In 1896 the United States Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that racial segregation did not violate the "equal protection of the laws" clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Virginia and other southern states employed the doctrine of "separate but equal" to enforce segregation in public places, including schools. However, white Virginians did not ensure that schools for African Americans were equal to those attended by white students, and as a result Black students received an inferior education to that of whites. On May 17, 1954 the United States Supreme Court ruled in Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas that segregation in schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment and was therefore unconstitutional.
Initially Governor Thomas B. Stanley reacted cautiously to the Supreme Court's ruling, and spoke of his plan to meet with white and Black leaders to determine how to carry out integration in Virginia's schools. However, he succumbed to pressure to resist school integration from U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, white community organizations such as the Defenders of State Sovereignty and Individual Liberties, and Richmond News Leader editor James J. Kilpatrick, who publicly argued that the state had a right to "interpose" itself between its citizens and the enforcement of federal laws including Supreme Court decisions.
On August 27, 1956, Stanley spoke to a special session of the General Assembly. He urged the assembly members to pass legislation that would prevent schools in Virginia from integrating and to include provisions that would remove state funding from any school or school system that attempted to integrate. In this excerpt from his address, Governor Stanley claimed that the responses he received from Virginians from all walks of life unanimously supported the idea that integration should be prevented. However, Virginians who supported integration also wrote to the governor between 1954 and 1956. This group of selected letters to Stanley represent the many voices that were left unheard in his speech.
The General Assembly passed a law that denied state funding to any public schools where Black and white students were taught in the same classroom. Virginia's policy of Massive Resistance resulted in the closure of some public schools that attempted to desegregate. For more than a decade school integration proceeded slowly in Virginia, and some districts ignored court orders until a 1968 Supreme Court ruling required localities to demonstrate actual progress in desegregating their schools.
Citations:
Governor Thomas B. Stanley Speech Before a Special Session of the Virginia General Assembly, 27 August 1956 (WRVA-160), WRVA Radio Collection, Accession 38210, Library of Virginia. Excerpt is 4 minutes long.
Letters in Governor Thomas B. Stanley Executive Papers, Accession 25184, Box 110 (Integration folders, 1954, 1955, 1956), State Government Records Collection, Library of Virginia.
Related entries:
Governor Stanley's Address to Virginians after the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education Decision, May 17, 1954
Preview Activity
Think About it: In 1896 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that separating the races did not violate the rights of individuals to equal protection under the law established in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. As a result of this ruling the "separate but equal" doctrine was established.
What do you think? Do you agree with the Court's ruling in 1896? Explain.
Post Activities
Listen to the Language: Listen to the language of Governor Stanley’s address to the General Assembly on August 26, 1956. What is he arguing? What is he asking the legislators to do? What support is he claiming to have from the people of Virginia in regards to his requests? Whose voices are you not hearing in his speech?
Take a Stand: Read the letters from the citizens whose voices are not represented in Governor Stanley’s address to the Virginia Assembly. You have been chosen to represent these people, whose voices have been ignored, before the General Assembly. Create an address that you would deliver to the General Assembly representing the positions of the people who wrote these letters. Use evidence from the letters to support the arguments you present in your address
Food for Thought: Why do you think Governor Stanley chose not to mention the letters he received supporting school integration when he addressed the General Assembly in 1956?
Cocoonry Building, Photograph, Prince William County, circa 1900
Silk has been produced and sold as a consumer good for thousands of years. The origin of silk production was in China and the earliest known examples date to 3000 B.C.E. For centuries, the trade routes known as the Silk Road stretched beween Europe and East Asia. The Chinese kept their manufacturing process a closely guarded secret, but eventually silkworm cocoons and seeds for mulberry trees (the food source for silkworms) were smuggled to other parts of Asia and to Europe, where manufacturers in areas of France and Italy became the leading producers of silk in Europe. Later, large groups of skilled Flemish and French weavers fled to England as a result of religious persecution, and an industrial complex for silk weaving developed in the 1620s at Spitalfields near London.
