F I R S T
E D I T I O N
Remembering the
Old Dominion
Readings on Virginia History
EDITED BY
O L D
M AT T H E W W H I T L O C K
D O M I N I O N
U N I V E R S I T Y
Bassim Hamadeh, CEO and Publisher
Kassie Graves, Director of Acquisitions
Jamie Giganti, Senior Managing Editor
Jess Estrella, Senior Graphic Designer
Mieka Portier, Acquisitions Editor
Sean Adams, Project Editor
Luiz Ferriera, Licensing Coordinator/Specialist
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CONTENTS
A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . V I I
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................... 1
1.
CHAPTER ONE
BEFORE VIRGINIA.................................................................................. 7
BY RONA LD H EI N E M A N N, JOH N G. KOLP,
A NTHON Y S . PA R ENT JR ., A N D W I LLI A M G. SH A DE
2.
CHAPTER TWO
FOR THE GLORY OF GOD AND
THE GOOD OF THE PLANTATION....................................................... 19
BY BR ENT TA RTER
3.
CHAPTER THREE
ENGLISH ATLANTIC NETWORKS AND
R E L I G I O N I N V I R G I N I A.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 9
BY A PR I L LEE H ATFI ELD
4.
CHAPTER FOUR
WE WAGE WAR LIKE GENTLEMEN”:
T W O B A T T L E S A N D T H E P A T H T O Y O R K T O W N .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1
BY JOH N R . M A A SS
5.
CHAPTER FIVE
OUR REBELLIOUS NEIGHBORS:
VIRGINIA’S BORDER COUNTIES DURING
P E N N S Y L V A N I A ’ S W H I S K E Y R E B E L L I O N.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 7
BY K EV I N T. BA R K SDA LE
6.
CHAPTER SIX
NEIGHBORHOODS AND NAT TURNER:
THE MAKING OF A SLAVE REBEL AND
T H E U N M A K I N G O F A S L A V E R E B E L L I O N.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 7
BY A NTHON Y E . K AY E
7.
CHAPTER SEVEN
L I B B Y P R I S O N B R E A K .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3 1
BY V I RGI L C A R R I NGTON JON ES
8.
CHAPTER EIGHT
JOHN SCHOFIELD AS MILITARY DIRECTOR
OF RECONSTRUCTION IN VIRGINIA........................................... 143
BY JA M ES L . McDONOUGH
9.
CHAPTER NINE
BASEBALL, THE LOST CAUSE, AND
THE NEW SOUTH IN RICHMOND,
VIRGINIA, 1883–1890..................................................................... 163
BY ROBERT H. GU DM ESTA D
10. CHAPTER TEN
WOMAN SUFFRAGE IN VIRGINIA:
THE EQUAL SUFFRAGE LEAGUE AND
PRESSURE-GROUP POLITICS, 1909–1920..................................... 197
BY SA R A H U NTER GR A H A M
11. CHAPTER ELEVEN
V FOR VIRGINIA: THE COMMONWEALTH
G O E S T O W A R .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1 9
BY CH A R LES W. JOH NSON
12. CHAPTER TWELVE
CIVIL RIGHTS AND MEMORY: 1948–1970.................................... 251
BY M ATTH EW M ACE BA R BEE
B I B L I O G R A P H Y.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 8 1
Acknowledgments
T
he creation of this important collection of Virginia texts would not be possible without the larger audience interested in Virginia and its relationship to
American history. The editor wishes to acknowledge the following individuals and
groups for their help in making this collection: Sean Adams, Mieka Portier, and the
entire group from Cognella Publishing for being a great group of people to work
with for this publication, my wife Hayley for allowing the long evenings of research,
the history faculty at Old Dominion University and the University of Alabama who
influenced my interest in Virginia history, my parents who always (and still) support
me in everything I do, the authors in this volume for their excellent academic work,
and each student who attended my class each week, visited during office hours, and
emailed me at 2:00 am with that burning question about someone or something in
history for their final exam. I propose holding off on the emails until at least 3:00 am.
Ronald Heinemann, John G. Kolp, Anthony S. Parent Jr., and William G. Shade.
“Before Virginia.” In Old Dominion, New Commonwealth: A History of Virginia,
1607–2007. 1–17. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2007.
Brent Tarter. “For the Glory of God and the Good of the Plantation.” In The
Grandees of Government: The Origins and Persistence of Undemocratic Politics in Virginia.
