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Article Set - Intro
Eye of the Storm: The Civil War Drawings of Robert Knox Sneden
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Through his 5,000-page personal memoir, Robert Knox Sneden takes us to the front lines of the Civil War.
Article Set - Intro
General Orders No. 61
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On May 2, 1863, during the battle of Chancellorsville, friendly fire struck Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson while he and others rode amid the chaos of the still-forming Confederate lines. Thus began the series of events that led eventually to Robert E. Lee composing General Orders No. 61, which announced to his army the death of Jackson.
Article Set - Intro
Getting the Message Out: Presidential Campaign Memorabilia from the Collection of Allen A. Frey
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Buttons and banners, ribbons and posters, coffee mugs and whiskey flasks, match books and mouse pads. For nearly 200 years, presidential candidates and their supporters have used almost every means available to attract votes.
Article Set - Intro
Great things are expected from the Virginians
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Capt. John Chilton of the 3rd Virginia Infantry described his experiences in New York and New Jersey in 1776–77 in letters home to family and friends. Located in the society's manuscripts collection, Chilton's letters offer a fascinating glimpse of one Virginian's thoughts and experiences during a pivotal time in the Revolutionary War.
Article Set - Intro
John Marshall
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Article Set - Intro
Lee and Grant
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By the end of the Civil War, most Americans considered either Robert E. Lee or Ulysses S. Grant to be a hero. The time has come for a reassessment of these two men, on whom fell the greatest responsibility for the survival or disintegration of the United States.
Article Set - Intro
Letters from Vietnam
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Time Period Chapter
Made in Virginia
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For more than 400 years, Virginians have been part of a global community—exporting ideas, products, and culture to the...
Time Period Chapter
Political Decline and Westward Migration
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The political stature of Virginia declined on the national stage when no successors of ability emerged to replace the...
Time Period Chapter
Racial Inequality
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Confederate defeat threatened to change white southern identity. Suddenly African Americans were free to determine the...
Time Period Chapter
Reconstruction
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During the decade following the Civil War, former Confederate states were required to “reconstruct” their state...
Time Period Chapter
Slavery
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Virginia’s 550,000 slaves constituted one third of the state’s population in 1860.
Time Period Chapter
The Battlefront in Virginia
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Home to the Confederate capital, Virginia became a battleground.
Article Set - Intro
The Commonwealth and the Great War
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The Virginia Museum of History & Culture’s exhibition, The Commonwealth and the Great War, presented the dramatic role of
Time Period Chapter
The French and Indian War
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To shield against Indian attacks and French expansion, and to deter runaway slaves from establishing colonies in the...
Time Period Chapter
The Growth of Industry
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New industries were emerging in Virginia’s cities. Richmond, Norfolk, Petersburg, Fredericksburg, Lynchburg, and...
Article Set - Intro
The Portent: John Brown's Raid in American Memory
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John Brown remains one of the most controversial figures in our history. To destroy the institution of slavery, he firmly believed there was only one possible course of action. He saw what he thought was the ultimate wrong and tried in the only way he could imagine to right it. Which John Brown should we remember? The crusader for abolition or the bloodthirsty terrorist? Is it possible to list him among the great pantheon of American heroes, or do we still recoil from the image of his attack on an American military installation, an action that can be described by no term other than treason?
Time Period Chapter
The Revolutionary Era in Virginia
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Virginia—the largest and most populous colony—played a major role in winning independence and determining the values and...
Time Period Chapter
The Struggle for Equality
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The American concept that all people are equal and all have unalienable rights was introduced by Virginians George Mason...
Time Period Chapter
Virginia and the Planter Class
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Governor William Berkeley set out to imitate the society of inequality of wealth and education that he knew in England.