John Smith May Seem Heroic Today, But He Wasn’t Too Popular Back in the Day September 10, 2010

John Smith was put in chains and fired by his fellow settlers but today he has a statue at Jamestown

1588 Spanish Armada Destruction Opened the Door For English Colonization

On This Date In History:  The first permanent English settlement in the New World was at Jamestown in the Virginia Colony.   While it was established in 1607, English merchants and adventurers had failed several times in attempts to create colonies in America.  Throughout the sixteenth century, Britain was well aware of the existence of the New World and was intrigued by the possibilities.  When Elizabeth I rose to power, a powerful sense of nationalism developed that encouraged dreams of expansion.  But, England was a bit nervous about their powerful rival, Spain.  Spain was the dominant European power in the Western Hemisphere and they had the most formidable navy in the world.  But, in the latter half of the century, “sea dogs” such as Sir Francis Drake successfully raided Spanish merchant ships and confidence in Britains ability to challenge the Spanish on the high seas rose.  Ulitmately, the door for Britain into the New World was opened in 1588 when the Spanish Armada was defeated soundly by the Royal Navy.  It was a bold attempt by Philip II to end England’s ability to challenge to Spain’s commercial supremacy and also bring the island nation back into the Catholic Church.  It turned out to be a total fiasco as the much smaller Royal Navy ended in a single stroke the Spanish Navy’s dominance of the Atlantic.

 

"Croatoan" All That Was Left of the "Lost Colony"

In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert led an expedition to New Foundland, which he claimed in the name of the Queen.  He traveled along the coast in search of a good spot for a military outpost the might become a profitable colony.  Instead, on this date in 1583 Sir Humphrey was nowhere to be found because the previous day a storm had arrived and Gilbert went down with his ship.  Gilbert’s half-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh recruited his cousin, Sir Richard Grenville, to lead a group of men to Roanoke Island to establish a colony in 1585.  Grenville deposited the settlers on the island.  Grenville returned to England but did stay long enough to piss off the native population by burning down an Indian village in retaliation for a minor theft.  When Sir Francis Drake showed up the following spring, the beleagured settlers promptly boarded Drake’s ship and went home.   Raleigh tried again in 1587 when he sent an expedition of 91 men, 17 women and 9 children.  John White led the expedition and shortly after they arrived back at Roanoke Island, his daughter gave birth to Virginia Dare, who was the first American-born child of English parents.  Obviously, White wasn’t too sentimental because he then left the settlers to pick up where the previous Roanoke settlers had left off.  He returned to England with the intention of returning with supplies in a few months.  But, hostilities with Spain messed up that plan and he didn’t make it back until 1590, when he found the island deserted with no clue as to the colonists’ fate except the word “Croatoan” carved on a tree.  No one really knows what happened to them but many historians suspect the Indians knocked off the colonists in retaliation for Grenville’s burning down their village.

 

Roanoke Island "Lost Colony" Not Far From Jamestown

So, by the time the Jamestown colonization attempt came about, the English were well acquainted with failure and Jamestown seemed destined to continue the string of futility.  144 men began the journey to the colony that was established by James I with charters to the London and Plymouth Companies.  But, only 104 survived the voyage.  Since the king had afforded them the opportunity,  they thought it might be a good idea to name the settlement in his honor.  But, the majority of men on the expedition were more interested in searching for gold or other fortune and had no desire to do any work.  After all, the purpose of the colony was to turn a profit and the companies wanted a quick return on their investment.  They also faced unanticipated challenges.   We often hear of how natives to America suffered from disease introduced by European settlers.  Well, it works both ways and many of the Jamestown settlers succombed to diseases that had no effect on the Indians but proved fatal for the British.   Greed and rootlessness contributed to the failure to grow food and a lousy diet limited the colonists ability to fend off disease.   When a ship arrived with supplies in 1608, all but 38 of the settlers were dead. 

