GERMANNA_COLONIES-L Archives

From: John Blankenbaker <>
Subject: [GERMANNA] (1180)Germanna Colonies, HIstory of
Date: Fri, 01 Jun 2001 05:26:55 -0400

The eleven hundred and eightieth note in a series on the Germanna Colonies

The Rev. Hugh Jones, who came from England to take a parish in Virginia,
stayed a few years and returned to England in 1722. There he wrote a book,
"The Present State of Virginia" in 1724. He recognized that Virginia had
"its own temper and manners." He recognized that people, such as himself,
had to adjust to different circumstances.

His description of Virginia centered on the tobacco trade which dominated
the thinking of nearly all Virginians. The tobacco trade, in combination
with the river system, dominated the mechanics of how and where people
lived. He noted the close bonds between the merchant who bought the
tobacco, the ship owner, and the supplier of goods from England. Very often
all three functions were present in one person. A purchaser of goods in
Virginia paid no freight on his goods from England but he was bound in
gratitude to freight his tobacco back on the same ship.

Physically, Jones was very impressed by the woods and by the lack of towns.
"The whole country is a perfect forest, except where the woods are cleared
for plantations." Jones heartily approved that the gentry were beginning to
use bricks to build their houses. He noted the common planters were
building pretty timber houses. Blacks, he observed, lived in small cottages.

Though Virginia had its own way of doing things, it was dependent for its
prosperity on the export of a staple to the parent society and on the
importation of manufactured articles. With material dependence came also
cultural and psychological dependence. With the goods, came tastes,
standards, and a whole set of assumptions about the proper way of living.

The main features that Jones discovered may be reduced to two: easy access
to and from the sea along natural waterways that ran deep into the country
itself and the disposition of the leading inhabitants to exploit the
situation by settling strategically "near some landing place." The roads
and bridges were built were to send tobacco to the water network so they
could be sent to England and goods received in return.

In the courthouses, affairs were regulated and disputes were settled
according to forms only slightly different from English law and ways. The
general dignity and decorum evident at Williamsburg were a reassurance of
the colony's progress according to Jones. These were marks of civilized
improvements according to him.

It seems to me that our Germans would not have fit easily into this
structure. First, they were voiceless by language and the size of their
operation. Second, they were remote from Williamsburg both physically and
psychologically. They had special problems in accessing markets which
required a special effort.

John Blankenbaker
http://www.germanna.com/
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~george/johnsgermnotes/germhis1.html
http://members.home.net/genelea/gerhist/index.html

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• [GERMANNA] (1180)Germanna Colonies, HIstory of by John Blankenbaker <>