0:00:02 > 0:00:08I have crossed the Atlantic to ride the railroads of America
0:00:08 > 0:00:09with a new travelling companion.
0:00:12 > 0:00:17Published in 1879, my Appletons' General Guide will steer me
0:00:17 > 0:00:20to everything that's novel,
0:00:20 > 0:00:22beautiful,
0:00:22 > 0:00:26memorable or curious in the United States.
0:00:26 > 0:00:27- ALL:- Amen!
0:00:29 > 0:00:33As I cross the continent, I'll discover America's Gilded Age
0:00:33 > 0:00:37when powerful tycoons launched a railway boom
0:00:37 > 0:00:42that tied the nation together and carved out its future
0:00:42 > 0:00:43as a superpower.
0:01:10 > 0:01:15I've travelled from the cradle of American independence, Philadelphia,
0:01:15 > 0:01:18through the nation's capital, Washington, DC
0:01:18 > 0:01:21and south to Richmond, Virginia
0:01:21 > 0:01:23on my way to Jamestown.
0:01:23 > 0:01:24Today, I continue in Virginia,
0:01:24 > 0:01:29south through Petersburg to the naval base at Norfolk.
0:01:29 > 0:01:30From there I'll head to
0:01:30 > 0:01:32colonial Williamsburg.
0:01:32 > 0:01:37I'll end where the earliest English settlers hung their hats, Jamestown.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39TRAIN HORN BLARES
0:01:42 > 0:01:46I'm reaching the end of my United States journey
0:01:46 > 0:01:48travelling through Virginia.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51As I've raced through American history,
0:01:51 > 0:01:54from colony to global superpower, I'm looking forward to
0:01:54 > 0:01:58a conclusion that will lift up my heart.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01On the way, I get into colonial character
0:02:01 > 0:02:04on Williamsburg's plantations...
0:02:04 > 0:02:06Push away for me a little bit more.
0:02:06 > 0:02:07Perfect.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10That's a good looking furrow.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13..discover the truth about the first settlers...
0:02:13 > 0:02:14This is ground zero.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18This is the centre of the beginning of the New World.
0:02:18 > 0:02:23..and my spirits are raised by the First Baptist gospel choir.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27# The Lord is my Shepherd
0:02:27 > 0:02:31# That I shall not want. #
0:02:40 > 0:02:42- Where are you going?- Petersburg.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44- To your left.- Thank you.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48'I'm travelling on a route recommended in my Appletons'
0:02:48 > 0:02:50'which starts in Richmond and goes all the way
0:02:50 > 0:02:52'to Charleston, South Carolina.'
0:02:54 > 0:02:57My next stop is Petersburg, which Appletons' tells me is,
0:02:57 > 0:03:02"A well built-city at the head of navigation of the Appomattox River.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05"Since the Civil War, the place has prospered
0:03:05 > 0:03:09"and the signs of the conflict are rapidly disappearing."
0:03:09 > 0:03:11To which I say -
0:03:11 > 0:03:12hallelujah!
0:03:19 > 0:03:20Thank you very much. Bye!
0:03:22 > 0:03:25Petersburg was the scene of one of the last great struggles
0:03:25 > 0:03:27of the American Civil War,
0:03:27 > 0:03:32which culminated in the abolition of slavery in the United States.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36I'm meeting Julian Green Jr from the First Baptist Church -
0:03:36 > 0:03:40the oldest African-American Baptist church in America.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43- Oh, Michael, it's such a pleasure to meet you.- And you, sir.
0:03:43 > 0:03:44Welcome to First Baptist.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48Julian, when do black people first become Baptists in Virginia?
0:03:49 > 0:03:53In Virginia, it goes back to 1756.
0:03:55 > 0:04:00Blacks were worshipping on various plantations because that was
0:04:00 > 0:04:03the saving grace for what they endured on a day-to-day basis.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05Because families were split,
0:04:05 > 0:04:08husband and wives were sold to different plantations.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14Some Baptists defended slavery, but others preached against it,
0:04:14 > 0:04:17believing that all men were created equal by God.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23By the 1770s, up to a tenth of Virginia's population was Baptist.
0:04:26 > 0:04:27We are 241 years old.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31We are proud of that and we are humble of that.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35Was singing important from the earliest days?
