Living History in Colonial Williamsburg

Ever since we watched the PBS series Liberty's Kids, which depicts many of the important characters and situations of the American Revolution, the boys have been completely enamored with the beginnings of the United States. So as we were approaching Virginia it struck me that we should take the kids to Colonial Williamsburg. I had remembered going there as a teenager and being struck by the crafts and costumes. What I had not remembered was just how incredibly steeped in historical information the whole place is. So far I think it has been the best teaching experience we have had on this journey. We witnessed so many different artisans and actors teaching the history of various skills, politics, cultural issues. We talked to actors about the legal ramifications of freeing slaves in colonial Virginia, we talked with the milliner about the transmission of clothing design from Turkey and India to the Americas, we learned from the weaver that the Americas were in direct competition with Egypt for the importation of cotton. I have rarely had my head so filled with a variety of data by the end of one day. Colonial Williamsburg is astounding. I highly recommend it. Not only that, Jamestown and Yorktown are both right near by and apparently have equally interesting dynamics. One could easily spend a week or two in that one arm of the Chesapeake Bay discovering living histories.

A 3D relief map of the town of Williamsburg. We were surprised to learn that many of the buildings are inhabited by people who actually live in the houses of this historical town, in amongst the living theater. All the rents go to the upkeep of the historical district. Only one house is not owned by Colonial Williamsburg. It belongs to a very old Virginia family who were apparently not happy with the way the Civil War turned out. They still hold ownership of the house and they refuse to sell.

When you first arrive in Williamsburg after buying your ticket and wandering past the gift shop, you arrive at a classic colonial farm property, with fields of corn and real pigs and chickens, and the farm house and out buildings. The kids thought this was it, and were ready to dig into exploring the farm for a while. They talked with the women who were apart of the farm experience and admired the chickens. It was almost difficult to get them to move on.

A colonial farm house.

Finally we got them to walk into town, and they were excited to see all of the buildings, horse drawn carriages, and people in costumes. It took us a little while to get our bearings, but once we did we began to explore and visit the various trades people who were around the town waiting to teach about their skills. I was so impressed by the extended historical knowledge of each trades person. These are truly skilled and very informed people. From shoe making to gun making to suit making to furniture, every one of them could answer the hundreds of questions that were thrown at them, and all of them actively worked at the trades that they represented, their shops were filled with goods that had been made on site. To top it off they all remained in character throughout.

Carriages pulling into the center of town to prepare for tours of the community.

Hannah having been removed from the armory where she touched one too many things sat under a tree and watched the carriages come by.

The armory, our first stop to talk to a trades person. They made guns and spoons and candlesticks and other interesting items using metal molds.

We had seen in the schedule for the day we were there that General Lafayette and George Washington were going to speak in the garden of the Governors Palace not long after we arrived. The boys have a real fascination with General Lafayette and we were kind of excited to take them to see him speak--even if it was only an actor--and give them a chance to really get a sense of the man as a reality.

The palace is a beautiful large building with manicured grounds and decorative wrought iron gates. We didn't take the tour of the house because the wait seemed too long, but wandering around the outside of the house was really lovely.

A view of the back of the palace from the garden.

The British coat of arms on the back door of the palace.

The gate at the front of the house.

The front entrance to the Governor's Palace.

The actor who plays Lafayette also travels to France to enact the role of Napoleon on occasion. He was really great in this role, even going so far as to give a lecture on the philosophical implications of the Enlightenment and the hope that the American Revolution brings to the larger understanding of liberty. During the question and answer period I had an ah ha moment when he suggested that the reason the French were so interested in aiding the Americans against the British, was partly revenge, but partly motivated by the wish to retrieve their colonies in the west indies for the sake of sugar production. Remember the sugar processing plant on the Mississippi River just outside of New Orleans? Somehow sugar is a major culprit in the politics of the Americas.

General Lafayette talking to the crowds.

The boys watching Lafayette and Washington speak. Eli asked them during the Q and A how they had discovered that Benedict Arnold had betrayed them. We had a really interesting answer that included history about Arnold's purposely incompetent management of West Point during the war.

After listening to the generals we went towards the end of town and ate lunch at a very nice Tavern.

