School on a Bus (a.k.a. Radical Sabbatical)

While in Philly, we were able to park in a Wal-Mart right in the city and ride the city bus only a mile or so downtown. During our three days there, we visited Constitution Hall, Liberty Bell, and Franklin Court. The oldest U.S. Post Office still hand stamps all mail using the original postmark of “B. Free Franklin”.

Philadelphia is a city rich in colonial history. The highlight for me was Franklin Court. Ben Franklin’s numerous accomplishments as a scientist, inventor, diplomat, and writer, printer and publisher are described here. He was always working on multiple projects. He originally became independently wealthy as a printer, best known for Poor Richards Almanac. Some of his ideas include bifocals, swimming fins, the Franklin stove, the glass harmonica (or armonica), the lightening rod, the storage battery, the first library for loaning books, and the first volunteer fire company. He made 8 trans-Atlantic crossings on behalf of the fledgling union. During these travels, he became the first to chart the Gulf Stream. As postmaster general, he improved mail delivery between Philly and New York from an average of 3 weeks to 6 days. Always one ahead of his time, Franklin founded the Pennsylvania Abolition Society and was its first president.

Ben Franklin is another example of the amazing men who founded our country. As he himself said, “If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.”

P.S. There is a working armonica on display. Be sure to ask one of the Park Rangers to play a few tunes while you’re there.

Sarah: In the middle of December of 1777, the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, George Washington, marched his men into Valley Forge where they would stay for 6 months, coming out with fewer numbers, but stronger than when they had entered.

George Washington had decided on Valley Forge as a winter camp for several reasons, some being that it was close to supplies, easily defensible, and close enough to Philadelphia to keep an eye on the British. Washington tried to speed the building of shelters by offering a prize to the first cabin completed. 12,000 troops raced to complete the first cabin, which could hold 12 men. Simple log structures with bunk beds, a fireplace, and a plain dirt floor, they would house the men as the winter wind blew, the snow lay half a foot high outside, and as the weather slowly turned to the sunny, budding feeling of spring.

The supplies that Washington continually beseeched for from Congress did not arrive, mainly due to cold feelings to him from men set in charge of providing food and clothing. The soldiers lived in rags, mostly living on ‘firecake’, but hardly ever complained. The morale was high, as was their love and sense of loyalty to Washington.

General Washington, differing from General Lee of the Civil War, did not stay in a shelter but in a nearby farmhouse in the middle of the camp, as did many of the Brigadier Generals.

Baron Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian drill master, was set to oversee the drilling of the men, in a large, open field. He fell to the task wholeheartedly, drawing a manual on drill techniques and swearing at the soldiers in German. When the army marched from Valley Forge exactly 6 months later, June 19, 1778, they were more organized, bonded, and ready for the battles that would face them before the end of the war in 1783.

The Pennsylvania Quakers refused to choose sides, staying non-violent because of their religious beliefs. Because of this they were arrested by Americans, who considered them Tories.

Caleb: This was the site of the “deciding battle” of the revolutionary war and though the war would drag on for another year the outcome was decided at this town.  General Cornwallis had been warring around in the southern states with an army of 7,000 men, and now he was low on supplies, men, and morale after 2 years of fighting.  So he set an extraction point for his men at Yorktown where the British Royal Navy would swoop down and pick him up.  He was however in a vulnerable position to be sieged in Yorktown and this was just what General Washington, General Lafayette, and General Rochambeau did. The extraction that Cornwallis had hoped for would never happen since Admiral de Grasse had defeated the fleet sent to aid Cornwallis in Chesapeake. Then de Grasse sent 3,000 men to reinforce Washington, Lafayette and Rochambeau.  In short, Cornwallis got whipped. The allies dug some trenches, captured 2 redoubts and Cornwallis surrendered. This was actually not the end of the war since the outcome was still unclear. The British troops still controlled key ports such as New York City and Charleston, South Carolina.

Sarah: On May 14, 1607, one hundred and four men and boys arrived at a site where they would establish Jamestown—the first permanent English settlement in America. The group was headed by Captain Christopher Newport, from the Virginia Company in London. Their main purpose was not to survive off the land but to live on supplies from England and from trading for food with the Indians.

