When considering the genealogical history of our family, we must keep in mind that the first English settlers came to this continent in 1587. The first English person born on the continent was Virginia Dare (born 1587), first child born of English parents in America. In 1587 the English soldier and explorer Sir Walter Raleigh (founder of the Colony of Georgia) sent a group of colonists under John White to establish a settlement in North America to be known as Virginia, after Queen Elizabeth I, who was called the Virgin Queen. About a month after the colonists settled on Roanoke Island, off present-day North Carolina, a child was born on August 18 to Ananias Dare, a member of Governor White's staff, and his wife Ellinor, the governor's daughter. The infant was named Virginia, after the colony. Nine days later White sailed for England. A war between Spain and England delayed communications with Roanoke for four years, and no trace of the inhabitants of the colony was ever found. It is suspected that the settlers moved inland and mingled into the Indian population. But there is other evidence that hostilities between the English and the Indians may have wiped out the settlers. Either theory is speculation for the most part.
The English were more interested, at that time, in raiding Spanish Galleons which were making their way back to Spain loaded with treasure from South America. Which led to the war between Spain and England. None-the-less, more settlers were brought to the area and permanent settlement was begun in earnest. Jamestown (Virginia), former village of Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in America. It is located in present-day James City County, on an island in the James River, southeast of Richmond, part of the 3816-hectare (9430-acre) Colonial National Historical Park.
Jamestown was founded on May 14, 1607, by a small group led by Captain Christopher Newport, who was hired by the London Company to transport colonists. Many settlers died from famine and disease in the winter of 1609-10. The survivors were encouraged to stay in Jamestown by the arrival of new settlers and supplies the following June. In 1612 tobacco growing was started. The colony prospered and became the capital of Virginia. In 1619 the first representative assembly in America was held here. In the same year, at Jamestown, the first black slaves were introduced into the original 13 colonies. The village was often attacked by Native Americans. In 1622, 350 colonists were killed; 500 in 1644. Colonists rebelling against the rule of Governor William Berkeley burned Jamestown in 1676 (see Bacon's Rebellion). The seat of government was moved to the Middle Plantation (now Williamsburg) in 1699, and Jamestown was deserted. The National Park Service and the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (which owns 9 hectares/23 acres of the island), have excavated and restored the area. The Jamestown Archaeological Laboratory contains relics unearthed by National Park Service excavations. Jamestown Festival Park, adjacent to the national park, has full-scale replicas of early ships and a re-creation of James Fort (1607). Pavilions depict Native American and English cultures.
Therefore, at the time the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were being drawn, there had been white people on the continent for approximately two hundred years. The Thirteen British Colonies that occupied the eastern coast of the continent were small in population. In 1775, Georgia had approximately 55,000 inhabitants. New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North and South Carolina, etc. had larger populations.
As we work together, tracing our family back in time, we will undoubtedly learn a great deal more about American and Western European History. The struggle for freedom is never ending. Bureaucracy, and therefore government, by its innate nature is evil and must always be kept in check. This, the cruxes of the opinions of our forefathers and founders.
Therefore, in their great wisdom, they created a system that is advisory in its design and is a series of checks and balances, designed to constantly test the fairness of laws and government's relationship with its citizens.
One only wonders, when one thinks of the nation conceived in liberty and the concept that all men are created equal, had a bloody war, amongst its own brothers, killing 600,000 Americans, to free the black man from bondage; and then turned its war machine to the red man and almost exterminated the entire race. One wonders, when one sees the law enforcement of the nation burn people to death over a $200 renewal license for an automatic weapon, then only to tell its people "they were mistreating children" and were "members of a Religious Cult." Which explanation is supposed to somehow justify the burning to death these people and their children, not to mention the cruelty the government brought upon the children. One wonders, when one learns that a man was framed by law enforcement over a sawed off shotgun, which was proved later to be a bogus charge, while law enforcement killed the man's wife at long range with a high powered rifle, while she was holding her baby, in her arms, on the front porch of their home and during a siege the government killed his son and the family dog. Something is amiss when young citizens feel justified in blowing up a Federal Court House with high explosives, killing scores of innocent people. Something is amiss when citizens bomb abortion clinics and killing doctors in the name of "right to life". Something is amiss when there are Presidents lying and cheating their way into office and selling military secrets to our potential enemies in exchange for campaign contributions. The instances are too numerous to detail.
The point is that freedom is hard won and hard to hang onto. The inevitable bureaucrat, whether in the government or huge corporation, is the enemy of freedom. It is the responsibility of every American to always be ever vigilant and to always be honest in dealing with his fellow Americans.
Pride in Americanism isn't enough. With all of its faults, The United States of America is the greatest and most wonderful place and governmental system on the face of the earth. Keeping it that way is the responsibility of its citizens. So while we look at the history and our family's participation, remember it is what we pass to our children that will keep them free and what they then pass onto theirs and theirs then to theirs.
It was the tyranny of mother England that compelled the founding fathers to declare independence. History speaks for itself. Monarchs, dictators, Nazi, Fascism, Communism, Socialism, etc., have left us thanking God that they failed in their efforts to subjugate us all. Now that we are looking at a new millenium, however, some people think that we have to give up our freedom for a new world order. Some of our officials have said that it is unfair that the United States be the only Super Power.
The past isn't dead because we reap its benefits and its mistakes, every day of our lives. So, as we go forward, researching our family history, let's be ever thankful for the heritage that our ancestors left to us. Let's take a look.
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