Looking at Colonial Architecture: Shirley and Berkeley Plantations (VA)

  Shirley Plantation is about 10 miles outside of Richmond. We visited it because I am studying colonial history. Shirley was built along the James River in 1613. A man bought the plantation and named it after his wife, Shirley. He died before they moved in, so Shirley sold the plantation to another family. After three generations they could no longer keep the house in the family. They sold the plantation to the Hill Carter family. They still own the plantation today.

   There are lots of architectural designs in the interior that are beautiful. For example, the "Flying" staircase. It has no visible means of holding it up. It is a rare design in buildings. Sorry we don't have any pictures of it.

This is a dovecoat. They would use the doves to send messages, and as an excellent source of juicy dove meat and eggs. This is a picture (right) of me and my mom standing in front of Shirley's 350 year old oak tree.

We also went to Berkeley plantation where there is lots of history!  Our 9th President, William Henry Harrison lived at Berkeley, and Benjamin Harrison, who signed the Declaration of Independence, was born here as well. Berkeley was established in 1619 and was the site of the first thanksgiving. During construction hostile Indians attacked and killed everyone. Soon a new family bought Berkeley and finished construction of the plantation.

This was also the site where the song Taps was composed, and Lincoln came to visit General McClellan and the 140,000 Union troops that were stationed there. I could not imagine looking out the window and seeing so many tents on Berkeley's fields.  I would be scared that the Confederates would come and kill everyone on the plantation.  

 There was a good natural harbor at Berkeley and allowed them to have a good shipbuilding industry. They were master ship builders of the time. There was so much timber at Berkeley, they could make ships for years.

After the Civil War, the plantation fell into disrepair. No one used it or fixed it up until the early 1900's when a new family bought it. They soon opened it up for tourism to make some money to keep the plantation in the family. They still own it today.

I really enjoyed visiting these two plantations.  It gave me a good feel for colonial life.  During this time my family and I also watched the PBS show Colonial House,which was about modern day people setting up a colony in New England.  Their houses were one-roomed, no glass windows, and were simply furnished - very different from the plantations of the rich Virginians.  If I had to chose a colonial home, I think I would pick a plantation house!

Keep Plates Clean Or Family Gets Sick

   Keep Plates Clean Or Family Gets Sick is a good piece of advice, but it's also a good way to remember scientific classification (taxonomy): Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species. A man named Carl Linnaeus (b. 1707 - d. 1778) is the man on the left and he was the inventor of taxonomy. Carl was a nature man; in other words, he loved to study nature. He was a botanist, a physician, and a zoologist. He laid the groundwork  for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. Binomial nomenclature is the formal system of naming species. The name for humans is Homo Sapiens. Each species name is formed out of Latin, and has two parts: the genus name and the species name.

  
As part of our science lessons we did online binomial scavenger hunts on Wikipedia. We found out all sorts of plant and animal names.  This weekend we were sitting on the patio
when mom found a praying mantis. I let it crawl all over me and it felt weird! He is on top of my head in this picture.  The mantis comes from the order mantodea.
Today we did a plant dissection of a rose from our backyard (genus = rosa, that has over 100 species) and a gardenia (a genus of 142 species of flowering plants from the coffee family).  We did the dissection to examine the parts of the flowers - male and female parts, as well as the petals.  Check out this cool website from the Exploratorium in San Francisco to learn more about the secret life of flowers:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/gardening/bloom/secret_life_of_flowers/index.html

                                                                        

                                               

Martin Luther and William Penn: Protestant Rebels

Without the revolutionary teachings of Martin Luther (1483-1546), William Penn (1644-1718) would never have become a Quaker leader who later founded Pennsylvania. While they lived during different times and in different places, both men wanted religious freedom. It didn't happen overnight; it happened over years of determined work and personal hardships.

Martin Luther was a college student. His father wanted him to be a lawyer and he was about to pass his law studies when the plague hit. While sparing the Luthers, three of Martin's friends died in the plague. One night Martin was coming back to the college from his parent's house when a thunderstorm came up out of nowhere. Suddenly he had an epiphany. Because he didn't want to die, he swore to God that he would join the Catholic Church.

   As soon as he joined the church he found how brutal being a monk could be. He had to whip himself to show he was loyal to God. All monks at one point had to walk all the way to Rome, where the Catholic Church originated. He lived in Germany, and had to walk to Rome. Can you believe that? When he got there, he found out what the Catholic Church was really about. It wasn't all about spreading religion, but it was more concerned about getting money. When he found out, he had another epiphany. He was outraged and wanted everyone to know what he had found out!

  He posted his 95 Theses (or complaints) about the Catholic Church on the door of a local church.  Then he used the power of the printing press to make lots of copies which became very popular with commoners.  The Pope excommunicated him and Martin took his letter of excommunication and tossed it into the fire.  They called him to a trial called the Diet of Worms to see if he was a heretic.  He would not change his views.  Martin spent the rest of his life considered by some to be an outlaw, but he was saved by his popularity.
  

In comparison, William Penn faced a different kind of persecution.  He was also expected to become a lawyer, but after the plague hit England, he had a religious epiphany. William saw the Quakers, a group of Protestants, helping people in need.  He liked that they were pacifists too.  When he told his father that he became a Quaker, his father beat him and threw him out of the house.  

   Years later, his father died, and because the king owed his father some money, Penn asked for a colony in the Americas as payment for the debt.  The king was happy to be rid of the debt and the Quakers.  Penn set sail across the Atlantic and established the new colony of Pennsylvania.  Because he was a pacifist, he treated the native Americans well and traded with them fairly.  Here in the new colony his Protestant views helped advance the American ideas of religious freedom and democracy.   In fact his planned city of Philadelphia is called "the city of brotherly love."