It is not my intention to leave the discussion of the First Africans-the “20 and odd”- who landed on Virginia soil in 1619 as if a conclusion has been reached. To the contrary, the fruitful debate takes time, comprehension, and study. The last five articles should provide excellent fodder for continuing conversations: letting the thought …
I bet you are a little curious as to what this is all about and wondering if Culpeper got any of that $500,000. We may not discover why it took Congress twenty-five years to make this decision, but let’s lift the curtain and see what we find. The “war claims” noted in the headline pertained …
A note to readers: I have added the posts from my Zann’s Place column in hopes of adding another dimension to the Blog. They will be categorized as such and grouped under the appropriate heading in a box on the right. As you will find, some are about history-mostly Culpeper’s- and others are about my …
Note a couple of items on this marker produced in 1994. The text questions the status of these First Africans as being enslaved or indentured and one should note that until 1661 the Virginia Colony had no laws pertaining to the institution of race based slavery or any other form of slavery. The second item …
Note: The VDHR let me know that the 1994 signage was removed and a replacement erected in 2015. It is unfortunate that the former sign remians on the web!! Have you been thinking about these questions I posed last week? Who were these people of color? Where did they come from? Were they a religious …
There is nothing that gets us closer to the truth than open, honest and fact-based debate. Recently, I experienced a taste of debate with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (VDHR) and am grateful, but not done. The language on the revised roadside marker was based on a supposition that the Englishmen residing in Jamestown …
The Fort at Jamestown courtesy of the National Park Service website The first Africans to land on Virginia soil: Were they indentured or enslaved? The more I read, study and discuss with others with expansive knowledge of the subject, the muddier the waters become. The opinions are quite divided, and I confess that my leanings …
The graphic depicts a set of laws known as Dale’s Laws that governed the Colony of Virginia (Jamestown) from 1610 to 1619. A few terms to ponder over as we attempt to sift through the interpretation of sparse facts to arrive at a reasonable conclusion as to the status of the first Africans to arrive …
Part One of a Two Part series: Culpeper Star Exponent, May 28, 2017 Note: this article is offered as a bit of background on our founder Zann Nelson and the path that lead her to the current work. Elizabeth Ann Nelson has always had an interest in history and, more importantly, the people who …
Part two of a two-part series. Even former presidents can suffer financial woes. For James Madison, U.S. president from 1809 to 1817, this meant selling off pieces of his estate toward the end of his life—including 16 people he owned. “I’m pretty convinced it wasn’t what he wanted to do,” said local historian Zann Nelson, …