Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation, 1775
John Murray, fourth earl of Dunmore, was the last royal governor of Virginia. Assuming office in September 1771, he won support during what became known as Lord Dunmore’s War in 1774. Ostensibly to protect white settlers in the Ohio Valley region, claimed by Virginia, militia forces defeated a Shawnee and Wingo force at the Battle of Point Pleasant (in present-day West Virginia) in October 1774. Dunmore negotiated a treaty prohibiting the tribes from settling or hunting south of the Ohio River, thus clearing the path for expanded white colonial settlement.
The impulsive Dunmore’s popularity began to wane in 1775, as he alienated key politicians. As tensions between the colony and Great Britain increased, Dunmore, citing rumors of an impending rebellion by enslaved persons, removed gunpowder from the public magazine in Williamsburg in April. Facing withering criticism from the colonie's political leaders, he sent his family back to Britain, fled Williamsburg early in June, and tried to gather Loyalist supporters in Hampton Roads.
On November 7, 1775, Dunmore proclaimed martial law and offered freedom to enslaved people and indentured servants who agreed to fight for the king. His offer of freedom to slaves to fight against white Virginians and his recruitment of a regiment of Black soldiers alienated the remaining influential planters and political leaders who until then had stayed loyal to the Crown. Thomas Jefferson included "prompting our negroes to rise in arms against us" among the grievances against the king in his draft of the constitution adopted by Virginia in June 1776.
Dunmore’s proclamation sparked a flood of enslaved persons to escape (as many as 2,000 reached the governor) and raised widespread fear of a slave rebellion. Dunmore took the offensive at the Battle of Great Bridge in December 1775, but was so soundly defeated that he ordered his ships to fire on Norfolk and his troops to burn warehouses on the wharves. In 1787 Dunmore became governor of the Bahamas, during which time he fell from royal favor. He died at his home in England in 1809.
Citation: By his Excellency the Right Honorable John Earl of Dunmore . . . A Proclamation, 1775, Broadside 1775 .V852 FF, Special Collections, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
Learn more about Lord Dunmore in the Dictionary of Virginia Biography.
VS.6, USI.6, CE.2, CE.7, VUS.5, GOVT.2, GOVT.3
Preview Activity
Think About It: During the American Revolution who do you think enslaved Virginians might have sided with: the British or the American colonists? What advantages/disadvantages could each side offer them?
Post Activity
Analyze: Draw a conclusion about the intent behind the language Thomas Jefferson's grievance in Virginia’s 1776 Constitution and its relationship to Dunmore’s Proclamation.
Form An Opinion: Thomas Jefferson included this grievance in his original draft of the Declaration of Independence, but it was struck out of the final, approved copy. Develop a hypothesis explaining the reasoning of removing this charge from the final Declaration.
This map engraved by Theodor de Bry (1528–1598) was published in 1590 to accompany his reprint of Thomas Harriot's A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia, which he issued in Latin, German, French, and English to ensure the book received wide circulation. Entitled "That part of America, now called 'Virginia'," the map includes the names of Indigenous settlements in the area around Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina and documents the geography of the Outer Banks and the Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds. The entrance to the Chesapeake Bay ("Chesepiooc Sinus") was also named for the first time on a published map.
De Bry's engraving was based on earlier watercolor drawings and maps created by English colonial governor, explorer, artist, and cartographer John White (d. 1593), who, in 1585, was part of a failed colonizing expedition to Roanoke Island, which became known as the Lost Colony. John White's maps were oriented on a north/south axis, but de Bry reoriented his version, so that west is at the top of the map. Many early maps showed west at the top as it was how the area would have looked when arriving by ship from Europe.
This map portrays sea life and Indigenous people (both on land and in canoes on the water). The use of this type of imagery comes from the medieval tradition in which maps provided a visual record of the inhabitants as well as natural features such as animals and plants of an area. De Bry's engravings were used in other publications of the time, written by those who were part of expeditions to the New World to justify further colonization and exploration efforts.
Theodore de Bry was born in Liege, Flanders (now part of the Netherlands), to a wealthy Protestant family and was trained as a goldsmith and engraver. As the Spanish and British began to explore North and South America, de Bry became interested in producing illustrations of the early descriptions from the reports provided by the explorers. He wanted to create images that could be marketed and sold to anyone. The ten volumes of narratives and engravings related to travel in the Americas produced by de Bry and his sons revived English interest in colonization after the failure of the Roanoke colony and served as an important source of information for Europeans who were interested in learning more about the New World.