10–32. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2013.
April Lee Hatfield. “English Atlantic Networks and Religion in Virginia” In Atlantic Virginia:
Intercolonial Relations in the Seventeenth Century. 110–136. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania
Press, 2004.
John R. Maass. “’We Wage War Like Gentlemen’: Two Battles and the Path to Yorktown.” In The
Road to Yorktown: Jefferson, Lafayette and the British Invasion of Virginia. 131–147. Charleston: The
History Press, 2015.
Kevin T. Barksdale. “Our Rebellious Neighbors: Virginia’s Border Counties during Pennsylvania’s Whiskey Rebellion.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 111, no. 1 (2003). 5–32.
Anthony E. Kaye. “Neighborhoods and Nat Turner: The Making of a Slave Rebel and the Unmaking
of a Slave Rebellion.” Journal of the Early Republic 27, no. 4 (Winter 2007). 705–720.
Virgil Carrington Jones. “Libby Prison Break.” Civil War History 4 no.2 ( June 1958). 93–104.
James L. McDonough. “John Schofield as Military Director of Reconstruction in Virginia.” Civil
War History 15, no. 3 (Sept. 1969). 237–256.
Robert H. Gudmestad. “Baseball, the Lost Cause, and the New South in Richmond, Virginia, 18831890.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 106, no. 3 (Summer 1998). 267–300.
Sara Hunter Graham. “Woman Suffrage in Virginia: The Equal Suffrage League and Pressure-Group
Politics, 1909–1920.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 101, no. 2 (April 1993). 227–250.
Charles W. Johnson. “V is for Virginia: The Commonwealth Goes to War.” The Virginia Magazine of
History and Biography 100, no.3 ( July 1992). 365–398.
Matthew Mace Barbee. “Civil Rights and Memory, 1948-1970.” In Race and Masculinity in Southern
Memory: History of Richmond, Virginia’s Monument Avenue, 1948–1996. 41–71. Lantham: Lexington
Books, 2014.
Introduction
I
t is human nature to acknowledge certain people, places, or events in history based
on popular stories, engaging conversations, historical sites, or even a good book.
While some history becomes fantasized or altered to alleviate some of the negative
connotations, history is in fact relevant in everyday life. Virginia provides an excellent
example of living history. No matter where you travel within our state, it is inevitable
that something historical is lurking around every corner. Civil and Revolutionary War
battlefields are plentiful while one of the earliest European settlements, Jamestown
and one of the earlier capitals, Williamsburg are within a twenty-minute car ride of
each other.
Do you remember the first time you visited a museum or historical site? Your parents
might have proposed it for educational purposes or for their pleasure. Perhaps your
school system forced you to attend. Maybe you attempted to come up with an illness but
nothing worked. In the Tidewater region of Virginia, most fourth grade students travel
to Jamestown to experience the establishment of England’s first permanent settlement in
North America. As students step off of the bus, their first thought is “bathroom!” Once
the restroom break ends, students venture into the Native American village, British fort,
and replicas of the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery along the James River. By the
end of their trip, students leave happy and realize that history is not the worst thing in
the world.
Prior to European colonization at Jamestown, French, Spanish, and British explorers
ventured along the eastern seaboard of North America and the Gulf of Mexico. Unbeknownst
to many of them, Natives inhabited the coastlines in numerous tribes. The area of focus at the
beginning of this collection is the Outer Banks of North Carolina, a chain of barrier islands
that separate the Atlantic from mainland North Carolina. Presently known as one of the best
family beaches on the east coast, the Outer Banks caters to millions of tourists each year. The
sun, sand, and surf beckon families to the beach daily and they return to their quaint cottages
in the late afternoon and evening. While this seems pleasant to many, European explorers
looked upon this land like they would a desert island in the 1500s. In the first chapter titled
“The New World,” a group of historians examine the landscape and culture of pre-European
Virginia. Their research then leads to present-day North Carolina, where Spanish, French,
and finally British explorers searched for fame, fortune, and a westward passage to the Pacific
Ocean. The Spanish explored the area twice while the French explored only once. Fast forward
to the 1580s and Sir Walter Raleigh sends three expeditions to the Outer Banks. After what
he believes to be a successful endeavor with the return of the first expedition, Raleigh names
the region “Virginia” to honor the virgin queen Elizabeth. The third expedition remains a
mystery as the colonists vanished from their location. Archaeologists and historians are currently researching possible areas that may soon explain what happened to the “Lost Colony.”
