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Time Period
16,000 BCE to 1622 CE
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At the time of the great northern glaciers, Native Americans followed the game they hunted to Virginia. Ten thousand years later, as the cold of the Ice Age gave way to a warmer, drier climate, they relied also on foraging and farming. After about 900 CE they settled into villages that united into chiefdoms. In 1607, in pursuit of opportunity in a new world, English settlers intruded into an eastern Virginia chiefdom of thirty-two tribes (15,000 to 20,000 people). Its leader then was Wahunsenacawh, whom the new settlers called by his title, Powhatan.
Time Period
1825 to 1860
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The decades following the presidency of Virginian James Monroe (1817–1825) saw populations shift, the economy expand, and attitudes about slavery harden. More and more families migrated from the soil-depleted Tidewater and Piedmont, while new and diverse peoples in the Shenandoah Valley prospered. The beginnings of the Industrial Revolution encouraged the growth of industry, urban centers, and “internal improvements” (transportation by road, rail, and canal). Those “improvements”––funded by taxes––became a subject of political debate. Slavery was as vehemently attacked by abolitionists as it was defended by proponents.
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Aftermath
"From the political point of view, the murder of John Brown . . . would impart to the Union a creeping fissure that at the
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Before the War
Born into a Virginia family whose members had for generations assumed public leadership roles, Robert E. Lee followed the
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Conclusion
Throughout the twentieth century and during the past decade, apologists for John Brown have turned out imagery and
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Conclusion - Did the Civil War End at Appomattox?
Lee’s army had become the embodiment of Confederate nationalism, and after its surrender other southern forces soon gave up
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Elections from 1789 to 1828
This section contains information and memorabilia on the elections from 1789 to 1828. Scroll down the page to learn more
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Elections from 1832 to 1872
This section contains information and memorabilia on the elections from 1832 to 1872. Scroll down the page to learn more
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Fanciful Figures
View illustrations of Virginia Indians as they were imagined by artists.
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Interpreting Historical Images
A historical image can be interpreted in a number of ways. Each approach brings a different set of considerations, or frame
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Invented Scenes for Narratives
When artists were hired to illustrate written accounts of events in Virginia, they did not aim to make realistic
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Memory
Which John Brown have Americans remembered? The crusader for abolition or the bloodthirsty terrorist? Brown was not forgotten
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Online Resources
Anyone conducting research on the Civil War in Virginia is faced with a daunting task. Thousands of books have been written
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Raid, Incarceration, and Execution
Although John Brown and his followers easily captured the United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia
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Robert Knox Sneden Chronology
1832 June 3 born in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, British provinces of America 1851 family moves to New York 1858 earliest
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The House
Virginia House was completed in 1928, and in 1929 it was presented to VHS.
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Theodore de Bry's Engravings
In 1590, Theodore de Bry reprinted Thomas Hariot's A briefe and true report of the new found land of Virginia. The text was