though the U.S. Constitution serves as the basis for our law, it often gets cited and used (or perhaps abused) by those who want to make political hay and who do not understand its formation and the impetus for it.
And so Lock concludes that Magna Carta’s celebration really hinges on the symbolic engine it gained in the 17th century rather than what it did in the 13th century.
Since at its core the charter was an official piece of government paperwork, historians estimate official government scribes made 12 to 15 copies of the original 1215 document. Copies of subsequent re-issues of the charter (1216, 1217, 1225) number in the 20s. But only four known copies of the original exist. The British Library holds two of them. But Lock said more could be out there.
If you should stumble upon one, hold onto it. Estimates on the value of versions of the re-issued charters hover around 20 million pounds, more than $30 million.
If you’re planning a Colonial Williamsburg vacation this summer, expect quite a few new kid-friendly programs in the Historic Area. In addition to bringing fresh-baked gingerbread cookies back to the Raleigh Tavern Bakery and opening an archaeological digging site for children—we’re also introducing more live animals to your 18th-century experience!
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One of the most enjoyable aspects of my job as an archaeologist for Colonial Williamsburg is the opportunity to work in a public venue. Aside from talking about what I enjoy doing, I get to field questions from our visitors. Just about every day someone will ask “What is the most interesting artifact you’ve ever found?” You’d think that would be a pretty easy question, but after 40-plus years of excavation, I’ve found A LOT of stuff, so the answer requires some thought and is not always the same. It can depend on the age and demeanor of the person asking and my own state of reflection at the time. One such artifact does come to mind…
Trash feature at Washington Birthplace, Virginia. Photo: Andrew Edwards.
On a bitterly cold January day in 1975, I was in the process of excavating a pit full of eighteenth-century garbage. It was located about twenty feet from the spot where George Washington was born on Virginia’s Northern Neck. The trash in the pit was likely deposited there in the second quarter of the eighteenth century some years after Washington’s birth in 1722 and was chock-a-block full of refuse. In addition to oyster shell and animal bone, there were 5,119 colonial-period artifacts and 103 deemed Native American. The colonial material included two “И. Pope 1715” wine bottle seals[1], ceramics, pins, buttons, glass and other kitchen-related debris. Much to my surprise, it also contained a tin-plated copper finger ring. The tin plating was corroded and fragile, so I put it in a vial with padding and mailed it off to the William and Mary conservation lab since I was working for the College at the time.
A poesy ring available for sale today at williamsburgmarketplace.com
Aside from obviously thinking what a cool artifact it was, I forgot about the ring until I received a call from the College’s conservator. He told me that the tin plate was not salvageable, but that there was an inscription on the inside of the ring: “Love is a Jest”. Well, it was found in a pit full of trash. Not terribly surprising that a gift (?) with such sentiment would wind up discarded with the soup bones and broken glass, but it did what archaeology should do: it made me think about the people responsible for all that trash and what their daily lives were like.
A little research found that “poesy” rings were common from the 16th through the 19th centuries and can still be bought today – even at the silversmith’s shop in Williamsburg’s Historic Area. They generally carry more endearing messages, like “You and No Other” or “No Treasure Like a True Friend”, but the “Love is a Jest” phrase debunking love was not without precedent:
In poetry: From Amasia, or, The works of the muses a collection of poems: in three volumes (John Hopkins, c.1700)
Such Jugling Tricks I cannot understand;
You hold, unhurt, Coals burning in your Hand.
Long may you sport in the false Am’rous fit;
Love is a Jest, I ne’er could laugh at yet.
And:
From Matthew Prior’s “Moral of a Tale to a Gentleman in Love”:
Whilst men have these ambitious fancies,
And wanton Wenches read Romances,
Our Sex will – What? Out with it, Lie;
And theirs in equal strains reply.
The moral of the Tale I sing,
(A Poesy for a Wedding-Ring)
In this short verse will be confin’d;
Love is a Jest, and Vows are Wind.
There is also a song, Love is a Jest, written by British composer, John Eccles in 1696.