Producing silk is complex and requires specialized skills. The silkworm moth (Bombyx mori) has been domesticated for centuries. The result is a creature which is bred and raised on farms with wings too weak to fly and legs unable to crawl more than a foot or so. Silkworms are totally reliant on humans and are very labor-intensive, as they require specific dietary and habitat conditions to thrive. Silkworm larvae begin eating as soon as they emerge. They molt or shed their skin four times and become larger each time they molt. The larvae will grow up to 10,000 times their weight as they eat mulberry leaves almost continually soon after they hatch. Once the silkworms stop eating, their human caretakers build specially constructed frames which provide support and protection for the valuable cocoons. The cocoons are produced when the worm’s silk glands are fully developed, and they begin to secrete a sticky substance called sericin along with the silk threads. The silk threads harden in the air as the larva moves its head in a figure eight pattern. After the larva creates a support for a cocoon, it spins a cocoon from a single, continuous thread of silk which can be over a mile long. The process of spinning a cocoon can take two days to complete. The worm then enters its pupa stage, which, if allowed to continue, will result in an adult moth in about three weeks. Most of the insects, however, are killed with heat in the pupae stage, as they damage the cocoon when they emerge as adults and the heat does not damage the silk.
Given the popularity of silk in England and the development of silk production in Europe, King James I and others encouraged silk production in Virginia in the 17th century. The specialized labor force required, the limited diet of the silkworm (the larvae did not like the native mulberry trees), and the development of tobacco as a more successful cash crop ensured sericulture's failure in the colony. However, small scale silk manufacturing had a resurgence in the 19th century and early in the 20th century in Virginia. The cocoonry building seen in the photograph is an example of the silk industry in Prince William County. The building likely dates back to an earlier time period and was probably no longer used to raise silkworms when the photograph was taken. However, it is one of the few remaining structures attributed to the silk industry in Virginia. Today, most silk is produced in China, Japan, or Korea, with small quantities harvested in Russia and other countries.
Citation: Cocoonry, Mountain View, 1900, Virginia W.P.A Historical Inventory Project, 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: 3.5, 4.5, BIO.7, BIO.8, ES.6, ES.8
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the photograph, what might the building have been used for? Why do you think this?
Post Activities
STEM STAT: English colonists at Jamestown attempted to raise silkworms but found the silkworms to be demanding as they required Asian mulberries and special living conditions to thrive. They also did not handle the heat and humidity of the Tidewater region well. How did the attempts at raising silkworms change the environment? Why might the environment and technological advancements in building design allowed for more success with silkworms in northern Virginia in the 19th century?
Think About It: Consider the challenges in raising silkworms and producing silk. Why do you think the English persisted in their quest to raise silkworms despite the odds?
Another Perspective: Silk was an expensive and popular material in England. Although there was a means to produce silk products in England and Europe, why would the English want to attempt to produce it in the New World? Consider the challenges of raising silkworms and the climate in England.
Cape Charles Lighthouse, Smith Island and Chesapeake Bay, circa 1890
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses. They serve as beacons for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals, reefs, and rocks, and allow for access to safe entries into harbors. Lighthouses have been used for thousands of years and the oldest one still standing dates to the 1st century C.E. Known as the Tower of Hercules, it is located at La Coruna harbor, in northern Spain, and has a cornerstone indicating that it was built using an ancient Phoenician design and was built to honor the Roman God, Mars.