In 1607, 104 men settled at Jamestown with minimal knowledge of colonization. The
first leaders utilized the colony as an enterprise rather than a settlement and nearly crippled
everything within the first year. The rise of Captain John Smith as the leader in 1608 spared
the colony from utter destruction but things would rapidly change in 1609 with the starving
time. July 30, 1619 was the inaugural meeting of the first assembly at Jamestown and the proceedings and procedures were in place shortly after their initial meetings. Brent Tarter’s first
chapter “For the Glory of God and the God of the Plantation” in The Grandees of Government
fixates on the early settlers’ mandates for a healthy colony. The management of the early
colony and a representative government was crucial to its survival.
As Jamestown and the surrounding colonies flourished in the mid-seventeenth century,
the Virginia Company and Crown established trade networks through the use of an Anglican
parish system. April Lee Hatfield’s chapter “English Atlantic Networks and Religion in
Virginia” in Atlantic Virginia: Intercolonial Relations in the Seventeenth Century analyzes the
influence of Puritans and Quakers on Virginia’s growing tobacco economy. Puritans provided
a large number of settlers to the Tidewater and Eastern Shore regions early in Virginia’s history.
While some Puritans migrated from Virginia to the New England colonies, they maintained
their shipping patterns and religious structure. Quakers also followed a similar pattern as the
Puritans, establishing shipping routes along the Atlantic while expanding their communities.
These religious and economic policies continued throughout Virginia and the other colonies
until the beginning of the American Revolution.
Virginians played a pivotal role in the American Revolution. Most Virginians acknowledge the Battle of Yorktown as one of the final decisive victories for George Washington and
2 REMEMBERING THE OLD DOMINION
the Continental Army. John R. Maass assesses France’s Marquis de Lafayette and his military
tactics on and off the battlefield against Britain’s knowledgeable General Charles Cornwallis
in June and July of 1781, approximately three months prior to the Battle of Yorktown. In
The Road to Yorktown: Jefferson, Lafayette and the British Invasion of Virginia, Maass provides
the movements of Lafayette and Cornwallis from the skirmish at Spencer’s Ordinary in
Williamsburg through the Battle of Green Spring near Jamestown. By October, Lafayette and
Washington’s armies squared off in Yorktown against Cornwallis’ British and German armies.
With the aid of the French fleet, Cornwallis surrendered within days but the Revolution
continued until 1783.
The establishment of the Constitution generated a myriad of issues within each state.
Alexander Hamilton’s 1791 proposal of an excise tax on whiskey would disrupt Western
Virginia’s way of life. Pennsylvanians bordering Virginia reacted to the new tax with an
insurrection, known as the Whiskey Rebellion. Although the insurrection remained within
the state’s borders, Kevin T. Barksdale suggests that the Virginia’s border counties felt the
effects of the tax and insurrection. Barksdale focuses on the counties of Ohio, Harrison,
and Monongalia and their relationship to Pennsylvania post-Revolution in “Our Rebellious
Neighbors: Virginia’s Border Counties during Pennsylvania’s Whiskey Rebellion.” Both
Pennsylvanians and Western Virginians struggled to ascertain the requirements imposed by
the tax, leading to the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794.
Nat Turner was born into a Southampton County slave family in 1800. Turner grew up
like many slaves in the area but he had the rare ability as a slave to read. Approximately thirty
years later, Nat Turner led a group of runaway slaves in an uprising, moving from plantation to
plantation. Regarded as one of the largest slave rebellions in American history, Nat Turner’s
Rebellion altered state laws throughout the South. While many historians look at The
Confessions of Nat Turner: The Leader of the Late Insurrection in Southampton County, Virginia,
Anthony Kaye approaches the history through the use of neighborhoods. The closest neighbor could be over one mile away but there existed a common connection between slaves at
each plantation. As the visible figurehead to many slaves in Southampton County, Nat Turner
established a bond within the neighborhoods, leading to the uprising. The aftermath of the
rebellion rang through Southern states and invoked fear throughout each community.
Rather than approaching the Civil War with the typical summary of five years, I decided
to focus on a unique event during the War: the Libby Prison Break. Many Confederate and
Union prisons during the Civil War were overcrowded with deplorable living conditions.
