Here and There Around the Commonwealth

Virginia History

For those interested in Virginia history, here are two great sources.  One is new; one is not new, but I just discovered it.

Cardinal News has started a three-year project  “to tell the little-known stories of Virginia’s role in the march to independence in advance of the nation’s observation of its 250th anniversary, or Semi-quincentennial.”  In addition to a story about the chosen topic, Dwight Yancey, editor of Cardinal News, has promised “occasional columns about the politics of the era, written the same way I’d write them today.”  The project is called Cardinal 250. The first monthly article, about the “Proclamation Line of 1763,” and Yancey’s political analysis, which is a lot of fun, can be found here.

The other item is the website Virginia PlacesThis is the brainchild of Manassas resident Charles Grymes, who first created it in 1998 for a geography class he was teaching at George Mason University. He has lovingly nurtured it ever since.  It now consists of 1,000 pages on topics ranging from agriculture to Virginia journeys.  Grymes describes the website as “an exploration into what makes Virginia special. It is an interdisciplinary journey through the history, economics, geology, biology, sociology, and other -ologies that can help explain how Virginia has evolved in the past, and what the state may look like in the future.”  It is a work in progress which he describes as “far from complete.”  He is constantly adding to it and updating content added earlier.  I have run across items from this website in my search for sources for articles for this blog and I did not realize what it was.  Now I know; it is a delightful treasure trove of information about the Commonwealth.

Perpetual Election Machine

Ah, to live in Virginia where there is always an election campaign in progress.  It is not enough that, right after we have finished a heated campaign for General Assembly seats, we have U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger announcing that she is not going to run for reelection to Congress, but will be running for governor in 2025, thereby ensuring that, before the present governor is through half his term, we will be talking about who is going to replace him.  Now we have Del. John McGuire (R-Goochland), recently elected to the Virginia Senate, announcing he will challenge Republican Fifth District Congressman Bob Good in a primary next year.

As reported by Cardinal News, McGuire, in an email to his supporters (at least it was not on X), declared that Good “has failed us time and time again.”  He declared that Good had “abandoned” Donald Trump by endorsing Ron DeSantis in next year’s Presidential primaries.  He went on to assert that Good voted for Kevin McCarthy for Speaker, then “threw a temper tantrum, reversed himself, and allowed the party to fall into chaos, costing us the 2023 elections.”   As a result of those elections, “Marxist Democrats now control the Virginia General Assembly, which is going to hurt the people of Virginia badly.”  That last comment should endear him to his fellow legislators and encourage smooth inter-party relations.

RWH


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Comments

52 responses to “Here and There Around the Commonwealth”

  1. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    And I thought you couldn’t get worse than good.

    1. Stephen Haner Avatar
      Stephen Haner

      Need to capitalize that name or the sentence seems to apply to the author. 🙂

      1. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        Therein lies the pun…

  2. LarrytheG Avatar

    The history is complex and not necessarily noble in a non-royal generic sense.

    The King just took land that was already occupied by native Americans and gave it away as “grants” to well-connected folks.

    Others who had no such standing with the King and struck out on their own to procure their own land by direct appropriation and not a “grant” from the King…

    to portray that process as a basis for the American Revolution – interesting.

    Now days, some look back to that time as one of “Colonization” ( land taken under the auspices of the King) , but also land taken by individuals without approval of the King – the end result was the same for the Native Americans.

    Portrayed as some a the basis for American “revolution” using grand and virtuous sounding words and phrases like “freedom” and “rights” to throw off rule of the King both the landed gentry owners of “grant” land and those who did not get such grants but took matters into their own hands, the King be damned!

    Notice the land-gentry who played significant roles in the formation and execution of the revolution , mostly KEPT the
    land the King had “granted” them.

    There are many different ways of looking at this beyond seeing it solely as a patriotic endeavor to secure “freedom” and “rights” for individuals but most seem to prefer that view, it has been what we’ve been taught and those who provide a different view, like Howard Zinn not as accepted.

    1. Howard Zinn isn’t rejected because he presents a “different view.” He’s rejected because he’s an ideolog posing as a historian.

      https://www.amazon.com/Fake-History-Generation-Against-America/dp/1621577732/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1700144107&sr=1-1

      1. LarrytheG Avatar

        well, he tells the truth. “Freedom”, “equality”, and “rights” were not for native americans, women or slaves – only white guys and mostly the rich white guys who got thousands of acres given to them
        and then were allow to use slaves to work that land.

        Zinn is only rejected by those who prefer fairy tale history.

        1. However, as Mary Grabar points out, Zinn had a different project in mind than most historians. As he once wrote, history is “not about understanding the past,” but about “changing the future.” Not one serious historian I know would make such a claim.

          https://lawliberty.org/howard-zinn-fake-historian/

          1. LarrytheG Avatar

            there’s a ton of other “history” from many credible sources that confirms the truth.. . if
            one REALLY wants to know …

          2. LarrytheG Avatar

            always the “left”. Nope.. there is a ton of accurate and factual history written long ago by hundreds
            of legitimate and credible authors for those who really want to know and stop pretending.

