By Venita Benitez
Nationwide — A Royal Decree. It began with a daring transfer by King James I on April 10, 1606. He gave a bunch of bold traders — generally known as the Virginia Firm of London — a particular constitution, the First Virginia Constitution, granting them the correct to ascertain settlements in North America.
On December 20, 1606, three ships — the Susan Fixed, Godspeed, and Discovery—launched into a journey that might change historical past. The lads aboard weren’t simply vacationers; they have been adventurers, chasing the promise of a brand new world. The burden of the mission was recorded in key historic accounts of the Jamestown expedition. Their mission?! To discover, colonize, and hopefully strike gold within the course of. However let’s be actual, it was something however clean crusing.
Quick-forward a little bit, and their dream grew to become actuality. Think about stepping onto the shores of a very new world after weeks of uncertainty at sea. That’s precisely what occurred on April 26, 1607, when a bunch of English settlers lastly touched land in Virginia. They spent a while scoping out the realm, trying to find the proper spot to name residence. Then, on Might 13, 1607, they settled on a web site alongside the James River — what’s now present-day Virginia. The subsequent day, they formally based and established Jamestown, the primary everlasting English settlement in North America on Might 14, 1607.
Harsh situations, and a complete lot of trial-and-error formed Jamestown’s survival. But, past what’s written in textbooks and in documentaries, there’s a deeper reality — one which deserves to be remembered, spoken, and understood. Historical past isn’t nearly what occurred, it’s about who was impacted and whose tales nonetheless should be advised. The struggles, the sacrifices, the voices usually neglected—make it more durable to actually join with our American roots.
Transferring ahead, 4 centuries later, it’s the four-hundredth Anniversary of its granting of the First Virginia Constitution. On April 10, 2006, London, England, held a particular ceremony to symbolically “re-sign” that previous constitution, marking the top of its official position. By then, Jamestown was not simply an English colony — it was a part of a totally unbiased United States, formed by centuries of change. Fairly wild to suppose how a lot historical past traces again to 1 resolution in 1606, isn’t it? And I reside to carry power to moments that need to be remembered.
On April 10, 2006, I stood in London, England, watching historical past unfold earlier than my eyes. It wasn’t simply an anniversary—it was the four-hundredth 12 months since King James I signed the First Virginia Constitution, the doc that set the muse for English settlement within the New World. Now, I’m standing right here, watching historical past get rewritten — this re-signing isn’t only a ceremony, it’s a reminder that its impression by no means actually light. It’s nonetheless shaping the best way we see our previous, the best way we inform our tales, and the best way we perceive the place we come from.
The room carried the burden of the previous. Tales whispered by time, woven into the material of the New World Tapestry.
I wasn’t only a visitor at this historic occasion—I used to be linked to it in a manner that made each second felt private. My ancestor, Edward Maria Wingfield, wasn’t simply there when historical past was being made — he helped form it. As the primary President of the Jamestown Virginia Governor’s Council, he was a monetary backer, Incorporator, and Official Adventurer of the Virginia Firm of London.
After which there was Bartholomew Gosnold, Captain of the Godspeed—one other member of the family, one other key determine. He not solely sailed to the New World; he scouted the land, made the important selection of the place the settlement could be, and laid the muse for what would turn into Jamestown, a Colony named in honor of King James I.
Historical past isn’t simply dates and paperwork—it’s actual folks, actual selections, actual legacies. As I stood there in London on April 10, 2006, witnessing the four-hundredth Anniversary of this second, I couldn’t assist however really feel the burden of all of it.
As I stood among the many grand shows of the occasion, one piece caught my eye—the New World Tapestry. Tom Mor was the designer of the New World Tapestry depicting totally different phases of exploration and settlement. A large, embroidered paintings, its 24 panels advised the story of English colonization from 1583 to 1642. Prince Charles wasn’t the one royal to contribute stitches to the New World Tapestry. Different members of the British royal household, together with Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, and the Queen Mom, additionally added stitches to the tapestry.
At first, I admired the craftsmanship, the sheer element woven into its material. However then, one thing shifted. Historical past isn’t nearly dates and occasions; it’s about perspective and in that second, I felt the burden of how illustration can both acknowledge painful truths or blur them.
