May 18, 1607: Wowinchapuncke at Jamestown, Much Ado About Hatchets?

On this date in 1607, Jamestown was visited by Native American Chief Wowinchapuncke and around 100 of his warriors.  While this was not the first contact between Natives and the English, this interaction would set the tone for the complexities of these two different groups living side by side in the early years of the Virginia colony.  Furthermore, the deviation between the description of this encounter by primary sources, and the outcome shows clear revisionist history on the part of the early Virginia colonists.

 

Wowinchapuncke was the Wereowance of the Paspahege tribe, whose land surrounded (and actually included) Jamestown.  The Paspahege and the English had met before during the exploration of the James River.  In fact, the English scouting party had feasted with Wowinchapuncke on May 4^th, and had listened to an oration by said Chief, which they apparently were unable to understand.  Furthermore, upon arriving at Jamestown, the Paspahege had gifted two deer to the Virginia colonists.  It was, therefore, rather unsurprising that the Paspahege would make another visit.  However, this visit on the 18^th saw the English settlers’ relationship with their native neighbors take a turn for the worse.

 

When Wowinchapuncke arrived at Jamestown with 100 armed warriors at his back, the English settlers became edgy and grew more agitated as the encounter went on.  While George Percy, one of those present, stated that the purpose of the visit was for the Paspahege to freely give the English any land that they wished to develop, what actually happened is up for debate.  However, it is a fact that the Paspahege contingent left after a dispute over an English hatchet.  The English account states that one of the Paspahege warriors had stolen a hatchet and an Englishman retrieved it by physical force.  The English believed that the Natives were inherently thieves and took this action (if the hatchet was taken at all) as proof of their belief.  After that the English apparently got their weapons and, seeing this, Wowinchapuncke led his men away.

 

This misunderstanding, and likely misrepresentation of the event, led to Paspahege assaults on Jamestown later that month.  However, in June, Powhatan orders the cessation of hostilities by the Paspahege.  As the Paspahege are a tributary tribe of Powhatan, they obey his instructions and abruptly end their attacks.  Thus, in a sense, this misunderstanding introduced the English settlers are introduced to the overriding power of Powhatan over this region, and the need for further contact.  However, the resulting skirmishes are a foreshadowing of the bitter border disputes between the English settlers and their Native American neighbors.

 

Wowinchapuncke was killed several years later in another battle with Virginia colonists.  A commemorative marker was erected near Jamestown on John Tyler Highway, marking the vicinity of a possible Paspahege village.  Said site has been excavated.

May 14, 1607: First Landing in Virginia…Take Two, Thats a Wrap!

“Susan Constant,” “Godspeed,” and “Discovery” Replicas.
Taken From: http://www.historyisfun.org/Jamestown-Settlement.htm

On this date in 1607, English settlers from the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery landed at Jamestown Island in Virginia to found what was to become the first permanent English settlement in North America.  This location in particular was decided with regard to both the observations of the settlers, and to the instructions given to them by their proprietors (investors):  the Virginia Company.  The name “Virginia” was chosen to honor Queen Elizabeth I, the “Virgin Queen,” who reigned at the time of a previous colony of the same name.  That colony  (located at Roanoke, N.C.) had failed, but these new “Virginians” were determined that this one should succeed

On April 26, after a four-month journey from England, three ships carrying the Virginia colonists made first landfall at Cape Henry, Va.  That night, they finally opened their instructions from the Virginia Company.  The colony which we now know of as Virginia was essentially a private enterprise run by a group of investors with a mandate (and investment) from King James (the King of England after 1603).  This charter granted the company political rights (granted recognition by European powers, but did not guarantee native cooperation) to a certain area of land.  The orders charged the colonists with finding a defensible location to better defend against Spanish (who were enemies of England at the time, having sent the Armada against them 19 years earlier) attacks.  Therefore, a more inland spot than Cape Henry was needed.  However, the new colony would require access to the sea, as it would need constant supplies from England in order to survive.  The fleet waited at Lynnhaven Bay (or Newport News) while a party of men in a shallop (shallow-bottomed boat) searched the surrounding area for a location that fit the bill.  By May 13, the search party had found a small island on the James River and the fleet set sail for it.  The next day, colonists began disembarking in order to set up the site and to survey the surrounding area.