Citation: Americae pars, nunc Virginia dicta: primum ab Anglis inuenta, sumtibus Dn. Walteri Raleigh, Equestris ordinis Viri, Anno Dn̄i. MDLXXXV regni Vero Sereniss. nostrae Reginae Elisabethae XXVII, hujus vero Historia peculiari Libro descripta est, additis etiam Indigenarum Iconibus. G3880 1590.W4 Voorhees Collection, Library of Virginia.
History: USI.1, USI.2, USI.4, VUS.2, WG.1, WG.3, WHII.1, WHII.2
Science: 4.9, 5.6, ES.1, ES.8
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the map. What do you notice about it? How is it different from other maps you have seen?
Post Activities
STEM Stat: On the map there is an image of a caliper or divider used for measuring distances on a map. What is the measurement being used for this map? How might this information be used by someone who wanted to chart a course to a new location? How might the orientation of the map have affected its overall usefulness?
Analyze: There are a number of items depicted on the map. Why would they have been included? P
This map is attributed to Captain John Smith (1580–1631) and is one of the earliest representations of Virginia. Smith began a three-month exploration of the Chesapeake Bay and its adjacent waterways in June 1608. He interacted with Indigenous peoples and relied on them for information about the region, including areas that he did not visit. The names and locations of Indigenous tribes living in the tidewater region they called Tsenacomoco are included on the map, thereby preserving Indigenous knowledge of the land and the people living there.
Smith intended the map to build interest and support for the Virginia Company's settlement of the colony and the search for exploitable resources for financial gain. While his exploring party never found gold, the lost colony of Roanoke, or a passage to the Pacific Ocean, he did gather enough information to produce a map that accurately delineated the Chesapeake Bay and the tidewater region of Virginia, one of the earliest maps to do so. The map shows the Chesapeake Bay and four major rivers: the Powhatan, Pamunk, Tappahannock, and Patowomec, as they were named by the Indigenous tribes. The English renamed the rivers as the James, York, Rappahannock, and Potomac, respectively. Vignettes on the outside of the map include an illustration of Paramount Chief Powhatan in his lodge.
In November 1608, Smith sent several documents to England, including a “Mappe of the bayes and rivers.” In 1611, he engaged William Hole to engrave the map of Virginia to accompany his pamphlet entitled A Map of Virginia. With a Description of the Countrey, the Commodities, People, Government and Religion (1612). Smith's map was the most accurate and detailed map of the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic coastline produced in Europe until 1673. It was the source for virtually all printed maps of Virginia for more than sixty years and is considered to be one of the most significant maps of colonial America.
To learn more about the map from the perspective of Virginia Indian tribes, watch this video (4:23 min.) on Indigenous Reflections on Smith's Map and the Recovery of Tribal Pasts.
Citation: Virginia / Discovered and Discribed by Captayn John Smith 1606; Graven by William Hole. G3880 1624 .S5 Voorhees Collection, Library of Virginia.
History: VS.1, VS.2 VS.3, VS.4, USI.1, USI.2, USI.3, USI.4, WHII.4, VUS.1, VUS.2, VUS.3
Science: 4.9, 5.6, ES.1, ES.8
Preview Activity
Look at it: What geographic area is shown on the map? What features on the map are different from maps we use today? What do you notice about the map's orientation? Why might John Smith have presented the map in that way?
Post Activity
STEM Stat: English explorers like John Smith did not have much information about the land they named Virginia. What is included in this map? What kinds of things are drawn in detail? What is missing from this map? What can the map tell us and what can it not tell us about this time period?
Analyze: How would this map be useful for people seeking to travel to Virginia or invest in new colonies?
Food For Thought: If you were to draw a map of a place you had never visited, how would you gather information about that place? What would you do differently if you were to draw a map of your home town or city? What would you include and think is important enough to point out to people unfamiliar with the area?
Late in the 19th century, some Virginians became interested in preserving historic buildings and landscapes that documented the state's illustrious past. White women led the effort to establish the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (now known as Preservation Virginia) to preserve 18th century buildings in Williamsburg and the site of the first English settlement at Jamestown. A portion of the land on which Jamestown once stood was donated to the APVA and included the ruins of a church tower constructed in the 17th century. A seawall was built to protect the remnants of the original fort from 1607.