Lighthouses, like the Cape Charles Lighthouse, have a long history of being used to guide mariners along the coastal waterways up and down the east coast of the United States. Three lighthouses have provided sailors safe entrance to the southernmost harbor on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The first lighthouse at Cape Charles was a 55-foot masonry tower that was in use by 1828. Shortly after going into operation, the lighthouse was deemed too low in height and had poor visibility from the Chesapeake Bay. As the location is important to mariners and has shallow areas which could easily set a boat aground, it was decided a new lighthouse would be needed. Erosion also took a toll on the 1828 structure, and it became unsafe for regular use. In 1864, the second lighthouse was built. Located about a mile southwest from the original lighthouse, it was built 600 feet from the shoreline and tidal areas to help prevent erosion damage to the structure. The 150-foot-tall tower also had better visibility and was painted white with a brown lantern room to make it stand out from its surroundings. In 1892, a 25-foot red band was painted 60 feet from the base and around the middle of the tower to make it more visible during the day as shipping traffic increased. By the late 1890s, the lighthouse was under threat from tidal erosion. Jetties of sand and other materials were built into the bay, but the jetties failed and the lighthouse ended up 300 feet from the water with the shoreline eroding at a rate of 37 feet per year. After having served as an observation tower during World War I the second Cape Charles Lighthouse finally toppled into the ocean on July 2, 1927.
In 1895, the current Cape Charles lighthouse wss built on a marsh three-quarters of a mile inland. The design was dramatically different. The tower consists of a central iron tube surrounded by eight massive legs. A central spiral staircase of 216 steps leads to the generator room. Above the generator room is the watch room. The tower is painted white while the upper rooms are painted black. During World War II, three cement observation towers were constructed near the lighthouse to look for any German U-boats that might approach the Virginia coastline.
A brush fire on July 13, 2000, burned down the 1895 head keeper's dwelling, a wood outbuilding, and a storage shed. The two assistant keepers' dwellings were torn down about 1960, prior to automation of the lighthouse, but the head keeper's house, along with an oil house and generator building, were taken over by The Nature Conservancy in 1995. Although the Cape Charles lighthouse is visible from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, its remote location on a marshy barrier island makes it inaccessible except by shallow draft boat. It sits on land that is part of a nature preserve and is not open to the public. No longer maintained by the Coast Guard, the lighthouse is in poor condition. The number of operational lighthouses in the United States has declined as a result of maintenance expenses and with the advent of cheaper, more sophisticated and effective electronic navigational systems.
Citation: Cape Charles Light, 1890. Eastern Shore Public Library (Accomack, VA.). Eastern Shore Virginia Room.
Image is available through the Library of Viriginia online catalog.
Social Studies: VS.1, VS.8, VS.10, USII.3, VUS.8, CE.1, COVT.1
Earth Science: ES.1, ES.10
Physics: PH.1, PH. 4
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the photograph, why might a lighthouse be necessary? What function do they serve?
Post Activities
STEM STAT: The Cape Charles lighthouse was rebuilt twice due to erosion issues. What factors might have been considered when it was built? How would have modern technology made the risk assessment easier and more accurate. Provide an example.
Current Connection: The abundance of natural resources found in the Eastern Shore region is still a factor in economic and public policy decisions today. Identify three competing interests from the perspectives of an environmentalist who wants to protect natural resources and from those in industries seeking to use the natural resources.
STEM STAT: The current Cape Charles Lighthouse is not easily accessed and lies within a nature preserve. How does the limited accessibility help preserve the environment? Why is important to protect watershed areas such as the low-lying marsh areas found along the Eastern Shore?
Virginia Ferry Company, Travel Brochure, circa 1955
History: VS.1, VS.9, VUS.1, VUS.8, CE.12, CE.13
Earth Science: ES.6, ES.8
Art: 4.1, 5.1
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the image on the travel brochure. What do you think it was meant to do? Who might be the desired customer for a ferry trip across the Chesapeake Bay?
Post Activities
STEM Stat: The Eastern Shore, Hampton Roads, and Tidewater regions have long been known for an abundance of waterways which lead to the Chesapeake Bay. There exists an adage that ”water is life.” Consider why early colonists and indigenous peoples chose to live close to waterways like the Chesapeake Bay. What natural resources could be found along the Chesapeake Bay watershed?
Current Connection: The Ferry line ceased operations in 1964 when the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel was opened. How did the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel change the economy of the region? How does it continue to shape the local economy today?
