Three Great Firsts

Since I am such a history buff,  I've trained my girls to love museums (summer field trips!). So naturally, Emily's 8th grade Washington DC/New York trip was filled with tons of fascinating information. To experience history unravel in front of your eyes, it was very awe inspiring. I could go on and on on what I loved but I'll just give you some tidbits that stuck out to me:

Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is the capital of Virginia, England's first capital in the New World. We walked through the revolutionary city of which 88 of the buildings are original to the Revolutionary (1770s) period. We entered into a prison cell called the Goal (Jail) where Blackbeard's pirates were locked in and hung to death after their trials.

This is the 'goal' where they would pack in over 50 persons who were awaiting trial for crimes ranging from not paying their debts to murder. Notice the accommodations: stifling hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter. The box in the back was the water closet.

This beautiful field held sheep for the town and the public gallows for hangings.

 Since Williamsburg was known as a merchant town they made a lot of things including bricks.

They used their hands and feet to mold them! It was very mushy and gooey.

Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown was where the first English colonists arrived and was the first permanent English settlement. It was a 4-1/2 month voyage for the colonists.

The ships first landed on this piece of land jutting out of the waters.

The 3 ships that arrived were not very large.

When they arrived the land was not uninhabited.  A Native American tribe called the Powhatans lived there. At a life sized model of a Powhatan Indian village, we saw how they lived within their community outside of the Jamestown settlement. And Yes, Pocahontas was a real person. She was the daughter of the Powhatan chief and she saved John Smith's life. But she did not marry him.

George Washington
Mount Vernon in Virginia is George Washington's personal home on the Potomac River. The mansion has 21 rooms and still has the original paint colors and furniture; even the bed that President Washington died in.

We visited the Slave Memorial and Burial Ground; his will stipulated that after his death, his 100 slaves must be set free.

This is the memorial to all his slaves which were buried in the land surrounding this memorial.

His Tomb: his will directed that he be buried on his estate along with his wife

There is a place on Capitol Hill that is dedicated for Washington's body to be lain as a memorial to our first President. Congress continued to ask for his body to be moved there.

But Washington strictly stipulated that his body remain at his personal residence with his wife.

So after numerous years of asking, Congress stopped asking anymore.

His Will: George had accumulated a lot of land and property and his #1 priority was to provide for his dearly beloved wife Martha and his family members. He also let go of debts owed by his brother and his brother's children. George and Martha did not have any children of their own. Martha had two from a previous marriage whom he took in as his own. The second part of his request was to the emancipation, care and education of his slaves. He was not only a military commander, our nation's first president, but also a farmer. He had a pioneer farm on his property along with a gristmill (for flour and cornmeal) and distillery (to make rye whiskey and other products).

I will conclude this post with this: George Washington was an amazing man: highly intelligent, a courageous and dedicated soldier; a loving husband and family man, and a follower of God. He led America's fight for independence from Britain and after winning the Revolutionary War, he resigned his position as General so he could be home with his wife. But he left to be a part of the Constitutional Convention to help write the Declaration of Independence, thus becoming one of the Founding Fathers of our nation. Soon after, the thirteen colonies knew they needed one person to lead the Americas and Washington was the unanimous choice for the job. And again he left to serve his country. He was away from his home and his wife for 21 years. George Washington had no presidential example; there was no other president to learn from. He was the first President of the United States of America. He had set his own precedent on what to do and how to do it. And he did an amazing job. Thanks be to God.