James Langton: It's hardly Pocahontas: new exhibits portray Jamestown colonists as killers and rapists
England's first successful colonists in America have been branded as rapists and murderers who imported slavery and oppressed the local Indian population.
The controversial portrait of pioneer life in 17th-century Jamestown has become a central part of this year's 400th anniversary of the colony, whose settlement led directly to the birth of the world's most powerful nation.
When the Queen arrives in Virginia as guest of honour in early May, she will find that organisers have banned plans for a "celebration", instead calling the event a "commemoration" after black and Indian members of the organising committee branded Jamestown "an invasion".
An exhibition by the US National Park Service, which manages the land on which the original settlement was built, plays down the achievements of the first 107 settlers, who brought with them the English language and the traditions of English justice and common law that still underpin modern America.
A critic for The New York Times, who visited the exhibition this month, noted that the Queen would find "not the triumph of British influence, but the triumph of ambiguity, discomfort and vague multiculturalism". Edward Rothstein warned that the "overall impact" of the exhibition was "only to diminish a visitor's sense of English culture".
Organisers of the Jamestown 2007 events justify their decision to ban the word "celebration" by saying: "Many facets of Jamestown's history were not cause for celebration." Galleries at the exhibition place heavy emphasis on the local Indians, who are described as being "in harmony with the life that surrounds them" and living in an "advanced complex society".
By contrast, life in early 17th-century Britain is portrayed as offering "limited opportunity" thanks to a "small elite" of aristocrats who made sure "life was difficult" for most of the population.
The exhibition includes statues of two Indian chiefs and an African queen who fought Portuguese invaders in what is now part of Angola. In fact, the first Africans did not arrive at Jamestown until 1619 and were indentured servants, like many poor whites. Ironically, the first African slave was owned by a former black indentured servant in 1654....
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
The controversial portrait of pioneer life in 17th-century Jamestown has become a central part of this year's 400th anniversary of the colony, whose settlement led directly to the birth of the world's most powerful nation.
When the Queen arrives in Virginia as guest of honour in early May, she will find that organisers have banned plans for a "celebration", instead calling the event a "commemoration" after black and Indian members of the organising committee branded Jamestown "an invasion".
An exhibition by the US National Park Service, which manages the land on which the original settlement was built, plays down the achievements of the first 107 settlers, who brought with them the English language and the traditions of English justice and common law that still underpin modern America.
A critic for The New York Times, who visited the exhibition this month, noted that the Queen would find "not the triumph of British influence, but the triumph of ambiguity, discomfort and vague multiculturalism". Edward Rothstein warned that the "overall impact" of the exhibition was "only to diminish a visitor's sense of English culture".
Organisers of the Jamestown 2007 events justify their decision to ban the word "celebration" by saying: "Many facets of Jamestown's history were not cause for celebration." Galleries at the exhibition place heavy emphasis on the local Indians, who are described as being "in harmony with the life that surrounds them" and living in an "advanced complex society".
By contrast, life in early 17th-century Britain is portrayed as offering "limited opportunity" thanks to a "small elite" of aristocrats who made sure "life was difficult" for most of the population.
The exhibition includes statues of two Indian chiefs and an African queen who fought Portuguese invaders in what is now part of Angola. In fact, the first Africans did not arrive at Jamestown until 1619 and were indentured servants, like many poor whites. Ironically, the first African slave was owned by a former black indentured servant in 1654....