0:04:35 > 0:04:39Singing was the way that the message translated to them.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43The music was how the message got to the masses.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45John Newton had a revelation
0:04:45 > 0:04:50when he coined the song, "Amazing Grace,
0:04:50 > 0:04:53"how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me."
0:04:53 > 0:04:58MUSIC: Amazing Grace by John Newton
0:04:58 > 0:05:02In the late 1800s, gospel music began to evolve as
0:05:02 > 0:05:07southern African-American churches fused different musical styles.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09These included hymns, like John Newton's
0:05:09 > 0:05:13and religious folk songs called spirituals.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17When they sang the song,
0:05:17 > 0:05:20# Swing low, sweet chariot
0:05:20 > 0:05:23# Coming for to carry me home. #
0:05:23 > 0:05:24What was that saying?
0:05:24 > 0:05:28That was saying that, "Look out, there are writers coming,
0:05:28 > 0:05:32"there are people coming to take you away from where you are."
0:05:32 > 0:05:35How they're coming and where they're coming and where they're going,
0:05:35 > 0:05:39that was the song that was telling them the destination
0:05:39 > 0:05:43moving up to Canada, moving up to the north to seek their freedom.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46MUSIC: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot by Wallace Willis
0:05:46 > 0:05:50Virginia was on what became known as the Underground Railroad -
0:05:50 > 0:05:54a covert network for escaped slaves fleeing north.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57It was neither underground nor a railroad,
0:05:57 > 0:06:00but supporters adopted rail terms as code.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03A "rest stop" was a station.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06The "owner of a safe house" was a stationmaster.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09A "guide" was a conductor.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11Did the slave owners suspect that there were codes being
0:06:11 > 0:06:13transmitted in the church?
0:06:13 > 0:06:17Not until they saw some retribution, some retaliation.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21And there was a special way that the messages were delivered
0:06:21 > 0:06:26in the black church than how they were delivered in the white church.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29The ministers had different dialect.
0:06:29 > 0:06:30Different words.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34Those words meant something to those sitting in the church.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37"Canan" referred to Canada
0:06:37 > 0:06:41and "shepherd" was another name for a guide.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44Up to 100,000 slaves are thought to have escaped
0:06:44 > 0:06:47using the network between 1810 and 1860
0:06:47 > 0:06:50as America wrestled with the question of slavery.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56What difference does the end of the Civil War make to blacks
0:06:56 > 0:06:58and their church here in Virginia?
0:06:58 > 0:07:02What it meant was then that a person held as slaves
0:07:02 > 0:07:06could be set free and they could go about their way
0:07:06 > 0:07:10living in a free society.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12Because the Emancipation Proclamation
0:07:12 > 0:07:18was signed, it didn't change the heart, the mind of individuals.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21So, the slavery context was still there.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26The 13th Amendment of 1865 abolished slavery,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29freeing four million enslaved people.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31But they didn't become equal citizens.
0:07:31 > 0:07:36New legal codes denied African-Americans key civil rights,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39such as voting and serving on juries.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43US society, once divided between free and enslaved,
0:07:43 > 0:07:46continued to be split between black and white.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51Today the First Baptist Church continues in fine voice.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57# The Lord is my Shepherd
0:08:00 > 0:08:04# And I shall not want
0:08:06 > 0:08:08# He will
0:08:10 > 0:08:15# Supply my needs
0:08:18 > 0:08:21# God will
0:08:21 > 0:08:22# Supply
0:08:25 > 0:08:27# He will
0:08:27 > 0:08:28# Supply
0:08:30 > 0:08:32# God will
0:08:33 > 0:08:34# Supply
0:08:37 > 0:08:43# He will supply
0:08:43 > 0:08:46# God will supply
0:08:48 > 0:08:53# All of my needs. #
0:08:55 > 0:09:00The opening words of Psalm 23 that's sung with a power
0:09:00 > 0:09:03and passion and beat that I've never heard before.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06And in the mouths of a black choir in the American South
0:09:06 > 0:09:08how poignant are the words,
0:09:08 > 0:09:11"the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want."
