Jamestown is the first permanent English settlement in the future United
States of America. I believe we can safely say that. Glenn
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Randy Cabell
Sent: Monday, November 06, 2006 09:41
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Raining on our Jamestown Parade?
'Jamestown -- The oldest permanent English Settlement in America(?), in The
New World(?)', between latitudes ___ and ___(?) uhhhhhhhhh?????????
Here, I have invested my twilight years in celebrating The Trumpeter of
Jamestowne, Jamestown 400, etc. only to pick up the paper this morning to
find that somebody else settled up in Port Royal (Canada) half a decade
earlier. What gives? The article was a bit unclear as to whether anybody
continued to live there, but I do know from visiting Port Royal a few years
ago that it was an English bastion at some point.
In his tongue-in-cheek history of Virginia, James Branch Cabell poked some
good natured fun as us Virginians for trumpeting THE OLDEST PERMANENT
ENGLISH SETTLEMENT, which (1) ignored the fact the Spanish had settlements
in Florida a generation earlier and (2) at the time JBC was writing back in
the 1940's, almost nothing of Jamestowne had been found.
Last Saturday, I heard just about the best talk on the meaning of Jamestown
that I have ever heard - by John Quarstein. In fact afterward, I suggested
to the people at my table that we chip in and send him up to our New England
Pilgrim Brethren to set the record straight on the heritage of Jamestown and
our life in America today.
Now, it looks like those upstart Canadians are trying to beat us out of the
first permanent etc....... What next? Will the French say that a small
party (un petite corps) settled Ft. Louisburg on the coast of Nova Scotia in
1606? And how about the Dutch? Will they claim that they really landed a
large party (Den Grosse Kompanie) at New Mastrecht in 1602? Hey, and how
about Henry Hudson?
I guess I need a table (matrix?) of 'firsts' in the New World, so that I can
safely make a statement about where Jamestowne fits in.
Randy Cabell
The Trumpeter of uhhhh....... Boyce
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