Browse Items (26 total)

After the Battle of Great Bridge on December 9, 1775, Lord Dunmore and his fleet abandoned the city of Norfolk. Patriot soldiers from North Carolina and Virginia took control of the city. They refused to provide food and supplies to the British…

After the American Revolution, some Virginians freed some of their enslaved laborers, and by 1800 the population of free Black men and women had increased to nearly 20,000, primarily in urban areas like Richmond and Petersburg. Many white Virginians…

James Lafeyette was born enslaved about 1748. He lived on a plantation owned by William Armistead in New Kent County. Although he is sometimes identified as James Armistead, he never signed his name or self-identified as having the surname Armistead.…

Petitions to the General Assembly were the primary catalyst for legislation in the Commonwealth from 1776 until 1865. Public improvements, military claims, divorce, freeing of enslaved peoples, division of counties, incorporation of towns, religious…

George Washington was born in 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia, to a relatively prosperous family. His father died when he was eleven and so he was not sent to school in England like his older half-brothers, but studied with tutors. He trained…

A bookplate is a small-sized, decorative label that is adhered to the inside front cover of a book. They are used to identify the owner of a book for personal use or for use in a library. Bookplates are designed to reflect a person’s interests or to…

Virginia's General Assembly first met in July–August 1619. At that time twenty-two burgesses representing eleven settlements assembled in Jamestown with the royal governor and his councilors, or advisors. They approved legislation related to tobacco…

Before the Civil War, white women of wealthy backgrounds in urban areas sometimes came together to establish charitable or religious-based organizations to aid the poor and promote virtue. Such activities were seen by some as socially appropriate…

After members of the Convention of 1787 drafted a new constitution for the United States, James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton wrote a series of 85 essays in support of the new government under the pen name "Publius" (a statesman who…

Women played many roles during the American Revolution, but only a few are known to have disguised themselved as men and participated in battle. The penalties for being discovered could be severe. Women who fought in the army tried hard to keep their…