0:09:15 > 0:09:19I'm continuing 85 miles southeast to a centre
0:09:19 > 0:09:22of American naval history, Norfolk, Virginia.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27Here in the Hampton Roads water basin,
0:09:27 > 0:09:31the James and Elizabeth rivers pass into Chesapeake Bay
0:09:31 > 0:09:32and the Atlantic Ocean.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37On its eastern shore, is Naval Station Norfolk -
0:09:37 > 0:09:40the largest naval base in the world
0:09:40 > 0:09:44and home to the United States Atlantic Fleet.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48With some 43,000 military personnel, nearly a third more than
0:09:48 > 0:09:53Britain's entire Royal Navy, it's home port to 59 vessels.
0:09:55 > 0:10:01The Wisconsin is a World War II ship built on the most incredible scale.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05I mean, those are 16-inch guns which means that the shell
0:10:05 > 0:10:09was 16 inches in diameter, of course, feet in length.
0:10:09 > 0:10:14Hurled with enormous ferocity over a distance of miles to make
0:10:14 > 0:10:17an impact on an enemy ship devastating.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22Battleships like the USS Wisconsin owe much
0:10:22 > 0:10:25to an historic American Civil War battle -
0:10:25 > 0:10:29history's first dual between ironclad vessels.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33I've come to discover more from naval historian Clayton Farrington.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36Appletons' tells me of a battle at sea between the
0:10:36 > 0:10:41Confederacy and the Union in 1862, just off Norfolk, Virginia.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43Tell me about that.
0:10:43 > 0:10:48At the beginning of the conflict, the first realistic strategy
0:10:48 > 0:10:51that was proposed was to strangle the Confederacy by the sea.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54The only way that the South was going to be able to win is if it had
0:10:54 > 0:10:58continued relations with the rest of the world, including Great Britain.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02So, the initial strategy taken by the Confederate naval authorities
0:11:02 > 0:11:08was simply to build a ship, an unstoppable ship,
0:11:08 > 0:11:12to destroy the blockade and that came into being as a vessel
0:11:12 > 0:11:15called the Confederate State Ship, Virginia.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20The 263 foot Virginia was a Union steam frigate
0:11:20 > 0:11:23salvaged from Norfolk Navy Yard by the Confederates
0:11:23 > 0:11:25who armoured it with iron.
0:11:25 > 0:11:30On March 8th 1862, she virtually decimated a Union fleet
0:11:30 > 0:11:32of wooden warships.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35But as Confederate hopes of breaking the blockade rose,
0:11:35 > 0:11:38a fearsome new Union naval foe arrived.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42That vessel was called the USS Monitor
0:11:42 > 0:11:47and it was conceived by a Swedish immigrant, John Ericsson.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51Ericsson's Monitor... As revolutionary as the Virginia was,
0:11:51 > 0:11:54it wasn't even close to the USS Monitor.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57The Monitor presented almost no profile in the water
0:11:57 > 0:12:00which to shoot at, only one turret.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03But it was enough to do the job.
0:12:03 > 0:12:07History's first dual between two ironclad vessels took place
0:12:07 > 0:12:09the next day.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12The Unionist Monitor was fast and manoeuvrable,
0:12:12 > 0:12:16whilst the Confederate Virginia struggled to keep up steam
0:12:16 > 0:12:18and retired with a leak in her bowel.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22What were the consequences for navy design generally after what
0:12:22 > 0:12:24happens during the American Civil War?
0:12:24 > 0:12:27Well, virtually every major combat vessel that was designed,
0:12:27 > 0:12:29not only the American Navy,
0:12:29 > 0:12:32but in navy's around the world after the Battle of Hampton Roads,
0:12:32 > 0:12:36was a variation on the essential Ericsson design.
0:12:37 > 0:12:42As the Union's stranglehold on the 3,500 mile Confederate coastline
0:12:42 > 0:12:47intensified, the Southern states where aided by Great Britain.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50Some of the most effective vessels put on the seas
0:12:50 > 0:12:53by the Confederate States were built in Britain.
0:12:53 > 0:12:58They were new vessels, the Alabama and the Florida in particular
0:12:58 > 0:13:00were responsible for dozens and dozens
0:13:00 > 0:13:04of American merchant ships being lost.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08And that became a bone of contention to some considerable degree
0:13:08 > 0:13:10after the war.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13The South needed to maintain its lucrative exports of cotton
0:13:13 > 0:13:15to the Lancashire mills.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18It ordered blockade runner ships from Liverpool.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21British crews signed up to the Confederate Navy,
0:13:21 > 0:13:24joining the British built Alabama,
0:13:24 > 0:13:27which captured or destroyed 55 Union merchant ships.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32The United States and Britain have had many conflicts.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35How would you count phrase the downs and ups of that relationship?