    2. Larry, you get an F for your history lesson. Colonial-era legal theory regarding the ownership rights of Indians over their land was in flux, but for the most part landowners respected the fact that Indians “owned” the land, and they paid for it, thereby ensuring their own legal title. Read “How the Indians Lost Their Land” by Stuart Banner. https://www.amazon.com/How-Indians-Lost-Their-Land/dp/067402396X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2C3CCXB4WJLDO&keywords=How+the+Indians+Lost+their+Land&qid=1700145266&s=books&sprefix=how+the+indians+lost+their+land%2Cstripbooks%2C101&sr=1-1

      The situation was fluid. Sometimes colonists got Indians drunk and tricked them into selling their land. Sometimes Indians purporting to represent the tribe sold the land without other’s knowledge. Sometimes the transactions were totally above board. Sometimes the courts ruled in favor of Indian plaintiffs. There is a rich trove of lawsuits, case law and land titles documenting all this.

      The acquisition of land became more coercive after Independence. Very different story. But one cannot assume that land obtained by settlers during the colonial era — which means most of Virginia — was stolen.

    3. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      Manifest Destiny!

      1. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        akb “That, which is not nailed down, is mine, and that, which I can pry free, was not nailed down.” — Collis P. Huntington

      2. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        akb “That, which is not nailed down, is mine, and that, which I can pry free, was not nailed down.” — Collis P. Huntington

    4. Stephen Haner Avatar
      Stephen Haner

      History is always more complicated than the textbook version. I’m really looking forward to the Napoleon movie. Now that dude was complicated! Lucky for him he’s French, not American, or his tomb in Paris would already be gone and his initials chipped off all those pretty bridges.

      1. Matt Adams Avatar

        Which is surprising considering how he reached the heights he did.

        1. Stephen Haner Avatar
          Stephen Haner

          Based on the trailer it seems they will give credit to Josephine.. 🙂 The Europeans are less infected with presentism and more interested in their history.

          1. LarrytheG Avatar

            Presentism = the interpretation of history the way we prefer to think about it rather than the truth and reality.

          2. Wrong. Presentism is defined as an uncritical adherence to present-day attitudes, especially the tendency to interpret past events in terms of modern values and concepts.

          3. LarrytheG Avatar

            It’s a misused and misunderstood word IMO. Too many have grown up with a steady diet of “noble” history and not above tending towards revisionist history if it papers over inconvenient truths.

            There is no question that the words and spirit of the words of the Founding Fathers did not apply
            to all and specifically did not apply to Native Americans, Women and black folks.

            It’s taken decades, centuries to try to get to what those words promised. And we’re still not
            there yet, we’re still a work in progress in some respects, IMO of course.

          4. I have no idea what you are gong on about.

            All I did was post the correct definition of the term “presentism” to counter the incorrect definition you posted.

          5. LarrytheG Avatar

            re: ”
            pres·ent·ism
            /ˈpreznˌ(t)iz(ə)m/
            noun
            uncritical adherence to present-day attitudes, especially the tendency to interpret past events in terms of modern values and concepts.”

            So maybe ask when someone says “presentism” , if there is a related aspect that involves looking
            back but judging the values back then in terms of claims of “freedom” and “liberty” that did
            not apply to all? IOW dealing with the actual truth and not some “interpretation”.

            No need to even have “presentism” if one is willing to deal with the truth – then and now.

            Sorry if you don’t understand or I explained it badly or you just disagree.

          6. Matt Adams Avatar

            Ridley Scott’s movies are just out of this world, they are all very well done.

            Well to be fair he and Josephine had a very “interesting” relationship.

          7. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            aka, the “Panderverse”.

      2. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        Yes, it takes a lot of work to create a legend.

        To paraphrase, “Stuff happens; at the wrong place, at the wrong time, by the wrong people, for the wrong reason, and it’s the historian’s job to fix this.”

        History is almost entirely derived from unreliable sources; usually the victor, never the defeated, always the passionate, one way or the other, never the disinterested, or worse, by the subjects themselves, and here’s the best part, it will always repeated whether it is known or not.

        BTW, it is rumored that the epitome of “Frenchdom” requested a bottle of South African wine on his deathbed.

    5. Larry, you get an F for your history lesson. Colonial-era legal theory regarding the ownership rights of Indians over their land was in flux, but for the most part landowners respected the fact that Indians “owned” the land, and they paid for it, thereby ensuring their own legal title. Read “How the Indians Lost Their Land” by Stuart Banner. https://www.amazon.com/How-Indians-Lost-Their-Land/dp/067402396X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2C3CCXB4WJLDO&keywords=How+the+Indians+Lost+their+Land&qid=1700145266&s=books&sprefix=how+the+indians+lost+their+land%2Cstripbooks%2C101&sr=1-1

      The situation was fluid. Sometimes colonists got Indians drunk and tricked them into selling their land. Sometimes Indians purporting to represent the tribe sold the land without other’s knowledge. Sometimes the transactions were totally above board. Sometimes the courts ruled in favor of Indian plaintiffs. There is a rich trove of lawsuits, case law and land titles documenting all this.