Artistic Exploration: Recreate the travel brochure and include images which might have been of interest to a tourist in the 1940s-1960s who wanted to travel to the Eastern Shore.
Waterways provided the people of the Eastern Shore and Hampton Roads regions with access to food, supplies, and transport long before English colonists arrived in 1607. As English settlements displaced and removed Indigenous people from the land near the waterways, the rivers became important to sustaining a growing population of settlers as the transportation of supplies was critical to survival in the early colonial period. The use of these waterways for transportation of people and goods in eastern Virginia continues into the 21st century.
Early in the 20th century, vehicles transporting goods from the Eastern Shore to southeastern Virginia had to be driven into Maryland and south through Virginia. The Chesapeake Ferry Company, which was formed in 1919 and ran until 1952, provided ferry services to businesses and communities along the Chesapeake Bay, including the Elizabeth, James, and York Rivers. The use of ferries capable of transporting passengers and vehicles opened the region to new businesses and opportunities for tourism.
Travel brochures like this one were a popular means to enticing people to visit the Hampton Roads area. The image and information provided were meant to show the ease of traveling by ferry to areas that were not easily accessed by land routes, such as Old Point Comfort (now known as Fort Monroe), which is located the Chesapeake Bay near Hampton and Norfolk. The ferry lines made visitation to previously difficult-to-reach locations possible, transforming the region into a hub for transportation and tourism.
Today, the Virginia Department of Transportation operates a ferry line that connects Surry County to James City County near the Jamestown area. The newest ferry in the fleet is the 2019 Powhatan. Hampton Roads Transit operates a ferry line that crosses the Elizabeth River from Norfolk to Portsmouth. Although not as popular as they once were, ferries are still important to the local communities that they serve.
Citation: Chesapeake Ferry Company Travel Brochure, Manuscripts and Special Collections, Library of Virginia.
Social Studies: VS.1, VS.9, VUS.1, VUS.8, CE.12, CE.13
Earth Science: ES.6, ES.8
Art: 4.1, 5.1
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the image on the travel brochure. What do you think it was meant to do? Who might be the desired customer for a ferry trip across a river?
Post Activities
STEM Stat: The Hampton Roads and Tidewater region has long been known for an abundance of waterways which lead to the Chesapeake Bay. There exists an adage that ”water is life.” Consider the importance of waterways such as the James and York Rivers; why were many indigenous towns, early English settlements, plantations, mills, and military bases located along waterways? What natural resources could be found along the Chesapeake Bay watershed in Southeastern Virgina?
Current Connection: The Hampton Roads and Tidewater region is a major area for tourism in Virginia and the Jamestown-Scotland ferry is still popular with tourists. How were the early efforts to promote tourism through the use travel brochures similar or different from tourism promotions today?
Social Media Spin: Create an image for a social media post to encourage tourists to explore southeastern Virgnia using ferries and other forms of water transportation on the rivers leading to the Chesapeake Bay.
Richmond's former city hall building, known as Old City Hall, is located on Broad Steet with one side facing Capitol Square and another facing the current city hall building. The building stands out as a remnant of the Gothic Revival style popular early in the 20th century. It featured intricately carved granite façades, grand staircases, and large atriums with skylights. Elijah E. Myers won a national competition in 1886 to design Richmond's city hall. He had previously designed the capital buildings of Michigan, Colorado, Idaho, Texas, and Utah. After the building was constructed for an amount exceeding Myers’s original bid, it was found that he had resorted to bribery to ensure that his design had been selected.
Its site was the location of the previous city hall, built in 1818 by Robert Mills, one of the first American-born professional architects. It had been demolished in 1874 after being found structurally unsound following several changes to the building.
Construction began on the new city hall in 1886. The granite was obtained from nearby quarries on the banks of the James River. When the city council attempted to employ contract workers from out of state to save money, the Knights of Labor and other local union members organized a political campaign that resulted in the election of white and Black council members on a "Workingmen's Reform Ticket." The city council agreed that construction would be performed primarily by local workers, including skilled craftsmen such as iron workers and stonemasons. Although Black laborers were employed in city hall's construction, skilled Black craftsmen were excluded.