One panel stopped me in my tracks—the panel depiction of the First Enslaved Africans arriving in 1619 at Jamestown on 31 August fairly than the precise touchdown web site at Previous Level Consolation present-day Fort Monroe close to Hampton, Virginia and their precise touchdown date on August 25, 1619, the place historic data point out their precise touchdown. The picture exhibits youngsters, and people with chains round their necks, alongside a person holding up a cash bag held aloft, symbolizing their sale and commerce. It’s a haunting depiction of their pressured arrival and the brutal actuality of the transatlantic slave commerce.
Seeing it framed as a part of the broader colonial narrative felt unsettling, even unhappy. It inaccurately represents the Dutch sells first African slaves to colonist at Jamestown. “First Seeds of Future Civil Warfare are Sown” is highlighted. It made me query how historical past is portrayed—who shapes these tales, and the way they affect the best way we see the previous.
This creative selection alters the best way the story is framed — shifting the narrative in a manner which will blur the truth of that pivotal second in 1619. The touchdown of those first enslaved Africans in English America was a defining occasion, shaping the way forward for the colony and laying the foundations for a colony’s survival. The way in which historical past is introduced, what will get emphasised, and what will get adjusted—issues. Each sew in that tapestry tells a narrative, however we should ask: Whose story? And who decides the way it’s advised?
I nonetheless really feel a way of unease. It was greater than only one explicit panel—depicting the touchdown of enslaved Africans in 1619 that struck me as deeply unsettling, in addition to the portrayal of the Powhatan Indian peoples and the colonist. I discover myself questioning the methods through which historical past is represented and the impression such portrayals can have on viewers.
The primary Virginia Constitution, the Virginia Firm of London, initially signed in 1606, laid the groundwork for the institution of Jamestown, the primary everlasting English settlement in North America. Its significance can’t be overstated, because it marked the start of English colonization within the New World immediately’s United States and offered a framework for governance and exploration.
The New World Tapestry captures many key moments. Whereas it celebrates the willpower and ingenuity of early settlers, it additionally portrays moments of profound human struggling and human trafficking.
But, it starkly contrasts with the very important position these people performed in shaping the colony’s survival and improvement. Many enslaved Africans introduced agricultural experience and resilience that contributed considerably to the colony’s financial system, but their contributions are sometimes overshadowed by the narrative of exploitation.
For me, the tapestry’s imagery highlighted the stress between preserving historical past and addressing its complexities. Whereas you will need to acknowledge and study from the previous, the best way historical past is introduced can form public notion in profound methods. The panel depicting the arrival of the primary enslaved Africans at Jamestown stirred emotions of discomfort. As an alternative of providing a nuanced portrayal of their pressured contributions and humanity, it appeared to give attention to their oppression and financial worth alone.
As a descendant of Edward Maria Wingfield and Bartholomew Gosnold, I felt a novel duty to mirror on this legacy. My connection to those figures jogged my memory of the position people performed in shaping historical past, for higher or worse.
The New World Tapestry is extra than simply an paintings—it’s a dialog starter. It challenges us to consider how we symbolize historical past and what we select to rejoice. Whereas some, like Tom Mor, one of many tapestry’s creators, defend it as a historic artifact, I see it as a reminder of the necessity for larger sensitivity and inclusion in storytelling.
Museums and establishments face a fragile balancing act when coping with controversial items like this. Ought to such works be displayed with extra context to foster understanding? Ought to they be reinterpreted to mirror extra various views? Or ought to they continue to be down in a basement in storage, because the New World Tapestry at present does, to keep away from inflicting hurt? It ought to be examined how and why the New World Tapestry sits in storage within the first place, as I have already got, and it’s highly effective.
My expertise on the 2006 occasion and my encounter with the New World Tapestry left me with extra questions than solutions. But it surely additionally strengthened the significance of reckoning with historical past in all its complexity. By acknowledging each the achievements and the injustices of the previous, we will create a extra inclusive and empathetic understanding of our shared heritage.
As I mirror on that day and put together to share my story, I hope to encourage others to suppose critically about historic illustration and the ability of artwork to form our collective reminiscence. In any case, historical past is not only concerning the occasions that occurred, it’s about how we select to recollect and study from them.
Venita Benitez is the president of Nationwide Freedom Day, a 501(c)3 non-profit group NationalFreedomday.org. She can also be vice chairman of the Board for Venture 1619, Project1619.org