0:13:35 > 0:13:36The low points were here.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38That aside, however,
0:13:38 > 0:13:42within a generation or two the situation had completely changed
0:13:42 > 0:13:47and this was the place from which the most help militarily
0:13:47 > 0:13:50came from to help Britain in both World War I and World War II.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54No single place has seen more highs and lows in this country
0:13:54 > 0:13:55than Norfolk, Virginia.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01To reach my next destination, passengers must cross the water
0:14:01 > 0:14:05in order to rejoin the rail road for a short journey upstream.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11My last railway journey takes me back in history
0:14:11 > 0:14:13to before the American Civil War.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16Indeed, before the American Revolution,
0:14:16 > 0:14:20to colonial times to a town founded in 1632
0:14:20 > 0:14:24and now restored and preserved - Williamsburg.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36In Appletons' day, this historic settlement had fallen into ruin.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39But after careful and lengthy restoration
0:14:39 > 0:14:43dating back to the 1920s, today it's a living recreation
0:14:43 > 0:14:48of its colonial past, populated by costumed re-enactors.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51- Good day to you.- Good day, sir.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53I'm looking forward to meeting the locals.
0:14:57 > 0:14:58- Good morning.- Morning.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00Are there many farmers in town today?
0:15:00 > 0:15:03Most of them reside in the James City
0:15:03 > 0:15:05and the York County plantations.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07- Mm-hm.- But I can think of my father is out of town today,
0:15:07 > 0:15:11but he owns a James City and a York County plantation nearby.
0:15:11 > 0:15:12So, is your father...
0:15:12 > 0:15:15Would he be regarded as middle-class or part of the gentry?
0:15:15 > 0:15:16Certainly middle-class.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19Might you be in a position to own slaves?
0:15:19 > 0:15:22Yes, and indeed my father does own slaves.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24At this point, he has a variety of different slaves
0:15:24 > 0:15:26on the York County and the James City plantation
0:15:26 > 0:15:30and we also have three house slaves, each with two children,
0:15:30 > 0:15:32in our property in Williamsburg.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34- You must have heard, as I have... - Mm-hm.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37- ..of Baptists, particularly... - Yes.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40- ..going around saying that slavery is morally wrong.- Yes.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42How do you react to that?
0:15:42 > 0:15:44I feel that we could not make our society work
0:15:44 > 0:15:47without slaves currently. It's simply impossible.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51Mr Thomas Jefferson says, "It's like holding a wolf by the ears.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54"You don't like it, but you don't want to let go."
0:15:54 > 0:15:56Now, I'm paraphrasing the man, certainly,
0:15:56 > 0:16:00but that certainly one sentiment helped.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03The middle-class became established in American colonial society
0:16:03 > 0:16:05during the 18th century.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08And its success in the South was underpinned by slaves,
0:16:08 > 0:16:13forcibly transported from Africa to work on the cotton plantations.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17By 1775, they numbered 200,000.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21Excuse me, ma'am. Do you mind if I share this bench with you
0:16:21 > 0:16:23- for a moment?- Oh, not at all. Go right ahead.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25Thank you very much indeed.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27What costume are you wearing?
0:16:27 > 0:16:33Pretty much like folks that are working-class, lower class, slave.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35And here you are sitting out on a bench in the street.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39Would an enslaved person be able to do that?
0:16:39 > 0:16:44No, sir, your enslave were definitely...
0:16:44 > 0:16:48Very rarely did they have free time where they can
0:16:48 > 0:16:51sit down and do anything.
0:16:51 > 0:16:56Their main responsibility was to either be working in the field
0:16:56 > 0:17:00or cooking in the kitchen, that type of...
0:17:00 > 0:17:04Now, some of the black population is, in the 18th century, freed.
0:17:04 > 0:17:11I think there's only 12 free blacks in the town here.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16So, at first I was thinking,
0:17:16 > 0:17:18"This is a bit like an amusement park."
