Category: Virginia history
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In Search of the Fountainhead of Religious Freedom in Virginia
by James Wyatt Whitehead, V A recent trip to study the Civil War battlefield of Fredericksburg brought me to stately Washington Avenue in one of Virginiaโs most historic cities. The street is adorned with grand Victorian mansions and Kenmore, the colonial home of Fielding and Betty Lewis (George Washingtonโs sister). Here stands a statue to…
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What Happened to All Those Promises to Defend Virginia’s Heritage?
by Donald Smith Many Baconโs Rebellion readers โ me included โ worry that Virginiaโs history is being erased and scourged and its heroes demeaned. The November 2021 state elections gave us cause for cheer. During his campaign, Glenn Youngkin indicated that he would stand up to the โWokeratiโ working their way through the Old Dominionโs…
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Teaching History the Right Way
by James A. Bacon Broadly speaking, there are two interpretive frameworks for viewing the history of the United States. The traditional framework sees the glass as half full: the U.S. was founded on the ideal that all men were entitled to equal rights that provided for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Although those…
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RVA 5X5: Enrichmond and the City’s Radio Silence
by Jon Baliles I wonโt do a โTop Stories of 2022โ list for this newsletter, but if I did, one of them would surely be the collapse of the Enrichmond Foundation and the radio silence on all fronts concerning its finances, the groups that depended on it, their assets, and the two historic Black cemeteries…
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A Powerful Defense of Thomas Jefferson
๏ปฟ In this interview with Jean Yarbrough, author of American Virtues: Thomas Jefferson on the Character of a Free People, Douglas Murray explores Thomas Jefferson’s life and legacy, and dissects the modern-day assault on Jefferson’s reputation.
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Virginia Board of Education:ย Stay the Course
Standards and Curriculum Framework are Both Needed โ Not One Without the Other by Kathleen Smith In November, the Board of Education put off the approval of the Virginia History and Social Science Standards again. The Board members seemed quite perplexed as they were asked to approve only the Standards without the Curriculum Framework โ-…
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The Curious Case of Anthony Johnson
by James A. Bacon The man who would come to be known by the English name of Anthony Johnson was born in the Angola region of southern Africa, enslaved by the Portuguese, and transported to Virginia for sale. There he was sold to a colonist, and then resold to a merchant planter by the name…
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Virginia’s Monuments War
In Charlottesville and Richmond, the fate of historical statuary hangs in the balance. by Catesby Leigh Charlottesvilleโs public spaces suffered major degradation after George Floydโs killing, thanks to the removal of five noteworthy statuary works erected between 1909 and 1924: a Confederate sentinel known as Johnny Reb perched on an elaborate pedestal flanked by two…
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Those History and Social Studies Learning Standards: Another Perspective
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Predictably, the Youngkin administrationโs proposed Standards of Learning for History and Social Studies have ย created controversy. Being able to compare the administrationโs proposal with the Standards developed by the previous Board of Education that were ready for consideration and adoption, but put on hold by the Superintendent of Instruction, would add some…
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Teaching History as the Struggle for a “More Perfect Union”
The Youngkin administration has published a document, “The Guiding Principles for Virginia’s 2022 History and Social Science Standards Revisions,” which lays out the thinking behind revisions to the history and social-science Standards of Learning standards. The document does not dictate what teachers will teach. To the contrary, it states explicitly that the goal is to…
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Statue Preservationists, Find Better Ground!
by Donald Smith God, give me the strength to change what I can, the serenity to accept what I cannot, and the wisdom to know the difference. Thatโs the โSerenity Prayer,โ and those of us who want to see Virginiaโs Confederate heritage respected (or at least tolerated) need to say it. Often specifically, we need…
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Jamestown Settlement – A Flawless Weaving of American History
by James C. Sherlock Sunday, on a brilliant fall day in Hampton Roads, my wife and I went on an outing. Despite having lived in Virginia for many decades, neither of us had ever been to Jamestown. We all know the outlines of the story. Jamestown was founded in 1607 as a commercial venture by…
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The War on Virginia’s History
by Scott S. Powell and Ann McLean The United States is under a cultural and ideological attack that threatens its continuity and survival more than at any previous time in the 239-year history of the nation. And since the leaders of this attack think strategically, it should come as no surprise that Virginia would be…
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How to Think About Monuments
by James A. Bacon The conservative movement in Virginia faces a huge dilemma: how to build a “big tent” political coalition that is welcoming to African Americans and other minorities while resisting the cultural cleansing of everyone associated, however remotely, with the Civil War, slaveholding or segregation — including founding fathers of the republic such…
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It’s a Memorial, Not a Racist Ideology
by Carol J. Bova Accounts from lawyers, reporters, pundits and other outsiders have severely distorted the debate over the Confederate memorial in Mathews County. To The Washington Post, the controversy is about the โenduring power of the Civil Warโs legacy.โ To the Washington Lawyersโ Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs and Wilkie, Farr &…