Defense of Thomas Jefferson: Many of us have harbored ambivalence toward Thomas Jefferson for all the reasons set down in this article. Perhaps it is time to rethink the dilemma Jefferson himself must have faced. To me, the word, paternalism, jumps out. What was he to do with the slaves he owned? At this particular [...]

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On this day in 1865, the United States House of Representatives passed the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by a vote of 119 to 56. The amendment abolished slavery. Although the Senate had already approved the legislation the previous April, the House had voted it down in June before finally approving it. Lincoln signed [...]

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Having been tried, found guilty of high treason, and sentenced to death by a Parliament-appointed High Court of Justice, England’s King Charles I was executed on this day in 1649. One can find a particularly dramatic account of the event on page 2,852 of the Library of Universal History and Popular Science …* (1910): King [...]

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On this day in 1849, the normally close-mouthed R. L. T. Beale of Westmoreland County made an impassioned speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in defense of proslavery members and their attempts to find common ground on the issue. You might recall Daniel Bryan from the other day, and his own [...]

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This haunting photograph of 76-year-old Carrie Buck Detamore was taken in February 1980. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, at the time she lived forgotten in a one-room cinderblock house off Rio Road in Albemarle County. The house had no plumbing and only a wood stove for heat. She was a small, shy, pleasant woman. She [...]

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The exhibit Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello: Paradox of Liberty opens today at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. This has been a huge undertaking by the historians at Monticello, and the New York Times has pronounced their efforts to be good: The contradictions in notions of liberty could not be more [...]

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Yesterday the encyclopedia staff road-tripped it to Richmond, where we gathered with our friends at the Library of Virginia to inaugurate a new era for Encyclopedia Virginia and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. We are now officially partners with the Library in this ambitious encyclopedia project of ours and, in particular, have become the [...]

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On this day 150 years ago, U.S. president Abraham Lincoln issued the remarkable General War Order No. 1, which called for a coordinated land and naval attack on Confederate forces no later than by February 22. A supplemental order designated Joseph E. Johnston‘s forces at Manassas as the target. Why was this remarkable? Because Lincoln, [...]

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On this day in 1820, a poet and first-time politician named Daniel Bryan cast the only vote against the Senate of Virginia’s bill of support for the Missouri Compromise. He then did something even more remarkable for a Virginian of his day: he delivered a long and impassioned speech against slavery. Here’s a description from [...]

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On this day in 1554, Sir Thomas Wyatt led a revolt to protest Queen Mary’s intended marriage to Philip II of Spain (ewwww, a Catholic) and, while he was at it, to put Princess Elizabeth on the throne. Elizabeth denied knowledge of Wyatt’s plans, but the queen ordered her to the Tower of London anyway. [...]

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On this day in 1814, Francis Harrison Pierpont was born in what is now West Virginia. Fittingly, he helped to found the state. Eleven years later, George Edward Pickett came into the world already wearing a tailored Confederate uniform, gold spurs, and shoulder-length brown hair. Did he also yell “Charge!”? Probably not.* On this day [...]

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“Neglect and outright ill will have distorted the teaching of the history and character of the United States. We seek to compel the teaching of students in Tennessee the truth regarding the history of our nation and the nature of its government … No portrayal of minority experience in the history which actually occurred shall [...]

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On this day in 1661, the York County Court was gaveled into session, and with all appropriate fuss the presiding judge demanded the immediate arrest of one William Clutton, servant: “It evidently appearing that ye said Clutton hath at several times & places uttered & spoken mutinous & seditious words tending to ye tumultuous and [...]

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An earlier post responded to some of the most interesting comments on the Washington Post regarding my critique of Virginia’s new fourth-grade history textbook. Again: short version of the argument is that facts are important. But the narrative you construct out of those facts still has to make sense, and in this case it doesn’t. [...]

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Last week, Washington Post education writer Valerie Strauss reprinted my blog post on the new edition of Virginia’s fourth-grade history textbook. My argument is that even though the new edition has its facts largely in order, that’s not enough. The narrative you construct out of those facts still has to make sense, and in this case, [...]

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On this day in 1847, a man then in his early thirties and living in Richmond sat down to write his autobiography: Richmond January 23th 1847 from my own observations I have seen and heard many things which I shall never forget and as I wish to see how the world go while I am [...]

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I love to find an excuse to post artwork on this blog. Yesterday, on the occasion of his birthday, I found a painting of Stonewall Jackson, more or less by accident, and was pleased that the artist himself commented on the post. Today, on the occasion of her birthday, I thought I’d post some lovely [...]

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On this day in 1824, Thomas J. Jackson was born in Clarksburg, Virginia (now West Virginia), the third child of Jonathan Jackson and Julia Beckwith Neale Jackson. The future Confederate general signed his name “Thomas J. Jackson” and tradition asserts that his middle name was Jonathan, in honor of his father. Our entry notes that [...]

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On this day in 1861, his native Mississippi having seceded, Jefferson Davis bid farewell to the United States Senate. The text of his speech amounts to an apology for states’ rights and secession and includes the declaration that, hey, if Massachusetts had wanted to do it, “I will say to her, Godspeed.” Why would the [...]

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The Daily Mail has reprinted several photographs of Richard and Mildred Loving taken for Life magazine by Grey Villet while the couple fought in the courts for recognition of their marriage. The United States Supreme Court, in Loving v. Virginia, struck down Virginia’s anti-miscegenation law. Twenty images show the tenderness and family support enjoyed by [...]

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On this day in 1809, Edgar Poe was born in Boston, to traveling actors David Poe Jr. (a Baltimore, Maryland, native) and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins (an emigrant from England). The “Allan” came later, after Mr. and Mrs. Poe had died and young Edgar became the foster son of John and Frances Allan. One of the [...]

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Last week’s post on the problems with the new, more factually accurate edition of Virginia’s fourth-grade history textbook, Our Virginia, is creating some discussion. George Mason professor Zachary Schrag has commented, asking what leeway textbook authors have to stray beyond the state standards, while the Washington Post‘s education blogger, Valerie Strauss, has generously reprinted the [...]

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On this day in 1806 or 1807, Robert Edward Lee was born at Stratford in Westmoreland County, the youngest son of Henry Lee III and Ann Hill Carter Lee. We have already indicated this week the ways in which Lee’s legacy has been long and troubled. The journalist and blogger James Fallows piles on, posting [...]

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Jefferson Jefferson JEFFERSON!!! outrage Jefferson DNA father oops some shame Thomas scandal Sally defending Hemings Jefferson Jefferson Hemings disgusting Jefferson can you TJ believe Sally end times vindication fallacies Thomas Jefferson Jefferson Jefferson omissions Jefferson contradictions family black mixing master white Jefferson slave Sally Hemings mulatto dirty Jefferson linen Paris you and the plantation ooh [...]

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On this day in 1899, Jedediah Hotchkiss died in Staunton, Virginia. A New York native, Hotchkiss opened a school in 1859 in Augusta County, but his first love was mapmaking. As a staff officer to Confederate general Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson during the American Civil War, he exploited his topographical skills to great effect during [...]

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