One day, you’re living in a monarchy. The next, you’re in a republic. Virginia colonists had long prided themselves on their loyalty to the British monarchy. But in 1775, royal authority rapidly collapsed. Colonists threatened the governor. He fled. By the next year, Virginia was at the forefront of the continental movement toward independence. How did Virginia move so quickly from royalism to independence? Go deeper to learn more about how the people of Williamsburg led the way toward the American Revolution.
Fear and hope melded in uneasy tension throughout Virginia. Word of a proclamation that could change the fate of many made its way throughout the colony in late November of 1775.
Whispered voices carried word that Governor John Murray, Fourth Earl of Dunmore was offering freedom to enslaved people who came to his banner.
The drums were beating. The streets were pulsing. Early on the morning of April 21, 1775, Williamsburg’s residents spilled out from their homes looking for the cause of this commotion.
Amid a crisis in the British empire, Virginia’s leaders had assembled as an independent political body that would not answer to the governor, Parliament, or the monarchy.
In 1774, the Indigenous people of the Ohio Valley fought for their independence. Now known as the Shawnee-Dunmore War, this eruption of conflict became one battle in a lengthy war for the future of the Ohio Valley.
As John Murray, Earl of Dunmore stepped out into the humid darkness in the first hours of June 8, 1775, he left behind his family’s bright, comfortable home. He did not know, but might have guessed, that he would never return to the Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg. His departure marked the end of royal authority in Virginia.
To avoid interference from Governor Dunmore, the Second Virginia Convention met March 20, 1775 inland at Richmond — in what is now called St. John's Church — instead of the Capitol in Williamsburg. Delegate Patrick Henry presented resolutions to raise and establish a militia, and to put Virginia in a posture of defense.
Fireworks shows could be elaborate events. Some featured a central structure with painted illuminations, which might convey political meaning. The show might include pyrotechnics on a stage as well as fireworks launched into the air. Some were simple, others elaborate. Most fireworks did not have color additives and exploded in a golden orange.
In the spring of 1775, revolutionary sentiment and tensions over slavery exploded when Governor Dunmore removed the gunpowder from Williamsburg’s Magazine. This marked the beginning of the collapse of royal government in Britain’s largest and most important American colony. Meet some of the real people who experienced the Gunpowder Incident.
As witnesses to a unique time in history, Black Americans offered opinions and observations of the events around them.
Women’s choices, including what they bought and who they married, carried new political weight. For enslaved women, the upheaval created new opportunities for freedom.
In May of 1927, Williamsburg’s future was at a crossroads. But only a select few people knew it. Reverend Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin had an ambitious vision to restore the small town to its eighteenth century appearance as the colonial capital of Virginia. After years of searching, he had found a potential financial partner in philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr.