When they reached ‘the New World’ they had been ordered by the Virginia Company “…be not hasty in landing…” They scouted 70 miles up the James River, scouted out 8 different sites, and narrowed it down to Jamestown. There were 3 reasons for picking this site.

1. It had deep water, and was easy to anchor the ships near the shore
2. It was easy to protect, and hard for the Spanish to spot.
3. It was not inhabited with Indians. (Although Powhatan lived 10 miles away)

For health reasons, however, it was not the best choice, as they were to learn later. Jamestown was on swampy, bug-infested grounds. Many of the settlers died from typhoid fever and other diseases, and before one year had gone by only about a third of the original 104 settlers remained alive. The colony set about quickly in building James Fort, a triangular structure around 300 ft by 300 ft by 400 ft. From here they felt secure.

The Virginia Company was only interested in business. Their main goal was to find and mine gold and silver, their secondary goal to find an easier passage to Asia. The men sent were mostly gentlemen, not used to hard work; in fact they looked with disdain upon it and would work as hard as possible to get out of it. Bribed priests back in England raved about Virginia’s physical beauty and profits. And it did seem like paradise—at first. One settler wrote, “Weave falne upon a lande, that promises more then the lande of promise: in steed of mylke we fynde pearle… & golde inn steade of honye.”

But as it soon became obvious there were little precious metals and jewels in Virginia, the Virginia Company, after trying nearly every other possible ‘get-rich-quick-scheme’, turned to tobacco. This was after 12 years of trial and error with cotton, silk, glass, pyrite, etc.

The command shifted around a lot, but seemed to profit the most with the famous John Smith in command. When he took charge of James town he 1.)isolated all of the whining troublemakers, thus raising the overall moral of the colony. And 2.) set everyone to work. The rule was no work, no food. When he was sent back to England due to an injury, the first winter he was gone started out with 500, and saw spring with only 60 left alive in the fort.

The relationship with the Indians was always precarious. Powhatan, who controlled 30 Indian tribes and 160 villages, did not look well on the Englishmen who worked little and quarreled and fought much. The relationship between the 2 very different civilizations was marked with bloody ambushes, hot words, and broken vows. The marriage between John Rolfe and Pocahontas brought peace for a few years, but not long. The English began to claim more and more land for growing cash tobacco, and the strain between them finally led to the massacre of 1622, when an Indian chief tried to completely obliterate the English. 300 were killed that day

Although the first English settlement in America, Jamestown, did not do well, other colonies did and eventually grew to be the America we know today.

Sarah: The town of Williamsburg was actually first called “Middle’s Plantation”, and was formed in 1633. 66 years later, it was made the capitol of Virginia and renamed Williamsburg, in honor of the current English King. In 1780 the capitol was moved to Richmond, and Williamsburg eventually became a “touristy” town, very popular in the Historic Triangle today. In 1926 several blocks of the town were claimed by historians, and is now open to the public and closed to motor traffic. With almost 500 historic and rebuilt buildings, and millions of curious tourists every year, Williamsburg is still ‘flourishing’.

Adam: Today we went to Williamsburg. I got a three cornered hat. There was a blacksmith and a brick maker, silver smith, leather worker, wheel right, there were horse carriages, governor’s place, and a church, and there was a place where you could meet with Thomas Jefferson(while we were there we met some people we knew from Buras). Everyone was dressed up just like the 1700’s.

Kevin: Today we woke up early to head off to what Dad said was a “historic theme park” and that we’d have lots of fun. We arrived at the visitor center, bought our tickets, and caught the bus ride. The site was set in 1700 character, which means that it was still under British rule. They had 301 acres, 88 original buildings, and almost 500 reconstructions. The tickets were two- day passes, but even two days didn’t even cover it all. Our first stop was a courthouse, were they reenacted several trials. The first was a young girl of 11 wanting an apprenticeship to a seamstress. The girl could not marry or such things during her term of seven years as an apprentice. The contract also made the point that the seamstress could not assign the apprentice any undue work, but only teach her the things assigned in the contract.