Jamestown Island was perfect for the strategic aims of the colonists:  an island was more defensible than the coast of Cape Henry, being upriver would give the colonists advance warning should Spanish ships arrive, and there was a small channel that cut into the riverbank, so that ships could actually moor (tie up) to the trees themselves.  One qualification that the site did not fit was the stipulation that none of the native tribes should live between the colony and the immediate seacoast.  The site itself was built in Paspehegh (a tribe owing allegiance to Powhatan) territory, and was sometimes used as a campsite by that tribe.  Worse yet, the island was essentially a swamp and thus a breeding ground for disease, due to the mosquitoes and poor water quality inherent to swamps.  Around midnight, a few Paspehegh braves paddled in on canoes, but fled when the English watchman sounded the alarm.  A few days later, two well-dressed and highly decorated messengers arrived at the fort to announce that their “Weroance” (essentially meaning “Chief”) would meet with them in due course, and bring a large deer as a gift.  Jamestown Island would be the capital of the new colony of Virginia through plagues, famine, war, and multiple burnings until 1699, when it was moved to Williamsburg.

Original Jamestown Fort.
Taken From: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/media/75460/Jamestown-Fort-in-Virginia-1608

This historic landing marks the beginning of permanent English settlement in North America.  The settlement itself began as a small triangular fortress and, over time, expanded to become a large, thriving town.  In recent years, a recreation of the original fort, as well as the three ships, was constructed adjacent to the original town.  For more information as to events and activities, please go to: http://www.historyisfun.org/index.htm

May 6, 1813: Burning of Georgetown, Another Day, Another Rout

Taken From: http://www.kentcountyhistory.org/key/1812_terror.php

 

On this date in 1813, a British force under the overall command of Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn, spearheaded by the HMS Mohawk attacked and burned the towns of Georgetown and Fredericktown on the Sassafras River in Maryland’s Kent County.  This attack was a complete rout for the American militia and resulted in the destruction of both towns, from which they never fully recovered.  However, this attack did result in the creation of a Maryland heroine:  Kitty Knight

 

The attack on the Sassafras River settlements were part of the beginning of the “Chesapeake Campaign,” in which the British Royal Navy, under Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn, engaged in raids on American towns, properties, and installations along the coast of the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers.  The attack on the Sassafras came just three days after the attack on Havre De Grace by the British.  The primary focus of this assault was to be the pillaging of the towns of Georgetown and Fredericktown.  Both towns had in excess of 40 houses, a school, and a Presbyterian church, and were relatively important ports, which contained many supplies desirable to the British.  However, the Mohawk apparently could not negotiate the difficult currents of the Sassafras (which in many ways are even more difficult to navigate today).  Thus, Commander Henry Litchfield, the Mohawk’s commanding officer, landed his men at Turner’s Creek, a small village near the mouth of the Sassafras.  There, they captured James Stavely, a local pilot, and forced him to guide them through the treacherous currents of the Sassafras.

 

The British sent word ahead via local boats that if the towns surrendered peacefully, their homes would be spared, and all lost property would be paid for.  However, the Kent County militia had erected two forts:  Fort Duffy and Pearce Point at Fredericktown and Georgetown respectively, and had over 400 men ready and waiting.  However, after the militia opened fire, they did not kill many of the British force and quickly retreated.  Thus, the British burned several houses and forced the local townspeople to flee.  In total, thirteen dwellings and outbuildings, a cobbler’s shop, a tavern, a granary and a storehouse were destroyed.  However, when the British came to a house at the top of a hill, they were met at the door by a woman who was living in the house.  Her name:  Kitty Knight.  Legend has it that, as British soldiers tried to burn her house around her, she continued to put out the fires and implore the soldiers to desist.  Finally, she was able to meet with Admiral Cockburn, and claimed that the elderly woman who lived there could not leave, and would be burned with the house.  Apparently, Cockburn was suitably impressed by her efforts and withdrew his troops back to their barges, and the two houses were spared.