0:17:18 > 0:17:21But then as I began to approach the people in costume
0:17:21 > 0:17:27and the people in character, I find they all have a life story.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30And so history lives through their biographies.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37'It's time to increase my experience in the field of history.'
0:17:39 > 0:17:43Ooh, ah! I've got a furrow to plough!
0:17:43 > 0:17:47In colonial times, most Virginians lived on rural farmsteads,
0:17:47 > 0:17:49like Great Hopes Plantation.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55'By Appletons' day, landowners gave labourers housing
0:17:55 > 0:17:59'and a share of land in return for half the crop.'
0:17:59 > 0:18:02They sent me over to help with the ploughing.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05Perfect. We need some help, we always need some help here.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07These are a beautiful beasts, what are they?
0:18:07 > 0:18:09These are oxen. This is Duke and Dan.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11This is a fine team.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13Ten years old and they know what they're doing.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16Hello, Matt. Would you mind teaching me the ropes, please?
0:18:16 > 0:18:18Of course, of course.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22So, your plough is going to cut the side, turn it over.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25A fairly easy contraption to run.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28Good, now, lower. Lower down.
0:18:28 > 0:18:29A little bit too deep,
0:18:29 > 0:18:32so push down a little bit and then push away for me.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34Push away with the left.
0:18:34 > 0:18:35Yep.
0:18:35 > 0:18:36- Quite tough work.- Yep, yep.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38Let the beast do the work. Let them pull.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41- I see, yes. - And just guide.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45So, relax your arms, relax your chest, your elbows.
0:18:45 > 0:18:46That's better already.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49OK, yep. Come to me a little bit.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51Good, now straighten out.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54Perfect. That is a beautiful looking furrow.
0:18:54 > 0:18:56And spill.
0:18:56 > 0:18:57- Very good.- Oh!
0:18:57 > 0:19:00More furrows than on my brow!
0:19:00 > 0:19:01Ed, what sort of farmers are we?
0:19:01 > 0:19:04Oh, middle-class. We're doing well.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06We're not surviving, we're thriving.
0:19:06 > 0:19:07What do we plant here?
0:19:07 > 0:19:11We'll plant tobacco next year, right here.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15Are we fairly self-sufficient now in America,
0:19:15 > 0:19:16or are we still importing stuff?
0:19:16 > 0:19:19- We buy a lot of your stuff.- Oh.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Because of this reason - we make money.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25We make money through tobacco especially
0:19:25 > 0:19:27and you all want it and we're delivering.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30- What can we sell for you? - Oh, you can sell iron.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33You can sell cloth.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35We don't make our cloth. Why would we do that?
0:19:35 > 0:19:39We grow tobacco. We make money, we buy it from you.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42Virginian Indians had long grown tobacco,
0:19:42 > 0:19:45but it was too harsh for European tastes.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48In the early 17th century, the English settler John Rolfe
0:19:48 > 0:19:52cultivated a leaf with milder West Indian seed.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56By the 1770s, tobacco was the bedrock of the colony's economy.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00I mean, actually, you live in 2015.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02Oh, yeah, I'm just like you.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04And you're ploughing a field...
0:20:04 > 0:20:06And you're ploughing a field with some oxen.
0:20:06 > 0:20:07How come?
0:20:07 > 0:20:09I love history and I want to share it
0:20:09 > 0:20:11and this is a unique way to share it.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13The thing is this is real.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15We're really going to plant this field.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20And I think that has a special connection with people.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24Colonial farmers also cultivated Indian corn to eat.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28From field to fork, I'm curious to know what they made with it.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32- Hello, Steph.- Hi. - What's the recipe today?
0:20:32 > 0:20:35Well, today we are doing a recipe for johnny cake or hoecake.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38This comes from Amelia Simmons, 1796.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41This is the first known published American cookbook.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43Basically, you're going to start with your cornmeal
0:20:43 > 0:20:45and then you got your shortening or your lard.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47So, this is basically your pig fat here.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49That really looks revolting, doesn't it?
0:20:49 > 0:20:51I like it, I've grown accustomed to it.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53This is your shortening for everything.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55I mean, it's delicious once you get used to it.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57So, how's this doing?
0:20:57 > 0:21:01'The lard is mixed with cornmeal and milk and molasses to sweeten it.'
0:21:01 > 0:21:02Just take a bit.