A bit more positive “Hope is the Life of Love” is the inscription in this modern poesy ring. The laments of unrequited love seem to be universal through the ages. In this case archaeology shines a light on an exemplary case from nearly 300 years ago.
Contributed by Andrew Edwards, Staff Archaeologist.
[1] Nathaniel Pope was a neighbor of the Washingtons and the man for whom Pope’s Creek is named. We’ve found several bottle seals from the time period that used a backwards “N”.
By Ben Swenson
On Flag Day we pay homage to the Stars and Stripes, a banner that adorns flagpoles across the United States and beyond. The U.S. flag is instantly recognizable for modern Americans, although their Colonial ancestors weren’t so familiar with such a standard.
What flags would have been known to residents of 18th-century Williamsburg? Not many, according to Josh Bucchioni, a Colonial Williamsburg Military Programs interpreter who has conducted research on early flags.
“Flags weren’t used as commonly in the 18th century as they are today,” he said. “Flags tend to use large amounts of expensive materials and require a large amount of production time which in turn causes them to be fairly expensive. People in Williamsburg may only have seen a flag on top of the House of Burgesses, maybe the Governor’s Palace or when a military unit came to town.”
Nevertheless, there were a few standards that flew in Williamsburg, and here’s a primer on the ones that graced Williamsburg long ago.
The Red Ensign
Before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, this is the flag that likely flew over the Capitol in Williamsburg to signify that the building was a seat of British power, according to Bucchioni. Though the Red Ensign originated as a flag flown by the Royal Navy and British merchant ships, the colors were soon adopted on land as well.
The British Grand Union flag, which combines St. George’s Cross and St. Andrew’s Cross, might have flown by itself in some parts of the 13 colonies, but was more often represented in the canton — the rectangle occupying the top corner — of the Red Ensign.
The Grand Union
When Americans began fighting against the British in 1775, they acknowledged their British heritage, and the slim possibility of reconciliation, by adding six white stripes to the Red Ensign.
The 13 stripes that resulted were a symbol of the united effort to resist tyranny. This coincidentally bore a strong resemblance to the flag of the British East India Company, a merchant shipping union.
The first time American soldiers raised the Grand Union around Boston, some confused British adversaries mistakenly thought the gesture was an attempt to surrender.
The Gadsden Flag
The yellow flag sporting a serpent and the iconic slogan “Don’t Tread On Me” has made a resurgence in recent years. It’s a symbol that has been largely adopted by the Tea Party movement. But Bucchioni explained that the elements included on that flag — the snake and slogans that promote liberty and resistance — were among the motifs on perhaps hundreds of different military standards flown during the war, some of which came through Williamsburg.
The specific combination of the serpent and “Don’t Tread On Me” on a yellow field was the designation, oddly enough, for the Commodore of the American Navy.
The Hopkinson Flag
On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress, enacting a design created by Francis Hopkinson’s committee, stipulated that “the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”
Bucchioni said it is important to note that the description of the stars in the blue field did not mention a specific arrangement or star shape. For a century-and-a-half, the growing number of stars in the canton took all sorts of configurations—circles, squares, whatever fancied the designer’s whimsy.
Not until June 14, 1923, with the passage of the United States Flag Code, would a uniform flag fly over the United States.
Virginia
Richard Henry Lee, George Mason and George Wythe were aflame with revolutionary fervor when they created an early design of Virginia’s state seal showing virtue conquering tyranny.
Later, when this design began to be included on flags representing Virginia, the motto Sic Semper Tyrannis, or Thus Always to Tyrants, was added to underscore the hostility toward unjust rule in the commonwealth.
Although Virginians would have seen this seal on a few military flags in the 18th century, they saw it more often on the state’s paper currency.
Colonial Williamsburg hosts naturalization ceremonies twice a year. The following remarks were delivered by Elisabeth Reiss, wife of the Foundation’s new president, Mitchell Reiss, at a recent ceremony at Williamsburg’s Capitol. Elisabeth Reiss was born in England and became an American citizen in 1998.…