 

Kitty Knight
Taken From: http://www.kentcounty.com/1812/

 

Due to the devastation inflicted on them by the British, and the gradual silting in of the Sassafras, Georgetown and Fredericktown both have remained not much larger than they were during the War of 1812, and preserve much of their historical charm.  Furthermore, the Kitty Knight House has become an inn and restaurant open to the public.  However, for those who believe in ghost stories, it is also reputed to be haunted.

Location of Georgetown
Taken From: http://www.kentcounty.com/1812/

April 28, 1788: Maryland Becomes the Seventh State…Minus Two Delegates!

Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States

by Howard Chandler Christy.

On this date in 1788, Maryland became the seventh state to ratify the new Constitution and, thus, became the seventh state to join the current union.

The first “constitution” of the new United States of America was called the “Articles of Confederation.”  A confederacy of sovereign states made sense at the time, as all 13 original colonies had initially organized purely for the purpose of resisting British intervention.  Otherwise each state considered itself as a completely autonomous nation-state, with separate laws, customs, and constitutions.  However, when the British signed the Treaty of Paris, and accepted American independence, the various states returned to their relative separatism and several old conflicts resurfaced.  Furthermore, as the central government did not have the power to tax, relying purely on the goodwill of the states, it became clear to all that the central government was chronically handicapped in authority as well as money.  Among the postwar disputes was the boundary between Virginia and Maryland.  Both state’s colonial charters had given each state complete control over this river.  In fact, the resolution of this conflict was one of the first steps towards the amendment of the Articles of Confederation.

In 1785, Samuel Chase, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, and Thomas Stone of Maryland; and Alexander Henderson and George Mason of Virginia met at Mount Vernon to discuss fishing, trading and other navigation rights of each state on the Potomac and Pocomoke rivers.  Their compromise, known as the “Compact of 1785,” clearly established the borders of both states along those frontiers declared that the Potomac was to be to be a common waterway for use by Virginia and Maryland equally.  It also granted equal fishing rights, and divided the costs of constructing navigation aids, defense and curtailing piracy. Furthermore, it provided for commissioners to deal with any further problems that might arise in the future.  This inter-state cooperation provided the example, and impetus for the “Annapolis Convention” of 1786, in which New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware called for a constitutional convention.  Ironically, although it was held in Annapolis, Maryland did not send a delegation (along with South Carolina, Georgia, and Connecticut). Their resolution, along with several rebellions (the longest-running and most intense being Shay’s Rebellion), led to the “Philadelphia Convention” of 1787 and, therein, the “…more perfect union…” that we enjoy to this day.

The Philadelphia Convention was originally intended to simply strengthen the existing Articles of Confederation, but eventually discarded the document (for good reason) in favor of writing a completely new constitution (hence the “to create a more perfect union…” portion of the preamble).  Maryland had sent five delegates to this convention:  Daniel Carroll, Luther Martin, James McHenry, John Francis Mercer, and Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer.  However, two of these men refused to sign the final document:  Luther Martin, and John Francis Mercer.  Luther believed that the plan for a strengthened central government would marginalize smaller states, and supported the “New Jersey Plan” (in opposition to Madison’s “Virginia Plan”), and that, despite the Bill of Rights, it would infringe on states’ rights and, therefore, the rights of the individual.  He was a leading Anti-Federalist alongside Patrick Henry and George Mason of Virginia.  While the convention was ongoing, he broke the pledge to secrecy under which the convention had met and informed the Maryland House of Delegates of the changed nature of the convention’s purpose.  However, the Maryland legislature largely ignored his protestations and ratified the new constitution.

     

Luther Martin                                                     John Francis Mercer

April 26, 1607: First Landing in Virginia…Take One

Arrival of First Landing Party 

From http://virginiaplaces.org/ggs380/2012week8.html

On this date in 1607, three ships carrying 104 colonists arrived at Cape Henry, near modern-day Virginia Beach.  The names of the ships were Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery under the overall command of Captain Christopher Newport.  Their mission:  to establish an English colony in the New World in the name of King James I (and VI of Scotland) which they would name “Virginia.”  The name was taken from a previous colony set up by Sir Walter Raleigh decades earlier.  Located in modern-day North Carolina, that settlement itself was named Roanoke, and was abandoned around 1590.  “Virginia” was chosen to honor Queen Elizabeth I, the “Virgin Queen,” who reigned at the time.  The colony which we now know of as Virginia was not directly paid for by King James (the King of England after 1603); a charter was granted to the “Virginia Company” by the king, giving the company political rights (granted recognition by European powers, but did not guarantee native cooperation) to a certain area of land.