      The acquisition of land became more coercive after Independence. Very different story. But one cannot assume that land obtained by settlers during the colonial era — which means most of Virginia — was stolen.

      1. Larry relies on Howard Zinn for his understanding of US history.

        1. LarrytheG Avatar

          not at all. I rely on NO one single source and typically look for multiple sources that agree and the simple truth is the Founding Fathers said one thing about liberty and freedom but did another when it came to “all men”.

          Many others long before Zinn confirmed that truth.

      2. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        And the Kecoughtan?

        1. Chief Powhatan took the Kecoughtan settlement from the previous inhabitants, and the English, in turn, took it from him.

      3. LarrytheG Avatar

        Then why did we have reparations? Why is it that Native Americans get casinos and other?

        But you’re sliding sideways (as usual) about the essential truth here in that the words of the Founding Fathers with respect to “freedom” and “liberty” for “all men” simply did not include Native Americans, nor women, nor others including blacks and slaves.

  3. LarrytheG Avatar

    I do contribute to Virginia Places. They were very appreciative!

  4. walter smith Avatar
    walter smith

    I don’t have a problem with McGuire calling Marxists Marxists, nor with him stating what is and always proves to be a historical fact – it is bad wherever it happens. But I’m good with calling the Marxists Dems the party of baby-killers, also because it is true. I’m not out to win friends. “But you won’t influence people being mean” say the critics. Being nice and reasonable hasn’t worked. Speak the truth again and again – there are 2 sexes. The fertilized egg is a human being. The fact that you insist there be some legal provision to kill another human being indicates you are the monster. Make the ignorant uncomfortable with what they want. Make them acknowledge the reality. I do not suffer Stockholm Syndrome.

  5. Stephen Haner Avatar
    Stephen Haner

    If McGuire knocks off Good for the sin of supporting somebody other than Trump, now that would be loaded with irony. Live by the sword….

    The VA GOP just loves musical chairs. Eric Cantor (who would have been Speaker) is just getting rich and getting invited to speak on CNBC regularly and counting his blessings to be out of the madness. He was House of Delegates Class of ’91, the class with Bob McDonnell and Bill Mims and Riley Ingram. When I see them now we all just roll our eyes about the state of a once-great political party. We can’t start to rebuild until Trump leaves the scene for good.

    1. LarrytheG Avatar

      Oh, there will be an “heir” for sure!

      1. Stephen Haner Avatar
        Stephen Haner

        And if not, Democrats will invent one. I think Haley would be hard for you folks to demonize, not that you won’t try.

        1. LarrytheG Avatar

          Oh, I’m thinking about Don Jr and equivalent… I don’t have a problem with Haley because
          she really is a RINO in heels! 😉 Check the far right and MAGA for confirmation!

          1. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            That’s a big shoe.

          2. LarrytheG Avatar

            He’s a consistent hit on FOX!!

          3. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            No, I meant to fit a rhino.

          4. LarrytheG Avatar

            oh!

          5. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            Or… maybe I was doing an Ed Sullivan 😉

          6. LarrytheG Avatar

            wreally ?

        2. “…Haley would be hard for you folks to demonize…”

          Have you forgotten what was done to Romney when he was running for President?

        3. Matt Adams Avatar

          They’d just bring up the stars and bars from her SC Governor days.

  6. I wouldn’t say all Democrats are Marxist, but it is appropriate for the hard left.

    For example, the hard left has embraced Howard Zinn.

    “In the late 1940s and early 1950s, as Joseph Stalin entered the final years of his reign of terror in the Soviet Union, twentysomething Howard Zinn served as a foot soldier in the Communist Party of the United States of America—this according to recently declassified FBI files. Zinn, the Marxist historian and progressive hero who died in January, may also have lied to the FBI about his Communist Party membership. Is it at all surprising that someone who got history so wrong stood on the wrong side of history?”

    https://www.city-journal.org/article/an-fbi-history-of-howard-zinn

    1. “who got history so wrong” suggests he made a mistake. But he did it on purpose.

    2. Nancy Naive Avatar
      Nancy Naive

      Wait! So the FBI are good guys? Under Hoover?

      1. I think declassified FBI files are helpful. How do you think we know so much about J Edgar Hoover, and what he did over the years?

        1. Salacious reporting, and people speaking up after he croaked. It was more his “personal” files on personalities and politicians than “regular” FBI criminal files.

          1. Matt Adams Avatar

            If only Hoover could see what his baby has become now, he’d be overjoyed. As long as he was wielding the power.

        2. Nancy Naive Avatar
          Nancy Naive

          His wardrobe?

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