In 1907, Virginia honored the 300th anniversary of the English settlement at Jamestown with an exposition held at Sewell’s Point in Norfolk. Modeled after many national fairs of the era, the Jamestown Ter-centennial Exhibition contained exhibitions, representative buildings of the various state houses, government buildings, restaurants, and an event arcade. African Americans constructed a large building with exhibitions highlighting their contributions to America's past and present. Virginia Indians participated by constructing a village with the intent of reminding the public that they still resided in Virginia, but exposition managers instead required them to re-enact Pocahontas's reputed rescue of Captain John Smith. The exposition was a huge undertaking and considered very costly at the time. In addition to the tourists who attended, the exposition was visited by dignitaries such as President Theodore Roosevelt and author Mark Twain.
After the 1907 celebrations, the site of Jamestown continued to be the subject of academic and archeological investigation. The area came to national prominence in the 1930s with the creation of Colonial National Historical Park. The site was the center of activity as the United States National Park Service and the Commonwealth of Virginia opened tourist operations in 1957 to coincide with the completion of the Colonial Parkway linking the “historic triangle” locations of Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. In 2007, the 400th Anniversary was celebrated at the remodeled and reimagined Jamestown Settlement Living History Museum. Queen Elizabeth II attended the celebrations in both 1957 and 2007 to honor the first English settlement at Jamestown.
Citation: The officers and directors of the Jamestown Exposition request the honor of your presence..., Jamestown, Va., 1907. Broadside 1907 .J3 BOX, Special Collections, Library of Virginia.Social Studies: VS.3, VS.4, USI.5, VUS.1, VUS.2, VUS.3, VUS.13 GOVT.7
Earth Science: ES.11, ES.12
Art: 4.1, 5.1
Preview Activity
Scan It: Scan the document. What is the purpose of the document? What is it celebrating?
Post Activity
STEM STAT: A seawall was constructed to protect the Jamestown site in the early 1900s, but recently the site has been deemed to be one of the most endangered historic sites in the United States as erosion, weather, and various building projects along the James River have taken a toll on the local environment. What you suggest the park do to mitigate the ongoing flooding issues at the original Jamestown site? If the flooding issues cannot be resolved, what would you suggest could be done to preserve the historic artifacts yet to be found on the site?
Think About It: The 1907 exposition was held in Norfolk and not at the historic site. Why would this have necessary given the lack of development and location of the area? Consider the available forms of transportation and technology available in 1907.
Artistic Exploration: Look at the invitation to the Exposition. What do you notice about the invitation's wording, capitalization, and use of color? To what extent does this invitation reflect the 17th century, and not the 20th? Why do you think that was a choice for the invitation designers?
In 1906, Robert Baden-Powell presented this bust of John Smith to the Commonwealth of Virginia. Although best known as the founder of the Boy Scout movement, Baden-Powell was also an artist of considerable skill. The family of Baden-Powell's mother claimed descent from Captain John Smith, with whom Baden-Powell had much in common. Both were military men, authors, and key figures in British colonial affairs.
Captain John Smith was an English explorer who helped establish Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in North America. Smith worked as a soldier of fortune before joining the Virginia Company of London in 1606. He sailed to the New World on the Susan Constant, one of three ships containing crew and supplies. During this journey Smith was arrested for mutiny by the ship's captain, Christopher Newport. Smith was nearly executed, but was saved by the intercession of a chaplain and the captain of one of the sister ships.
After reaching the Chesapeake Bay in 1607, Smith served as one of the governing councilors for the new colony. The first few months of the colony's existence were extremely difficult, and many of Smith's companions died of illness or in fighting with the Indigenous people who lived there.
Late in 1607, Smith was captured by the brother of the Powhatan chief. Smith later recorded that he had been rescued from certain death by Powhatan's daughter, Pocahontas, but the accuracy of this account is debated. The event is sometimes interpreted as a ritual ceremony of execution and rescue that served to symbolically make Smith and the English subordinate to Powhatan.
Smith became the president of the council at Jamestown in the fall of 1608. He established trading relations with several Indigenous tribal leaders and put the settlers to work by enforcing his unpopular rule that "he that will not worke shall not eate." While Smith was able to improve conditions, the colonists failed to produce enough food and they were dependent on trade with the nearby Powhatan Indians. Smith was forced to travel back to England in 1609 after a stray match lit his powder bag and set his clothing aflame, resulting in severe burns. Smith published his Generall Historie of Virginia in 1624, and it remains an important source for those studying this period of American history.