According to accounts written by John Smith and others, the flotilla of ships made sight of land (Cape Henry) around 4:00 am.  Shortly thereafter, they made landfall and observed the local fauna and flora.  The colonists had been at sea for around four months with a few stops in the Canary Islands and Puerto Rico.  As such, they were in need of fresh water and supplies, which they apparently found in some lare quantity.  Captain Newport named the two capes at the mouth of the “Chesupioc” (an Algonquian word for the Chesapeake Bay) after King James’ two sons, Henry (the Prince of Wales), and Charles (future King Charles I).  The ship’s Chaplain, Robert Hunt, held a prayer of thanksgiving for their (relatively) safe travel.  After spending most of the day ashore, the shore party was attacked by several Native Americans at dusk, and both Captain Gabriel Archer and another sailor named Matthew Morton were wounded.  That night, the expedition’s leaders open a box containing the Virginia Company’s instructions for the proceedings of the colony.  In particular, the orders not only charge the colonists with finding a more inland location to better defend against Spanish (who were enemies of England at the time, having sent the Armada against them 19 years earlier) attacks, but also the names of those who would serve on the ruling council for the colony.

The names mentioned were Captain Bartholomew Gosnold (of the Godspeed), Edward Wingfield, Captain Newport (of the Susan Constant), Captain John Ratcliffe (of the Discovery), John Martin, George Kendall, and Captain John Smith.  Smith’s inclusion was a shock to the other colonists, as, at the time, he was imprisoned aboard the Susan Constant for conspiring to “…usurpe the governement, murder the Councell, and make himselfe kinge.”  Newport had, in fact, built a gallows in the West Indies and only spared Smith’s life at the urging of Captain Gosnold.  In fact, it was not until June 15 of that year that Smith was exonerated and given his seat on the council.  Also that night, they elected Wingfield to serve as president of the council, the very first recorded free election in what was to become the United States of America.  They waited at Lynnhaven Bay (or Newport News) until May 13, searching for a suitable spot to build a settlement.  On May 13, they landed at a small spit of land on the James River, which they would name Jamestown.  However, before they left Cape Henry, they planted a large wooden cross at the site of their first landing in Virginia.

The site of this historic event is possesses several monuments.  The monument commemorating the original wooden cross is a stone cross, erected by the Daughters of the American Colonists in 1935.  The site also overlooks the area where the Battle of the Virginia Capes took place in 1781, and through its French victory completely ended all hope of the British at Yorktown for relief.  Furthermore, the historic Cape Henry Light(house) is also near the site.  The entire site is administered by the National Park Service.

Cape Henry Memorial Cross

From http://www.nps.gov/came/index.htm

Statue of Captain Christopher Newport, Intersection of Warwick Boulevard and J. Clyde Morris Boulevard, Newport News, Va.

From http://www.nnpaf.org/public-art-in-the-city/other-public-art/

April 23, 1635: War on the Chesapeake – Claiborne vs. Calvert, Round 1

From Appletons 1880 Cyclopedia of American
Biography.

1st Governor of Maryland

On this date in 1635, the sloop Cockatrice, engaged the St. Margaret and St. Helen at Pocomoke Sound.  The Cockatrice fought on behalf of William Claiborne, a prominent Virginia colonist who operated a trading post on Kent Island.  Claiborne had sent the sloop in retaliation for the seizure of one of his boats by Maryland commissioners, who were attempting to dislodge him from the island.  This was the first in a series of conflicts, legal and armed, over who controlled Kent Island:  Maryland or Virginia.