We ate lunch at a picnic table, enjoying the usual p&j sandwiches and exceptional ginger snap cookies. It started getting hot right after twelve o’clock so we went into an eighteenth-century church which, at that time was a Church of England but now is an Episcopal church. Thomas Jefferson and George Washington both attended this same church. We also were able to hear the organ playing.

We saw the wigmaker on the same day, and she was really in character. The next day our first stop was the governor’s mansion. It didn’t start out too well, because the tour guide fell in a tree well, and twisted her ankle. The tour continued with another guide and was a lot of fun. Then we headed over to the cabinetmaker to see what he made. He gave us a short introduction on how you made the legs and so on of the desks and such he made. Right below the cabinetmakers house was the brickyard, and Adam had really wanted to see that, so we went. Me and Dad had to split off from the rest of the family, because I had seen a ring at the silversmith the day before that wasn’t too costly and was very pretty. We wanted to buy it before we left, and before the shop closed. We bought it, and even as I type, I am wearing it.

Before we left, we saw a reenactment of a march on the Virginia capital, and the colonial flag being raised in place of the British flag. It was all lots of fun, but sadly we had to leave. Definitely my favorite thing was the church. That night we ate well at Golden Corral Buffet for our monthly night out.

Caleb: Fort Moultrie was destroyed 2 times and built up 3 times. In the first construction of the fort it was built from palmetto logs which were the only ready resource. The palmetto logs were made of fibers that, like coquina, absorbed the shock of a cannonball. An upgrade on the smoothbore muzzles and cannons was the rifled meaning it had spiraling grooves on the inside making the bullet shaped projectile have greater accuracy and range. Cannons on average could be fired every 5 minutes.

3,000 men were garrisoned in it during WW I, the most men to ever be garrisoned in there. On threat of submarines during WWII, a steel net was installed across the entrance to Charleston harbor. Also mines were laid at strategic points in the harbor (incoming and outgoing ships had to be really careful!)

Kevin: Today we went to a place called Fort Moultrie, which is a very interesting fort. It played a key role in the American Revolution and Civil War. It was maintained throughout World War I and II. It was made first because of one thing. First off, it was part of a coastal defense program, which had been organized to defend from the British. The British attacked when it was only half-made. The only materials they had at hand was sand, lots and lots of sand and palmetto logs. By sheer coincidence, they happened to have the best things they could. The palmetto logs, when hit by the cannonballs, did not splinter since they were so soft and spongy. Not like soft like foam, but sort of water like, so that they squished. These palmetto logs influenced the state flag of South Carolina.

The fort played a major role up until the end of World War II, since it was no longer needed due to the advance of technology. It played a key role along with Fort Sumter, and Pinckney Castle, to defend Charleston harbor, a major trade route and supply route. The thing I definitely liked the most was a thing called a disappearing cannon. It had weights and counterweights to bring it up, fire, and then drop below the wall once again.

Caleb: Today we visited the site of the farm of Charles Pinckney, also known as “constitution Charley” he is most renowned as one of the signers of the constitution, and He was the second youngest signer. He was a delegate from South Carolina. Charles was one of the first men to argue against the Articles of Confederation. These were the documents that existed before the constitution.

On his farm he mostly grew rice and indigo. He owned some slaves to work the farm, some of which were Gullah slaves from the western coast of Africa, so there was a Gullah celebration going on and the day we arrived there was a Gullah music group and a Gullah basket weaver.

Kevin: A few months ago we heard about a Gullah festival (former West Indians that came over as slaves, and have since retained their language and culture.) Today we drove out to the Charles Pinckney Historic site, where the festival would be held. They had good entertainment, which consisted mainly of a group of gospel singers. These were Ann Caldwell and the Magnolia Singers.

After this was over, we went into the museum. Inside they talked about Charles Pinckney, who was a signer of the constitution for South Carolina. He was only twenty-nine, yet he made a very significant output into the constitution. He created the Pinckney draft which is in the constitution to this day. The visitor center is on what was once a beautiful 715 acre plantation, called Snee farm. There I earned a junior ranger badge. The Pinckney’s were federalists up until the point when our Charles came to view the federalists as the party of the rich and well-born. So he joined Thomas Jefferson’s newly formed Democratic – Republican Party.