The costs of building such a large and intricate structure went well above the $300,000 budget. In 1894, eight years after construction began, it was completed with an astounding $1.3 million price tag. The finished building had four uniquely carved towers, including a clock tower. Despite the imposing thick exterior walls, the interior of the building is centered on a large courtyard with a skylight ceiling and a gallery of archways with columns. In 1915, there were calls to demolish the building to create a pedestrian mall on the north side of the Virginia State Capitol, but the plan did not go forward. The building was used as a courthouse and center of local government until the 1970s when the current city hall building was constructed across the street.
In 1969, Old City Hall was listed on National Register of Historic Places and was designated a U.S. National Landmark in 1971 after it was spared from demolition a second time. Today, the building is used as government office space. Despite undergoing renovations it retains many of the original features, making it a remarkably well-preserved example of 19th century Gothic Revival architecture from Richmond’s past.
Citation: Glass plate Negative of Old City Hall Building, Manuscripts and Special Collections, Visual Studies Collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the image. What makes this style building stand out? Why might the architect have chosen to use this style when designing the building?
Post Activities
STEM STAT: You are working with historic preservationists to find way to restore the original features of the building while making it functional as a 21st century office space. What would you suggest based on the design and structure of the building? How would you go about redesigning the structure to accommodate 21st century needs? What resources would be needed to achieve the desired outcome?
Artistic Expression: Create a print advertisement to encourage tourists to take a tour of Old City Hall. Be sure to include information about the unique architecture and location of the building.
Food For Thought: Old City Hall was spared from demolition twice in its history. Why would people work to save such a building? Why would some want to demolish the building? Consider its location in downtown Richmond, changing styles of architecture, and the cost effectiveness in the upkeep of such the building.
Second Baptist Church was built at the corner of Franklin and Adams Streets in 1906. The building was designed by Wiliam C. Noland, one of the best-known architects of the period and founder of the firm Noland and Baskervill (still operating in Richmond as Baskervill). Noland designed several other religious buildings on Franklin Street, including Beth Ahabah Synagogue and St. James Episcopal Church. Second Baptist Church is considered one of the best still-standing examples of a neoclassical style temple with a peristyle columned portico, a continuous line of columns around the building, and the use of simple geometric forms.
In 1977, Second Baptist became part of the Franklin Street City Old & Historic District. In 1987, the historic district was expanded to protect many important historic civic buildings and residences in the area. Second Baptist is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a federally run program administered by the National Park Service with the goal of identifying, preserving, and protecting historic sited throughout the country.
Second Street Baptist was sold in 1990 to the owners of The Jefferson Hotel, which is also located of Franklin Street. Less than two years later, the hotel owners sought permission from the city to demolish the historic sanctuary, as well as the education building next door to the church to create a parking lot. In 1992, the Richmond City Commission of Architectural Review prevented the demolition, but the Richmond City Council gave permission for the demolition to move forward. In the end, the sanctuary building was saved through a community effort which included preservationists and concerned residents. The education building was torn down and is now used as a surface parking lot for hotel guests.
The former church was used as a storage area for many years, and in 2021 the hotel owners requested permission to demolish the building as a result of structural probblems and a lack of economically viable uses for the building. The efforts to preserve Second Baptist Church are part of an ongoing effort in in the local community and national historic preservation communities.
Citation: Postcard of Second Baptist Church, Visual Studies Collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
History: CE.1, CE.3, GOVT.1, GOVT.8, GOVT.9
Art: 5.14, 7.12, AI.3, AI.6
Science: PH.1, PH.4
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the image on the postcard. What makes this style building stand out? Why would the architect chosen to use this style when designing the building?
Post Activities
STEM STAT: You are working with historic preservationists to find alternative uses for the sanctuary of Second Baptist Church. What would you suggest based on the design and structure of the building? How would you go about redesigning the structure to accommodate 21st century needs? What resources would be needed to achieve the desired outcome?