Claiborne had first settled Kent Island in 1631, and established a trading post for which he had been given a charter by King Charles I.  He named the island Kent after the county of his birth in England.  However, he had not received an official land grant for Kent Island and the 1634 land grant given to George (and then Caecilius) Calvert established that Kent Island was part of the new Maryland colony.  By this point, Claiborne had established mills and brought in shipwrights, coopers (barrel-makers), and other skilled personnel in order to create a permanent settlement.  The new governor of Maryland, Leonard Calvert, offered to allow Claiborne to keep Kent Island, so long as he agreed to acknowledge the authority of the Maryland government.  Claiborne, as a prominent member of the governing Council of Virginia, refused, which most Virginians supported.

In response to his defiance, Calvert sent out a number of commissioners to stop and seize all unauthorized ships and trading areas in the Chesapeake Bay.  Henry Fleete, one of the commissioners and a fellow (to Claiborne) trader, seized the pinnace Long Tail belonging to a merchant working with Claiborne, along with its cargo.  Claiborne sent the pinnace Cockatrice, under the command of Lietenant Ratcliffe Warren, to find and recapture the boat.  On April 23, 1635, the Cockatrice engaged the St. Helen and St. Margaret under the command of commissioner Thomas Cornwallis off Pocomoke Sound.  The Cockatrice was soundly defeated with three Virginians and one Marylander killed.

This battle, despite its victory for Maryland, was relatively indecisive in deciding who controlled Kent Island.  Kent remained in Claiborne’s hands until 1637, when he sailed for England to resolve a legal dispute.  However, this battle, and subsequent events, helped to undermine and eventually destroy the rule of Governor Harvey of Virginia, whose council denounced his approval of Maryland’s actions.

Pocomoke Sound is on the Virginia side of the Maryland-Virginia border, and is located to the east of Tangier Island (see picture below)

http://dswcapps.dcr.virginia.gov/htdocs/HUgeo/riverbasins_l_2m

Replica of a 17th-century Pinnace: Discovery
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=40253

April 15: Tragedy in Boston.

This author wishes to express his outrage at the senseless bombings in Boston yesterday, as well as my personal condolences to those 3 killed and 176 injured and to their families.  All of America grieves with you.  I have no doubt in my mind that we will find and punish those responsible, whoever they may be, and, hopefully, bring justice to those who were injured.  Furthermore, this author wishes to express his gratitude and praise towards those brave souls who helped those who were injured, and to contain the situation.  You are the embodiment of the courage, strength, and compassion that makes the United States the greatest nation on Earth.  We will never forget those who were killed and those who were injured, and we will never forget the sacrifice of those who ran into the face of danger in order to help them.

Bill Johnston

March 25, 1634: Maryland Day

St. Clement’s Island, taken from http://stmarysmdtourism.blogspot.com/2010/05/celebrate-st-marys-countys-heritage.html

On this date in 1634, the first colonists under the auspices of the recently chartered “Maryland Colony” made landfall in what is today St. Clement’s Island in St. Mary’s County, Maryland.  The colonists on the two ships the Ark and the Dove numbered 140 and had set sail from Cowes, England on November 22, 1633.  After an arduous transatlantic journey, during which the smaller of the two ships, the Dove was separated from the Ark for nearly two months, the colonists reached the Potomac River in early March. Much of that month was spent in negotiations with the Conoy Indian tribe, who had been alarmed by the presence of the two ships off of their territory.  On March 25^th the colonists rowed ashore to an island on the Potomac, which they named St. Clement’s after the patron saint of mariners, Saint. Clement, the feast day of whom they had made their embarkation.  There, they held a mass presided over by Father Andrew White, a Jesuit Priest.  This was the first Catholic Mass celebrated in the 13 British colonies.  Also, a declaration of religious toleration was read out by Leonard Calvert, the first of its kind in the future United States.  This date was also the Feast of the Annunciation, commemorating the beginning of the Virgin Mary’s pregnancy with Jesus, as well as the English legal New Year (before 1752).  Maryland Day was created first as a school holiday in 1903 by the State Board of Education, as a date set aside purely for the study of Maryland history.  In 1916, the Maryland General Assembly voted Maryland Day as an official legal holiday.