0:21:02 > 0:21:03Give up the spoon there.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05And just kind of form it.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07And then we're going to put it in the frying pan over here.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10And you'll notice we've got the frying pan with the legs,
0:21:10 > 0:21:12so we can use it over the coals.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14There you go.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16I'm beaten back by the heat.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18They're looking good.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20- Shall I see whether they're ready? - I think you should.
0:21:22 > 0:21:23Oh, they look good.
0:21:26 > 0:21:27Mmm.
0:21:27 > 0:21:29It's good. It's...
0:21:29 > 0:21:31A little bit austere, but with the molasses
0:21:31 > 0:21:33it's a little bit sweeter.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35Crunchy, like what you would call a cookie.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37- Absolutely.- What I call a biscuit.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39You see it referred to when people talk about visiting Virginia,
0:21:39 > 0:21:41writing down what they've eaten.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43You know, you see corncakes, johnny cakes.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46This is a pretty common meal.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50Putting on period costume helps me to stand in the shoes
0:21:50 > 0:21:52of a historic Virginian.
0:21:53 > 0:21:58Virginia was respected by the other colonies because of its antiquity
0:21:58 > 0:22:02and its learning and its riches and its success.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05And they didn't much like being told by the British that they
0:22:05 > 0:22:08should pay taxes to the Crown and later in their history,
0:22:08 > 0:22:11they didn't much like being told by Yankees
0:22:11 > 0:22:12that they shouldn't own slaves.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21After the American Civil War, the South had to be rebuilt.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25It remained mainly agricultural, but by the end of the 19th century,
0:22:25 > 0:22:27its railroad mileage had doubled
0:22:27 > 0:22:31and new industries in coal, steel and cigarettes were flourishing.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36My Appletons' Guide now leads me seven miles southwest
0:22:36 > 0:22:39to the shore of the James River and the site of the first permanent
0:22:39 > 0:22:41English settlement.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44Jamestown, named after British king James I,
0:22:44 > 0:22:48is as fascinating today as it was for the 19th century traveller.
0:22:48 > 0:22:53The small colony which took root here spawned a nation,
0:22:53 > 0:22:57which one day would outgrow its mother country many times over.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01I'm meeting senior archaeologist David Givens.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03- Nice to see you.- I'm very moved.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06I mean, this spot, we are so close to where the first
0:23:06 > 0:23:10English European colonists come and establish their settlement.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12Oh, yeah. This is ground zero.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16This is the centre of the beginning of the New World.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19Who were these English people who came here?
0:23:19 > 0:23:21These weren't Puritans.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23No, our first colonists are a varied sort.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27We have miners, goldsmiths, bookmakers.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30They were over here as part of a company to transform
0:23:30 > 0:23:33the New World as a safe place to extract resources.
0:23:36 > 0:23:41In 1607, three ships with around 100 sailors onboard
0:23:41 > 0:23:43landed at Cape Henry
0:23:43 > 0:23:46and sailed upriver into the territory of the Powhatan Indians.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51There they established the first permanent English settlement.
0:23:53 > 0:23:55How are they greeted by Native Americans?
0:23:55 > 0:23:58The natives greet them actually with open arms.
0:23:58 > 0:24:00Virginian Indians that were here wanted to make
0:24:00 > 0:24:04part of their kingdom, to use the term.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08And so, of course, you know that doesn't go very well
0:24:08 > 0:24:11because the English want to make the Powhatan part of their kingdom.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13Are they short of food?
0:24:13 > 0:24:14Yes, they are.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18They're continually short of food and trade with the Virginia Indians
0:24:18 > 0:24:20only lasts so long.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24When John Smith returns to England 1609,
0:24:24 > 0:24:26they resort to violence with the natives, the Virginian Indians,
0:24:26 > 0:24:28and that never works out well.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31And so, eventually, they're stuck here in their fort.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35The Indians are attacking them and they revert to cannibalism.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39Captain John Smith was vital to the survival of Jamestown
0:24:39 > 0:24:41in the early years.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44Captured, but later released by Chief Powhatan's men,
0:24:44 > 0:24:48he proved skilful at securing food from the Native Americans.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51He instilled rigid discipline, ordering that,
0:24:51 > 0:24:53"He who will not work, shall not eat."