This detailed history was on the back of the menu. Everywhere we went within Williamsburg was steeped in information about not only the original developments and usages of objects, buildings, peoples, but also information about the continued history and restoration of these places.

The dishes and furniture were very authentic.

The ubiquitous kids menu experience was less authentic, as was the food.

After lunch we stopped in to the milliners shop and learned some fascinating things about the clothing of the era and the traditions around apprenticeships, as well as some interesting gender stuff that I specifically asked the tailor of the shop about. It turns out that while most tailors were men, widows of tailors were encouraged to continue in their husbands work, in fact all widows of tradesman were encouraged to continue their husbands' businesses, but were often not called out as such, so that many trades had more women in them than was on the surface suggested. We also learned that seamstresses were simply hired hands, they did not know how to cut or design.

After the milliners' shop we moved out to the street where we witnessed a dramatic presentation of the community in argument about commerce and politics as a result of the war. One grocer was accused of hording salt. Others had to uphold their reasons for wishing to be separate from the British.

If you look behind the stage you can just see Elijah and the kids peeking out watching the actors.

The court house farther down the street where earlier several citizens had debated going to war.

Eli with his map of the town.

If a house or store is open for visitation they place a British flag out front to indicate that you can come in and look around.

Not long after the citizens argued with each other over whether they should be loyal to the crown, Benedict Arnold and the British Governor road into town and reclaimed Williamsburg in the name of King George. It turned out that Benedict Arnold was played by the same actor who had earlier played Lafayette. I didn't tell the boys that until after we had left town. I wanted to see if they would notice on their own.

Benedict Arnold announcing the British rule of the town, and suggesting that the Americans were almost defeated.

The boys watching the actors.

Not long after the actors went off towards another part of the dramatic presentation we wandered towards the encampment of the militia. The boys had been hoping for some battle scenes, but it turned out that for the most part that was simply off stage allusions. When you go to see the soldiers camp however it turns out that they will recruit you and they even have a sergeant who trains the new recruits in the necessary drills for holding a musket properly.

Entering the camp.

All three of my children joined the militia.

They learned how to hold a gun using long sticks.

Being instructed in the proper form for stabbing with a bayonet.

At the end the sergeant really shot the musket so that we could see what that was like.

Next door to the militia encampment is the cabinet makers shop. I was excited to see this after the response the boys had had to the wood turner in Asheville. We discovered all sorts of interesting things about furniture making in colonial America, including that most of the wood was walnut or other local woods, except for mahogany which came from the Caribbean. By this point I was beginning to think that contrary to popular belief, globalization was well and truly entrenched already in the 18th Century.

Eli talking with the guy about wood turning and various ways of making rounded edges.

Wood stacked outside the shop in drying stacks. Everything in these shops was real, and all of the old processes were being maintained in historical fashion. They made their own tools, traded with each other for goods, and as we learned in the blacksmith's shop they were actually creating many of the products and elements they needed on site to do restoration of the actual site itself.

One of our last stops for the day was the blacksmith's shop. The blacksmith had broken his hand doing something "boring" he told us. But he had two apprentices working diligently creating nails the whole time we were there. They were making nails for a building being built next door.

Izzy actually asked a question of the blacksmith, which is how we know he was truly into it.

Watching the nail making.

Right near the blacksmith's shop it turned out Benedict Arnold was holding an audience where you were allowed to confront him about his treachery. Eli couldn't resist, he had to go see him. We were late, but the woman assistant let us in, so we sat quietly in the back. Eli couldn't resist asking him a question at the end during the Q and A. He asked Arnold why he had betrayed General Washington. The actor who had played Lafayette, was equally genius at Arnold and managed to sound like a calm and rational conservative who was meanwhile clearly talking to much trying to convince us all that he was in the right. It was a great performance. The boys loved it!

Benedict Arnold addressing the accusations of the crowd.

The boys watching Benedict Arnold. As the actor left the room in character he passed us and turned towards Eli and thanked him specifically for his question. Eli was very proud.

Colonial Williamsburg was exhausting, we were all dragging ourselves to the car at the end, but it was well worth it. I could easily have spent several more days there. We saw only a small percentage of what is available, and the kids had begun to make friends with several of the community characters, especially Hannah who had charmed some of the ladies of the town so much that they had trouble saying good bye.