Be the Journalist: You are writing an article about the issues surrounding Second Baptist Church. Create on outline for your article in which you describe who you would interview for your article, why you would interview these individuals, and what information you hope the potential interviewees will share.
Social Media Spin: Create a social media post in which describe the situation with Second Baptist Church. Be sure to include any information you feel is relevant to understanding the ongoing debate.
John Mitchell Jr. Obituary Announcement, Richmond, 1929
John Mitchell Jr., was the determined and pioneering force behind the success of the Richmond Planet newspaper. Mitchell was born into slavery at Laburnum near Richmond on July 11, 1863. He was the son of John Mitchell and Rebecca Mitchell, who were enslaved by James Lyons, a lawyer and legislator. After his family was emancipated at the end of the Civil War, they remained at Laburnum. Mitchell’s mother taught him how to read and he was able to enroll in school, first at a private school and then at one of Richmond’s public schools, Navy Hill School, early in the 1870s. From 1876 to 1881 he studied at the Richmond Colored Normal School, a high school that specialized in training African American teachers. Mitchell graduated in 1881 as the valedictorian of his class.
Mitchell began his teaching career in Fredericksburg, but returned to Richmond to teach at the Valley School in 1883. A year later the newly appointed school board fired him and 10 other African American teachers. In 1883, Mitchell began writing for the New York Globe and journalism became his focus. In December 1884, at age twenty-one, he became editor of the weekly Richmond Planet. The early years of the publication were a financial struggle, as he edited and published the paper out of his room in a boarding house. The paper soon achieved greater readership and success. Mitchell purchased an electric printing press in 1888 and moved the paper’s headquarters to the Swan Tavern on Broad Street (where the Library of Virginia stands today). The Richmond Planet gained national prominence as an advocate of racial justice and civil rights. The Richmond Planet was a forerunner for other publications and was recognized for Mitchell’s groundbreaking antilynching efforts, which included extensive coverage of lynching cases, lists of lynching victims, and graphic images of lynchings. He also interceded on the behalf of unjustly convicted African Americans by arranging legal counsel, appealing to government officials, and raising funds.
Mitchell used his stature as a "crusading newspaper editor" to propel himself into a political career. In the spring of 1892 he was elected to Richmond's Board of Aldermen from Jackson Ward, and he was re-elected in 1894. He ran for governor in 1921, when African American Republicans named their own ticket in opposition to white Republicans who had excluded them from the party convention. Mitchell’s campaign was controversial and ultimately unsuccessful as he lost the race. Other Black newspapers in Virginia opposed his campaign as they felt it would divide the Black vote.
Mitchell’s troubles continued when the Mechanics Savings Bank that he had established in 1901 fell into crisis in 1922. Mitchell was accused of misusing the bank’s funds. The case was eventually heard by the state Supreme Court, which ruled in his favor and charges were dropped. The community rallied around Mitchell and tried to save the bank while also contributing to his defense fund. Despite their efforts, the bank closed in 1922 and was placed in receivership in 1923. Mitchell was left with no savings and his assets, including the Richmond Planet headquarters, were sold to pay his debts.
Citation: John Mitchell Jr., Obituary Announcement, 7 December 1929, Richmond Planet, Richmond, Virginia: Newspapers, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
Read the full obituary here.
Learn more about John Mitchell Jr., in the Dictionary of Virginia Biography here.
Click here for more information about the Richmond Planet.
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the image from the front page of the Richmond Planet. What does the headline tell you about the subject of the article?
Post Activities
Be the Journalist: What would you write about John Mitchell Jr? Write a paragraph in which you highlight his most significant achievements. Be sure to include why you chose those specific achievements.
Current Connections: What do you think John Mitchell Jr’s legacy is in the fields of education, civics, and journalism? Why do you think his story is relevant today?
Artistic Expression: Design an image depicting the life and death of John Mitchell Jr.
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.