America takes root

JAMESTOWN, Va. — Queen Elizabeth II is coming to this historic site to help commemorate the 400th anniversary of the landing here of 104 Englishmen, establishing the first permanent English settlement in America.

The settlers landed on May 13, 1607, four years after the death of England’s other Elizabeth, the monarch, the Virgin Queen, for whom the Colony and then the state were named. The settlement was named after Elizabeth I’s successor, James I.

Elizabeth II’s visit is planned for May 3 and 4, a week before the signature event being hailed as America’s Anniversary Weekend. President Bush has been invited to participate as well. Tickets are being limited to 30,000 persons per day to commemorate America’s beginning, which occurred 13 years before the Mayflower docked at Plymouth Rock.

Participating that weekend will be retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, honorary chairman of the event; actor James Earl Jones; and entertainers Bruce Hornsby and the Noise Makers, Chaka Khan, and Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder.

Events, including historical pageantry and ceremonies, musical performances and children’s entertainment, will be held at three locations: Historic Jamestowne, the site of the actual landing; Jamestown Settlement, where outdoor re-enactments and indoor exhibits help re-create the life and times of the early 17th century; and Anniversary Park, across the road from Jamestown Settlement and site of a special artisans village with blacksmithing, pottery making, glass blowing and more.

A rare sailing on the James River of the replicas of the three small ships that made the voyage from England — the Susan (or Sarah) Constant, Godspeed and Discovery — is planned May 12 as well.

Historic Jamestowne, a National Historic Site managed by the U.S. Park Service and the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA), includes the original site where the men of the Virginia Co. of London stepped ashore. James I had granted proprietorship to the investors in the Virginia Co.

Nearby is Jamestown Settlement, which opened in 1957 for the 350th anniversary as a living-history museum. It is owned by Virginia and operated by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. New permanent exhibits, an introductory film and revitalized living-history areas present the story of 17th-century Virginia and its Powhatan Indian, English and African cultural origins. The exhibits draw on a wealth of historical information revealed by recent archaeological and documentary research.

On site are reproductions of the fort, buildings and ships associated with the founding of Jamestown.

Re-enactments here draw visitors into the realities that faced those first stout settlers, who spent 4½ months at sea aboard boats smaller than Winnebagos and years suffering through drought, famine, fire, disease, harsh winters and Indian attacks.

Both locations offer insight into what life was like 400 years ago. Yet history is not the long suit of most Americans, considering that many don’t remember vinyl records or leaded gasoline, much less what they may have been taught about world events of the 17th century.

Consider that Columbus discovered the Americas in 1492, 115 years before Jamestown. In the early 1500s, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were at work. In 1588, the English navy defeated the vaunted Spanish Armada. William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” was not performed until 1611. German Johannes Kepler and Italian Galileo Galilei were studying the heavens. The Spanish were plundering South America, and the French were establishing Montreal and other northern regions.

In 1606, the Virginia Co. of London was formed by charter from James I. Its charge was not only to found a settlement, but also to find gold and other riches, to spread Christianity and to search for a passage to India. In essence, it was established to make money, a goal it failed to reach.

On Dec. 20, 1606, the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery sailed from London for Virginia. Visit their replicas at Jamestown Settlement, and you’ll be struck immediately by their small size.

Costumed interpreters relate that the passengers were confined below deck and had to live atop supplies, making for little head space and very cramped quarters. Only one man died on the lengthy crossing.

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