4/19-4/20
52 miles
Jamestown is a difficult place for a biker used to stopping at every historical marker on the road. As soon as I got off the ferry crossing the James River, I had to tear myself from the siren call of signs, signs, everywhere signs. It’s a strange pull these signs have on me, as if standing in a place with historical significance can grant me a ticket to a better understanding of the past. I know it’s magical thinking, but there it is.
Here is where George Percy killed Chief Wowinchapunke’s wife and 12 children in 1610, and here is where the first kidnapped Africans were imported in 1619.
I would like to better understand the evolution of race-based slavery. It doesn’t seem to have happened overnight, at least not in Jamestown. By 1640, a biracial group of servants tried to escape. The Whites in the group were punished with a lighter sentence than the one Black servant. The Whites had a limited time added to their servitude. The Black escapee was punished with a lifetime of servitude. The term “Negro slave” becomes enshrined in law in 1660. Lifelong slavery becomes legally enshrined in 1661. And slavery becomes inheritable through matrilineal lines the next year—all laws that would remain embedded in the new nation to be formed in 1776. [This information comes from the exhibit at the Jamestown museum.]
So, from 1619 to 1662, a tragic seed is planted that continues to sprout and continues to undermine our democratic ideals.
The history is ugly, but the setting is beautiful. I snatched an ideal campsite at the Chickahominy Riverfront Park for 2 nights. From my site overlooking the banks of the James River, I watched crew teams practice, listening to their coach’s earnest but patient instructions from motorboats riding just behind them. And I woke up to two delightful sunrises.
I also met a man who shares a name with a famous governor, Chris Christie. But this Chris Christie is walking from North Carolina to Maine to raise funds for dog rescues, and to promote his new social media outfit, which he promises will not be dominated by manipulative algorithms. It’s called The Mill. See thecharactermill.com for more info.
Jamestown marks a change in the route. The roads so far have been mostly flat. Now the hills begin, and that burning sensation in my legs becomes more common.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb8V-q6QQlY&t=324s
Recently, Henry Louis Gates, Jr spoke here in Santa Fe at the Lensic theatre on “The Invention of Race.” Your post today, David, brought this to mind.
Thank you for another thought-provoking bit of history. I quite often turn to maps and searches for more after reading your missives, making a good break from my own research and writing.