Citation: Baden-Powell, Robert S. S. John Smith. ca. 1905. Bronze. Virginia State Artwork Collection, Library of Virginia, Visual Studies Collection.
VS.1, VS. 3, USI.1, USI. 4, USI. 5, VUS.1, VUS.2, VUS.3
Pocahontas was the daughter of Powhatan, the powerful paramount chief of the Algonquin Indians in eastern Virginia. She was about eleven years old when the English colonists arrived at Jamestown in 1607. Although she had been named Matoaka, she has been best known for four centuries by her nickname Pocahontas. Captain John Smith later credited her as saving his life after he had been captured and taken to Powhatan's home at Werowocomoco, located in what is now Gloucester County. She became a trusted visitor to the fort at Jamestown, delivering messages and food. She was known for her high spirits and was described as turning cartwheels around the fort with English boys.
During the first Anglo-Powhatan War, English colonists kidnapped Pocahontas in April 1613 and held her in captivity for a year. She met John Rolfe, a planter, and agreed to marry him and convert to Christianity. At that time she adopted the English name Rebecca. Their wedding on April 5, 1614, resulted in an interim of general peace in the colony. When the deputy governor sailed for England in 1616 to raise funds for the Virginia Company, Pocahontas went with him along with her husband and infant son and others. While in London she attended balls, plays, and other social events, and was presented to the king. Her family planned to return to Virginia in March 1617, but Pocahontas died before their ship left and was buried on March 21, 1617, in St. George's Church, Gravesend, England. During the 19th century, the story of Pocahontas and how she saved John Smith became legendary in the history of Virginia's founding, while obscuring the life of a courageous young woman who strove to help her people through her actions.
This oil painting was done by artist William L. Sheppard in 1891. He stated that he copied an original painting of Pocahontas that was then hanging in the rectory of Booton Parish, in Norfolk, England. It reportedly dated to 1616, but the identity of the original artist and when the original artwork was painted remain unknown. The Virginia State Library purchased this portrait from the artist during the 1890s.
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the image of Pocahontas. What style of clothing is she wearing? Why might she be depicted in this way? What does her dress tell you about her status?
Post Activities
Be the Journalist: You are a journalist preparing to interview Pocahontas in London. What are the three most important questions you would ask? Why are they important?
This photograph shows a deerskin mantle that was believed to have been presented by Paramount Chief Powhatan (whose given name was Wahunsonacock) to Captain Christopher Newport of the Virginia Company in 1608. The mantle is embroidered with shells and depicts a man and two deer. It would have been worn like a cloak or hung on a wall. The amount of detail that went into creating the mantle indicates that its owner would have been considered a person of stature and wealth.
At the time of the arrival of the English colonists in 1607, Powhatan ruled Tsenacomoco, an alliance of about thirty tribes and petty chiefdoms anchored by the Powhatan Indians. The mantle was part of a ceremony that Newport hoped would improve the strained relationship between colonists and Indigenous Virginians by recognizing Powhatan’s status among the tribes while also showing that he was subordinate to King James I. John Smith warned Newport that Powhatan would not recognize the king's authority over him because he saw himself as a king in his own right. Powhatan refused to travel to Jamestown for the ceremony so Newport and the English traveled to Werowocomoco, the place of Powhatan leadership, along the north side of the York River.
During the ceremony, Powhatan was presented with several gifts including a bedstead and clothing in the English style. In return, he presented Newport with the deerskin mantle and a pair of his old moccasins. When it came time to present Powhatan with his crown, he refused to bend his head so Newport and Smith leaned on his shoulders to force his knees to bend and the crown was placed on his head.
The attempts at alliance failed and relations between the English and the tribes deteriorated. The marriage of Powhatan's daughter Pocahontas to settler John Rolfe in 1614 brought a short period of peace before Powhatan's death in 1618.
The original deerskin mantle presented to Newport is held in the permanent collection of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England. This photograph was part of a collection of large photograph albums prepared by the Virginia State Chamber of Commerce to display at the Virginia Room at the 1939 World's Fair in New York.
Citation: Virginia New York World's Fair Commission. Deer-skin mantle presented to Captain Christopher Newport by King Powhatan. 1939 World's Fair Photograph Collection, Library of Virginia.