 

A Not-Too-Youthful Looking Smith

Now, 27-year-old Captain John Smith had joined the original expedition.  He was a good organizer and had  built a reputation as quite the world traveler.  He was also used to being a captain and probably had a sense of arrogance.  In fact, his abrasiveness became so irritating on the 4 month voyage across the Atlantic Ocean that his fellow colonists had Smith put in irons.  When they first arrived at the colony, the settlers opened a locked box which had the names of 7 men whom the company had designated to be leaders of the colony.  I’m sure that the folks were greatly dismayed to find Smith’s name on the list.  However, with disater staring them in the fact, they obviously were desperate because, on this date in 1608, John Smith was elected as Council President of Jamestown in the Virginia Colony.   He imposed work and order on the community and organized raids on neighboring Indian villages to steal food.   Nevertheless, the settlement continued to struggle even after Smith took charge when a fire wiped out many of the structures.   But, what appeared to be a concluding event for the life of Smith ended up being a life and colony saver.

 

True or False, Smith's Story of Being Saved by Pocahontas Has Been Etched in History

 The story, as told by Smith and disputed by some historians, was that he and two companions were ambushed by some Indians who killed his buddies and took Smith back to Chief Powhatan, who intended to ritualistically club the young Captain to death. But, the 11 or 12 year old daughter of Powhatan, Pocahontas, threw herself between Smith and her father and convinced the Chief to change his mind.  Correspondingly, Smith changed his un-neighborly ways and struck up better relations with the locals and “befriended”  Pocahontas who visited the settlement often and acted as an emissary between her father and the English.  

 

Indians Had the Upper Hand On Jamestown in 1622

Attacks from local tribes declined as, presumbably, Smith had figured out that stealing food from the neighbors wasn’t too smart.  In turn,  the Indians helped the greenhorn English to learn how to live in the New World.   That second winter, only 12 of the nearly 200 colonists died and by the summer of 1609, Jamestown appeared to have a chance at survival.   I guess Smith’s heavy handed ways were not seen as any longer necessary because, with conditions improving, the council deposed him from his position and he returned to England to get treatment for a serious powder burn.  The goodtimes didn’t last in Jamestown though as by 1610, famine and disease took its toll and only 60 people were left when a ship with more settlers showed up.  Relations with the Indians also went in the tank with several wars.  The Indians, of course, eventually lost but it wasn’t a total blowout as evidence by the settlements razing  in 1622.  You can visit the reincarnation of the Jamestown settlement.  You’ll be amazed at how small the ships they used to sail the seas really were.

 

Pocahontas After She Became Rebecca Rolfe

It is interesting that the majority of the images that we have of Smith don’t seem to resemble that of the youthful man who  took the helm at Jamestown. Most paintings do not depict Smith as a young man at all, but instead a robust man who might fit in an Old Spice commercial. Prior to photographs, it was possible for artists to depict their heroes or villains as the wanted them to appear, but not necessarily as they really did appear.   In any event, as I mentioned, John Smith was an adventurer and while he was in the colony he mapped much of the Tidewater area. He is credited with discovering Tangier Island, where Snow White and I vacationed a couple of years ago. Smith saw the Island with a white beach (which has largely disappeared) and it reminded him of Tangiers…so he called the Island Tangier. Smith was obviously not a very creative fellow because a nearby Island he named after himself. The third island in the group he called Watts Island, after one of his crewmen. The collection of three islands, Tangier, Smith and Watts, he called the Russell Islands,or Russell’s Isles….again after one of his crewmen. If Donald Trump had been on board, perhaps we would have the Trump Islands. Good thing Englebert Humperdink wasn’t part of the crew.

Weather Bottom Line:  Not much of a change. I told you it would be too dry for rain today and I think that the dry air will be tough to overcome on Friday but the atmosphere should moisten up from top to bottom enough that rain chances will get reasonably healthy by late Friday.  Now, a warm front will lift through the area on Saturday so we’ll be back into the mid to upper 80′s and it will be noticeably more humid. That will set the stage for a cold front that will bring rain and t’storm activity on Saturday.  It’s possible that the SPC will issue a slight risk outlook for our area for Saturday but by late Thursday that was not the case.

A Lay For Quakers Before Becoming Abolitionists February 3, 2010

Benjamin Lay: the proverbial mouse that roared

On This Date in History:  Benjamin Lay was born in England in 1682.  He was small in stature standing just 4’7″.  But, he found himself unwelcome in his native land “for some extravagances in conduct and language.”  He was disowned and decided to go into self exile.  If you’re going to exile yourself, it’s probably not going to be to some Arctic hideaway but instead some tropical paradise.  So, off to the West Indies he went in 1730.