At Libby Prison in Richmond, Confederates housed Union army officers, many of which
died due to malnutrition or disease. In 1864, Colonel Thomas Ellwood Rose of the Seventyseventh Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry resolved to escape from the prison. The story
illustrated by Virgil Carrington Jones in “Libby Prison Break” details the daring escape of
Union officers and their near-misses with Confederate officers while digging tunnels within
feet of the surface. What happened to Rose and company? Did they escape? Keep reading!
Introduction 3
Reconstruction was cruel to Virginians as the state struggled to gain recognition by the
Union after the Civil War. Congress enacted a Reconstruction Bill in 1867 that forced all
states but Tennessee to select military district commanders to delegate military law within
their respective states. The First Military District in Virginia fell to John M. Schofield. Unlike
other districts in the South, Schofield displayed some kindness towards Virginians by preserving peace and reviving voting rights to all men. As James L. McDonough explains in “John
Schofield as Military Director of Reconstruction in Virginia,” the best method of resolving
issues within the South during Reconstruction was moderation.
The end of Reconstruction and the beginning of the 1880s marked a unique time in
Virginia’s history. Many former Confederates lamented the past but searched for something
better in the future. In Richmond, the Virginia Base-Ball Association consisted of numerous
former Confederate soldiers with the Civil War fresh on their minds. Robert H. Gudmestad
posited the Virginia Base-Ball Association served as a tension reliever in the city due to
the popularity of the new sport. How much did these games cost? Twenty-five cents! The
Association failed to calculate the costs of running a professional sporting team and the
cost per ticket required for a profit. To alleviate the problem, the Association created promotional games, brought in “big name” baseball teams, and finally joined a baseball league.
The Association constructed a stadium to allow more fans to watch each game and increase
revenue. The profit played a pivotal role in the structure of the Association, but Gudmestad’s
article “Baseball, the Lost Cause, and the New South” continually discusses the importance
of Confederate veterans keeping the memory of the Civil War alive.
With numerous laws established following Reconstruction, voting rights remained
out of reach for women. Out of forty-five states in 1920, only nine refused to acknowledge
suffrage for women including Virginia. Sara Hunter Graham discusses the role of the Equal
Suffrage League of Virginia in “Woman Suffrage in Virginia: The Equal Suffrage League and
Pressure-Group Politics, 1909–1920.” Established in 1909, the League initially struggled to
maintain interest in suffrage within the state. The League reached out to the community but
met opposition from antisuffrage leagues within and outside of the state. Utilizing methods
from national suffrage organizations, the Equal Suffrage League’s membership increased into
the tens of thousands by 1920, proving the acceptance of the organization within the state.
Virginians started to worry about world powers by the 1930s with the rise of Adolf Hitler
in Germany. The state dispatched a minimal amount of Virginians to Europe during World
War I. At the onset of World War II, Virginians were hesitant to fight another global war.
Military installations throughout the state were modified or reassigned, such as Langley Field
in Hampton changing from a blimp station to a Submarine Warfare Wing. Charles Johnson
analyzes the significance of Virginians and their role during World War II in “V for Virginia:
The Commonwealth Goes to War.” The state created the Virginia Protective Force to defend
the state and the shoreline. Military installations boomed with soldiers and sailors while
shipyards constructed battleships and aircraft carriers in record time. Virginians pitched in
wherever necessary to help America win the war.
4 REMEMBERING THE OLD DOMINION
The civil rights movement ramped up in Virginia following the war through the 1970s.
White elitists attempted to retain control of all political aspects of the state through legal
and often illegal means. The creation of associations and councils led to a larger influx of
franchising and voter registration. Matthew Mace Barbee addresses the significance of voter
registration and the rise of African American organizations that demanded more rights for a
segregated state. Unfortunately deep rooted hatred and the memory of the Civil War, including the one-hundredth anniversary of its end caused a larger struggle than expected at times
in his chapter, “Civil Rights and Memory, 1948–1970.” Finally in 1978 the African American
community gained more political power than before within the state and in 1989, L. Douglas
Wilder accepted the position as state governor.
The purpose of this collection is to create an interdisciplinary approach at understanding
numerous variables within Virginia’s history. The selected book chapters and essays are a
culmination of recommendations from colleagues, emails from students who enjoyed reading required materials from my Virginia history courses, and a few personal favorites. The
following eleven chapters focus on experiences Virginia and its inhabitants faced throughout
the state’s over-four hundred year timespan and its impacts on American history.
Introduction 5