In 1934, Maryland Governor Albert Ritchie dedicated a 40-foot stone cross in memorial of Maryland’s 300^th Birthday.  This cross also marks the site of the beginning of the concept of free religion in what was to become the United States of America.  St. Clement’s Island has become an official state park with a corresponding museum, which opens at 10:00 am and operates until September from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.  From October 1^st to March 24^th the museum operates from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm.  It is located at 38370 Point Breeze Road, Colton’s Point, MD.  Also, Piscataway National Park is approximately where negotiations were made between Leonard Calvert and local Native American Tribes.  It is located close to Fort Washington, and to the town of Piscataway in Prince George’s County, Md.

Commemorative Cross and reconstructed Blackstone Lighthouse, taken from http://stmarysmdtourism.blogspot.com/2010/05/celebrate-st-marys-countys-heritage.html

Reconstructed “Dove” at Historic St. Mary’s City, photograph taken by author.

Leonard Calvert, oil on canvas (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

March 21, 1617: Pocahontas Dies in England

 

In March of 1617, Pocahontas and her recent husband, John Rolfe set sail from England for Virginia after an almost year-long tour of England.  Pocahontas was the daughter of the paramount chief of the Tsenacommacah (referred to as Powhatan after the area where he was born), a network of Algonquian-speaking tribes in the Virginia tidewater region.  As such, the English referred to her as a princess, which, despite her relation to Powhatan, and Virginia colonist Captain Ralph Hamor’s reference to her as Powhatan’s “delight and darling,” she would not have been in the line of succession in the European sense.  In fact, according to the historian William Stith, she was originally named “Matoax” or “Matoaka,” but was introduced as Pocahontas to the English, possibly out of fear that by knowing her true name, they might have power over her. She was born in the village of Powhatan capital of Werowocomoco in an unknown year (although John Smith mentioned that she was “…a child of tenne years old” in 1608).  Her first contact with the English was with John Smith in April of 1608, after his capture, in December of 1607, where she famously saved him from execution (although it may have actually been a ceremony for Smith’s initiation into the tribe, as Smith told a similar story about his capture by Turks in 1602).  Despite the fictitious accounts of romance with Smith (such as the 1995 Disney film of her name), there is no conclusive evidence of such relations.  She married John Rolfe, the first Virginia planter, on April 5, 1614, supposedly to win back English captives taken during the First Anglo-Powhatan War of 1609. However, the marriage did not succeed in that endeavor.  After bearing Rolfe a son, Thomas, she was taken to England on a public relations tour, meeting King James and attending social functions at Whitehall Palace in London.  While traveling down the River Thames, she took ill and died, although the actual causes are as, yet, unknown.  She was buried at Gravesend, England, at Saint George’s church.  However, her exact burial site is unknown as a fire destroyed that church in 1727.

Pocahontas has been viewed by history as a peacemaker between the English colonists of Virginia, and the native Powhatan residents.  Her son by John Rolfe, Thomas (born 1615), is the ancestor of a number of famous Americans and many of the First Families of Virginia.  Members of the Byrd and Randolph families claim ancestry to her, such as Virginia Governor Harry Flood Byrd, and George Wythe Randolph.  Two First Ladies of the United States, Edith Bolling Galt Wilson (through the Bolling family) and Nancy Reagan, also claim descent from her.  Her husband, John Rolfe, was the first European tobacco planter in the Chesapeake Bay region, successfully cultivating tobacco from Trinidad (which was sweeter and thus more popular than the native Virginia tobacco).  This helped cement Virginia as a profitable and thus sustainable colony, and formed one of the bases for the Tidewater Chesapeake economy for centuries.  After being captured in 1613, and held in exchange for English prisoners, she converted to Christianity under the ministry of Alexander Whitaker, and took the name “Rebecca,” by which she was known in England.  Because of this conversion, she has been used as an example for the potential of Native Americans to be converted to Christianity (by consent or by force) and integrated into European society, possibly founding the basis of further such attempts and the famous/infamous “Indian Schools” of the 19^th century.  For these reasons, among others, Pocahontas is considered to be one of the most significant figures in Tidewater Chesapeake Bay history.  Her birthplace, Werowocomoco, is thought by modern archaeologists to be near Puritan Bay on the York River, and the archaeological site is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.  The Jamestown Settlement living history museum (near the site of the original settlement) has a recreated Powhatan village which gives a sense of the environment in which Pocahontas may have grown up.  Furthermore, the Pamunkey Nation, one of the original tribes making up the Powhatan Paramountcy, retains some of their original lands in a 1200-acre reservation in Virginia, as well as the Pamunkey Indian Museum, built in 1979 (for further information, visit the Pamunkey Indian Tribe website at:  http://www.pamunkey.net/)