Ben Franklin printed Lay's protests in 1737, but did not attach his own name

But, the fun in the sun didn’t last long due to the long shadow of slavery.   Perhaps due to the fact that he had been outcast and rejected by society or perhaps from a strong moral compass, Lay became quite moved by the plight of the slaves who were treated with great cruelty and indifference.  He became quite outspoken in his denunciation of the slave trade and, most probably, slave holders and slave traders.  His outspoken nature resulted in his being “compelled” to leave the islands.  So, a year after he arrived in the West Indies he left and went to the town that sounded welcoming; Philadelphia.  Ah yes…Philadelphia…the city of brotherly love.  Much to his chagrin, he found that slavery was alive and well there too.   He was a Quaker and was shocked to find that his fellow Quakers in Philadelphia condoned the brutish practice.   So, he did what he id best; he took his wife and went into exile.  I suppose he must have felt as if he had nowhere left to exile himself so he took the little lady to a cave outside of town where he set up a base of operations.

Whittier Was an Early Lay Supporter

While he lived away from people he regularly wandered into town to shake up the locals.  John Greenleaf Whittier wrote in The Journal of John Woolman that Benjamin Lay would visit the local Friend’s Meeting Houses,  which is where the Religious Society of Friends(Quakers) meet,  just to chastise and annoy those in attendance.  On one occasion, the small man with a hunched back and sticklike legs, wrapped in a white overcoat approached in a time of silence in the assembly and exclaimed, “You slaveholders!  Why don’t you throw off your Quaker coast as I do mine and show yourselves as you are?”  As he shouted, he tossed off his coat and revealed a military coat with a sword so long that it dangled close to his heels.  The audience was shocked when he drew his sword with one hand as he clutched a bible in the other and said, “In the sight of God, you are as guilty as if you stabbed your slaves to th heart, as I do this book!”  At that point, he thrust he sabre into the Good Book.  Secretly, he had hidden a small bladder filled with the juice of a poke-weed and so when he stabbed the Bible, what appeared to be fresh blood flowed as he sprinkled those who sat nearby him. 

Quaker Piety Did Not Extend Officially to Slaves Until Lay Had Spent His Entire Life Pointing Out Their Error

Quakers were known for their outspokeness and to be sure, there were many who had concerns regarding slavery, though their protests were largely muted.  However, Benjamin Lay was pretty radical and was a catalyst who awakened them from thier slumber.  While no one thinks that his outlandish antics created a revolution, he is credited with sparking the conscience of men with an educated reason and softening hearts.  They, in turn, would push for change.  One of those Quakers who changed his tune was none other than the poet, John Greenleaf Whittier whose work probably helped to preserve the memory of Benjamin Lay.  He called Lay the community’s “pertinacious gad-fly on the sore places of its conscience.”    Lay died on this date in 1759 at the age of 82.  But he died a happy man.  He had made a difference because the year before his death, at the annual meeting of Friends, the Quakers passed a resolution that denounced and condemned slavery and the slave trade.  Lay and his wife had lived in exile in his cave where on occasion, he entertained guests.  His most famous cave guest was none other than Benjamin Franklin, who undoubtedly had one of the most learned and reasoned mines in all of the colonies.  And it was the men of Franklin’s stature who did not allow the Lay’s physical stature to blind them from the enormity and power of his words.

NAM most bullish for snow this weekend with nearly 3 inches after Friday rain

Weather Bottom Line:   We have a rather interesting week or so ahead with the potential for a big story down the road.  First is the system coming across for the weekend.  I suppose one could say that there are two lows that will be converging over the area Friday and Saturday.  I’ve been calling one the upper level portion but it may have some surface characteristics.  Nevertheless, either way the results are the same.  The low to the south approaches and brings us rain.  As it’s doing so, the one from the north drops down over the Ohio Valley and that will serve to drag down cold air that will turn the rain over to snow on Friday night and continue into Saturday.  This season, the NAM has been the least bullish on snow but this time, its calling for nearly 3 inches while the GFS is advertising less than 2.  If we are above freezing on Saturday it will be sometime after midnight and I suspect that we will be in the 20′s for much of the daytime hours on Saturday.  Regardless of the amounts, it’s the weekend so it won’t be too much of an issue except for Saturday morning travel as snow falling onto rain wetted streets with temperatures falling below freezing will present some icing issues no doubt.  Because it will be raining first, they will not be able to pre-treat the roads… so no “brine solution” stories this weekend.