0:24:54 > 0:24:57Once it's realised how difficult it is to live here,
0:24:57 > 0:24:58how come they keep coming?
0:24:58 > 0:25:01The resources in the New World are so huge.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03They're so varied.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06To build an empire, you need to have resources
0:25:06 > 0:25:09and that's what the English did, of course.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11How does it come good in the end then?
0:25:11 > 0:25:14Because after all, eventually, it succeeds.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16What's the turning point?
0:25:16 > 0:25:17The turning point is...
0:25:17 > 0:25:21The redemption of the colony is when Lord De La Warr arrives
0:25:21 > 0:25:26and he brings with him a new angle or a refocus of the colony.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29Lord De La Warr arrives in June 1610,
0:25:29 > 0:25:33just as the colonists were abandoning the Jamestown enterprise.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37He brought 150 new settlers, constructed two forts
0:25:37 > 0:25:41near the mouth of the James River and generally brought order.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46I've found on this journey and I've found it now with you,
0:25:46 > 0:25:48that there are great chunks of Virginian history
0:25:48 > 0:25:49that I did not know.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52It's kind of overshadowed by Massachusetts.
0:25:52 > 0:25:53Why?
0:25:53 > 0:25:55That pilgrim myth is a Victorian concept.
0:25:57 > 0:26:02After the South lost the war in our Civil War,
0:26:02 > 0:26:05the palatable, if you will, story was the pilgrims.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08Many history books for kids start with Plymouth
0:26:08 > 0:26:11and that first Thanksgiving, where the Indians and the pilgrims
0:26:11 > 0:26:12sat down together.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15And in reality, the first Thanksgiving is here in 1608
0:26:15 > 0:26:19when Pocahontas herself brings food to help the colonists
0:26:19 > 0:26:21survive that winter.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23The Virginia Company settlement of Jamestown
0:26:23 > 0:26:25drew on English precedence
0:26:25 > 0:26:29in recognising the private ownership of land, supplying 50 acres
0:26:29 > 0:26:33for any colonist who paid his passage across the Atlantic
0:26:33 > 0:26:36and in establishing an annual assembly -
0:26:36 > 0:26:39the oldest in the New World.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41With the wealth provided by tobacco,
0:26:41 > 0:26:45Virginia had ambitions beyond being an outpost of empire.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51Travelling by train has brought home to me
0:26:51 > 0:26:54how enormous is the United States.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58And journeying through its history, I'm impressed by
0:26:58 > 0:27:02the colossal ambition of its founding ideals
0:27:02 > 0:27:04of liberty and equality.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08Americans would disagree amongst themselves about how
0:27:08 > 0:27:12successfully their country has applied its values.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16But I'm convinced that those founding principles still supply
0:27:16 > 0:27:19the United States today with unity,
0:27:19 > 0:27:22clarity and a sense of purpose.
0:27:22 > 0:27:27Great strength in a nation still filled with hope about its future.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36It's the end of this American adventure and I brim with memories.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38Whoa!
0:27:38 > 0:27:40Argh!
0:27:40 > 0:27:42In Appletons' footsteps, I've travelled
0:27:42 > 0:27:45on the world's largest rail network...
0:27:45 > 0:27:50Don't you love American locomotives with their great big long horns
0:27:50 > 0:27:52and their bells? Off we go!
0:27:52 > 0:27:54TRAIN HORN BLARES
0:27:54 > 0:27:57..marvelled at this nation's natural beauty...
0:27:58 > 0:28:01The very first thing you see is a great plume of mist.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05..and the scale of American ingenuity...
0:28:05 > 0:28:08People thought that they were just flying with the birds
0:28:08 > 0:28:10walking across this bridge.
0:28:10 > 0:28:11..from lobster
0:28:11 > 0:28:12Wow!
0:28:12 > 0:28:13..to street food.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16Mmm, that's pretty good, isn't it?
0:28:16 > 0:28:18I've embraced the cultural highs.
0:28:18 > 0:28:20MUSIC: Gonna Fly Now by Bill Conti
0:28:20 > 0:28:21Rocky!
0:28:22 > 0:28:24LOUD EXPLOSION
0:28:24 > 0:28:29Above all, I've enjoyed unfurling the triumphs and the tragedies
0:28:29 > 0:28:33in the history of this idealistic republic.