Location of Werowocomoco on John Smith’s Map, taken from http://www.virginiaplaces.org

 

Geographic location of Werowocomoco, taken from http://www.virginiaplaces.org

 

 

March 10, 1794: Naval Act of 1794 Passed by Congress

In 1793, two major events forced the newborn American Republic to seriously consider the creation of a formal Navy:  the execution of King Louis XVI and the subsequent declaration of war against Great Britain and the Dutch Republic (two of the greatest naval powers at that time), and the escalation of Algerian pirate activity to the point where American shipping in the Mediterranean virtually ceased.  Before the War of Independence, American ships had been protected by the Royal Navy, as well as the Crown’s “subsidies” (bribes) to the Dey of Algiers.  However, after independence was gained in 1783, that protection ended, and American shipping was increasingly targeted for piracy.  Furthermore, with large-scale European warfare came trading opportunities, as ports in the Mediterranean were willing to pay large sums for much-needed supplies.  This made the Algerian crisis a major economic as well as political issue.  Prior to this crisis, many in Congress were highly critical of a standing navy, because of its substantial costs in construction and maintenance.  However, with a de-facto blockade against American shipping, the costs of a navy became outweighed by the economic cost of allowing the crisis to continue.  In January of 1794 a bill was brought before Congress called the “Act to Provide a Naval Armament.”  This would authorize the construction of six frigates:  four of these armed with 44 guns (cannons), and two armed with 36 guns.  These ships were designed by Joshua Humphreys, a Philadelphia shipwright.  The two 36-gun frigates eventually had their armament increased to 38 guns and both were built in Chesapeake Bay seaports.  These two ships would eventually be named USS Constellation, and the USS Chesapeake.  The Constellation would be built at Fells Point in Baltimore, MD, and the Chesapeake would be built at the Gosport Naval Yard in Norfolk, VA.  By 1796, however, a treaty had been signed with the Dey, promising a tribute of up to $1 million in bribes and ransoms, as well as the construction of a 32-gun frigate for the Dey.  As the 1794 act had stipulated that construction of the frigates would cease in the event of peace with Algiers, Washington begged Congress to allow for the continuation of the frigates’ building.  Congress allowed building to continue on the United States (being built in Philadelphia), the Constitution (Boston), and the Constellation (Baltimore), as they were the closest to completion.  The others remained unbuilt until the Quasi-War with France in 1798.

This act not only laid the foundation for the modern United States Navy, but in building these ships in American shipyards from an American shipwright’s plans, helped to cement large-scale shipbuilding as an industry in the United States.  Prior to this act, little infrastructure existed for the construction of large vessels in the United States, and industries for the manufacture of large cannon, powder and naval weaponry were in their infancy.  The order to build these frigates stimulated an expansion of manufacturing, logging, and the roads needed to transport materials to shipyards.  It also cemented the cities of Baltimore and Norfolk as centers of shipbuilding and manufacturing, both of which would fuel the economic expansion of the Chesapeake Bay region.  While Fells Point is no longer a center of industrial output, much of its industrial-era heritage remains as part of the Fells Point Historic District.  Ongoing walking tours are available to further educate visitors as to its history.  The Constellation was the namesake of the 1854 sloop of war which currently resides in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.  The Gosport Naval Yard was leased to the U.S. Navy from Virginia for the construction of the Chesapeake, and remains one of the largest and most important naval installations in the United States.  This facility still employs thousands directly and many other businesses cater to the workers at this facility, further contributing to the economy of the Chesapeake bay region.

For helpful sources, please refer to the “References” section under March of the aforementioned date.