Now, the potential big guy comes on Tues and Wed and maybe into Thursday.  There is some agreement that there will be a system moving west to east to our south.  Most data indicates that we will be cold enough for snow and that moisture will be tossed over that cold air from the south.  The Canadian model has the low farthest north and all models indicate a decent snow.  But, right now, the GFS is advertising over 8 inches of snow from late Tuesday through Thursday.   Around here, that is an issue and, while I don’t have the breakdown on the numbers from the Canadians or the Europeans, both of those seem to indicate something more robust than the GFS.  It’s a week away so things can change.  But I am seeing a reasonable consistency and there is current data that shows a good snow, so keep that in mind and at least have some preliminary plans in case it actually does come to fruition.  Guess from my perspective at this point is that there is a better than fair chance we get our biggest snow of the season.

Lose Your Ear and Win the War; Bertha Going in Circles July 15, 2008

The weather is the same as I said yesterday. Lots of sun. Hot afternoons, cool morning for a few more days. Humidity increasing as the week progresses but it probably wont get tough until Friday. Scattered t’storms not totally out the question for Friday and Sunday. Otherwise, highs in upper 80′s to near 90 for Tuesday. Low to mid 90′s rest of the week. Snow White and I sculled on Monday afternoon and I not only went farther than I did when I almost collapsed, but did so in a faster time as well. Humidity makes a lot of difference.

Tropical Storm Bertha is pretty lame. It sat in one place long enough that it knocked what warm water there was off the surface and allowed colder water to come to the surface which caused it to lose intensity. Well, its on the move again and will go back over warmer water and may get back to hurricane status. It runs into a ridge, and drifts a bit, loses intensity and starts a loop back to the southeast. In general one would think Bertha is done for. It’s been around for a long time and it’s wandering. While it is eventually forecast to move toward Europe, I would caution though…there was a hurricane in 1971 named Ginger. It was around for about two weeks and looked like it would stay way out to sea. The storm seemed to the experts like it was a good candidate for a cloud seeding experiment known as project Stormfury. That was an effort ended in 1982 that was partly an attempt to modify hurricanes. They had figured it was safe since the forecast said it would stay far out to sea…never mind the first storm to tracked by satellite was only two years before with Camille. They figured they were experts. Anyway, after it was seeded, the experiment suddenly came home. The winds were not very strong at all but the rains were enormous and some weren’t so sure that they may have killed the winds but increased the rainfall potential. Let’s hope there isn’t another experiment in the offing.

On This Date in History: On July 15, 1742, the colony of Georgia was secured for the British Empire. The rallying cause? A mummified ear. In 1731 Robert Jenkins was the master and commander of the ship Rebecca. There was supposedly a peace between Spain and England but a Spanish war ship stopped the Rebecca near Havana and boarded her. Not only did the Spaniards take the cargo, but they also cut off Jenkins’ ear for good measure. Seven years later, the English parliament was debating whether or not Spanish monkey business was enough to declare war. Jenkins came in to testify, though it’s not clear why it took 7 years for him to tell his tale. But, when he concluded his testimony he unwrapped his ear, which he apparently had mummified for a keepsake. The grotesque display of an old ear was the tipping point and it was off to war to avenge the ear!

The ensuing war in Georgia became known as The War of Jenkins Ear and on this date in 1742 that war was won when James Oglethorpe hornswaggled the Spanish. Oglethorpe had founded the Georgian colony in 1732 by convincing Parliament that the way to prevent incursions into Georgia from Spanish Florida was by establishing a colony. He set up the colony as a place for those released from debtors prison to start a new life. England was all too happy to oblige and send the deadbeats across the pond. Well, Oglethorpe found himself in a desperate situation. He had repelled an attack by Spanish forces at Frederica but he was largely outnumbered. While the Spanish regrouped, a deserter from Oglethorpe’s fort went to the Spanish and told them where to find the weak point in the British defenses. The Spanish prepared to attack. But Oglethorpe found out about the deserter and, in turn, released a Spanish prisoner with “secret” instructions for the deserter to carry out the plan to bring the Spanish into his “trap”. Of course there was no trap and no secret instructions but the released prisoner didn’t know that and the Spanish commanders didn’t know it and they fell for it. They withdrew and the battle of the ear was over.

The war went on elsewhere until 1748, but Georgia continued as a British colony, became one of the original 13 states and the state showed its gratitude by giving us Jimmy Carter.