Did you know that settlers in Jamestown traded boys with the indians? We learned so much at this place it's kind of amazing. Yesterday we went to Jamestown national historic site. Jamestown was the settlement BEFORE the pilgrims ever departed for the east coast of north America. There at the site they had a glass house where glass products were blown using old methods and are being made today for sale to raise money. I took a glass/metalworking class this last summer so i got a lot from seeing the glassblowers make the vases and jars knowing how delicate the work is. It was interesting to see that this was the true first settlement that lasted and is still living on today. Many things came from this place including democracy, taxes, slavery and more. They are conducting an archaeology dig here and have found the actual posts of the walls of the fort and hundreds of artifacts. They made a whole new museum next door housing it and it tells a fascinating and harsh history.
When settlers came here they faced very harsh conditions and hard times. They had to establish a town and rules, laws and ways of living to survive. One of those things was to trade young sons from their settlement to the local native tribe. They did this as both a peace offering and as a means of understanding each other's cultures and language. When the boys returned after a year or more they would be an interpreter for the town or tribe. Can you imagine giving up your child to complete strangers so different from yourself as an experiment? Thinking on it I don't know if I would have gone willingly or not. I know I would have been very frightened as times then were different and things were often hostile. BUt the indians knew better who to keep off mosquitos, fish, get food and stay warm. I might have liked the luxuries the indians had that the settlers hadn't figured out yet. Also, jamestown had very strict rules. If you used bad words, missed church or stole you could be have a metal stake through your tongue or be put to death!
It was really interesting to hear how slavery started here, as a punishment to run away indentured servants. I liked the idea better of people agreeing to come here and work in exchange for passage and protection instead of ships stealing African people off their land and enslaving them. That's another thing...on east coast many places don't use the term slave as that is a mentality not a condition...they use the term "enslaved people" because it was against their will. In Roman times the slaves were called plebs and they accepted their place in the order of things. There were Gods and wealthy people in upper classes and then there were tiers of others down to plebs. People accepted their place and roles then. Slaves had no choice as they were stolen from their lands, shipped in huge ships here and chained and were sold. Their children became slaves too for generations.
The idea of taxes wasn't something I really understood before this trip. It always seemed unfair. The Boston Tea party stories I heard made it seem like the people in charge had no right to charge taxes. But, after studying the east coast and hearing tales of England paying the war bills for earlier wars where they protected early Americans and did all the work shipping and bringing things here it makes more sense. Protecting us from France and the Indians put England in heavy debt and they wanted the new colonists to pay it back. Now they shouldn't have taxed everyone without allowing representation in government and law making but it seems like they should have been able to work this out peacefully. The settlers at Jamestown needed supplies and order and protection too and taxes made sense here as well except for the representation part.
Jamestown was a neat place to visit to see the beginnings and hear of the hardships people had to endure from the worst drought in 800 years to the harsh winter and lack of food. It's really amazing when you think that anyone was able to survive let alone maintain this place from 1607 to now. It's the place we began. There were other places people came but no permanent settlement lasted. Here the toughest survived and went on to spread out and explore and establish new towns. I liked visiting where it all began and really getting a feel for life there and everything they endured or invented. Pocahantas was there doing cartwheels as a kid and to hear she was my age when she married John Rolfe and NOT John Smith like the Disney movie claims was interesting. We run into a lot of places where Disney or movies or old tales have been accepted as true by everyone when the real events were very different. She has a statue there at Jamestown although she's buried in England. She deserved to be remembered among all the great men we studied because of her bravery and help making this settlement a success.
The fact that it had glass blowing, a favorite of mine, was just added coolness. I would suggest everyone stop here and listen to the really funny Ranger who gives the talk. He told us so many funny and interesting stories and facts about this. It was like going to a play. I got my junior Ranger badge too. Check out the pictures on Flickr we are uploading today (now that we have good wifi at the hotel in Florida).
We are in Orlando, FL now and my cousin Tori flies in from home today to spend the week. We are going to Kennedy Space Center tomorrow and hopefully will swim every day. We get to go to Disney World for a few days to show her around for her birthday and PIN TRADE!!! I have a big pin collection as it's a huge hobby of mine. We get a cheap lot of pins off Ebay and then take them into the park where we trade with people from all over the world. You give them a pin, they give you one and I always come out with better pins than I went in. The thrill of the hunt is what I like and meeting new people. It's a great way to start a conversation. I met a man from Beijing, China last time. Tori and I like to find pins the other one wants and then hold it out until one of gets a really good pin the other wants and then we trade. it's a game...almost a sport! Jimmy is great to pin trade with because he is so cute and charming people like to give him valuable pins and then he trades them to me! I wish jimmy was here because then all of us cousins would roam the park hunting for the best pins! Last time we were here jimmy came with us and he got lost in Animal Kingdom and they SHUT DOWNT HE PARK to find him. He wasn't ever really lost, just got separated from us and he knew exactly what to do by going up to someone and giving his name and his mom's name and her phone number and he was only 5!! We found him ten minutes later but went away with a great story. He'd be tall enough to ride Mt. Everest ride this time. I will ride it for you Jimmy! Maybe I can find you a pin from from the ride. I'll make it my pin quest for the day!
Off to finish my six week history project, I wrote ten pages so far and am trying to get it finished today before Tori gets here. Mom said she will post it so I can get "graded".
Happy Trails and pin trading!
Jack
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