0:00:02 > 0:00:08I have crossed the Atlantic to ride the railroads of America
0:00:08 > 0:00:10with a new travelling companion.
0:00:12 > 0:00:16Published in 1879, my Appletons' General Guide
0:00:16 > 0:00:22will steer me to everything that's novel, beautiful,
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 will discover America's Gilded Age
0:00:33 > 0:00:37when powerful tycoons launched a railway boom
0:00:37 > 0:00:39that tied the nation together
0:00:39 > 0:00:43and carved out its future as a superpower.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15I've travelled from the cradle of American independence,
0:01:15 > 0:01:19Philadelphia, to the nation's capital, Washington DC.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22I'm moving south towards Richmond, Virginia on my way to Jamestown.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28Today, I move into former Confederate territory at Manassas,
0:01:28 > 0:01:32an important battlefield of the American Civil War.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35I'll then head to Virginia's state capital, Richmond,
0:01:35 > 0:01:38and on to the naval base at Norfolk.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41From there, I'll head to colonial Williamsburg.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45I'll end where the first permanent English settlers hung their hats -
0:01:45 > 0:01:47Jamestown.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49TRAIN HORN BLARES
0:01:53 > 0:01:56Since I've been in the United States, many people have told me
0:01:56 > 0:02:00that there are big differences between the North and the South.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04Though not everybody is able or willing to define them.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06The way of speaking changes.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09The pace of life. The smells.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13The food. The drink. The customs and manners.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17As I hope to discover as I continue my journey south through Virginia.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24'Along the way, I bottle the classic Southern tipple - bourbon.'
0:02:25 > 0:02:30- You missed one. There's a little more skill to it.- Apparently!
0:02:30 > 0:02:35'I get into colonial character on Williamsburg's plantations...'
0:02:35 > 0:02:37Push away for me a little bit more.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40Perfect. That's a good looking furrow.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43'..discover the truth about the first settlers...'
0:02:43 > 0:02:45This is ground zero.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48This is the centre of the beginning of the New World.
0:02:48 > 0:02:53'..and my spirits are raised by the First Baptist gospel choir.'
0:02:53 > 0:02:58# The Lord is my Shepherd
0:02:58 > 0:03:02# That I shall not want. #
0:03:14 > 0:03:15I'm headed for Manassas.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19My guidebook tells me it was the scene of the first great battle
0:03:19 > 0:03:22of the Civil War, fought July 21, 1861,
0:03:22 > 0:03:28and also another battle fought August 29th and 30th 1862.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32And for the railway traveller, it tells me that, at Manassas,
0:03:32 > 0:03:37the Manassas branch diverges and runs 63 miles to Strasburg.
0:03:37 > 0:03:43I suspect that the fact that it was an important railway junction
0:03:43 > 0:03:47helps to account for why it was fought over not once, but twice.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53The most destructive conflict in American history
0:03:53 > 0:03:56was the Civil War of 1861 to 1865
0:03:56 > 0:03:59between northern and southern states.
0:03:59 > 0:04:04President Abraham Lincoln opposed the expansion of slavery
0:04:04 > 0:04:06to new states and the southern states,
0:04:06 > 0:04:09believing that their prosperity depended upon it,
0:04:09 > 0:04:12felt threatened by his election.
0:04:12 > 0:04:1611 slave-owning southern states left the Union
0:04:16 > 0:04:20and renamed themselves the Confederate States of America.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24Lincoln's Union army marched towards Richmond, Virginia,
0:04:24 > 0:04:26the South's capital.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30The first major land battle of the Civil War was about to commence.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36I'm meeting the curator of Manassas Museum, Mary Dellinger,
0:04:36 > 0:04:41at Manassas Junction, 25 miles south-west of Washington.
0:04:41 > 0:04:46In the 1860s, then, what makes this place so strategically important?
0:04:46 > 0:04:48There wasn't really a town here.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50A lot of people think there was but there wasn't.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53Lots of outlying farms and a small collection of buildings.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55What made this area so important was the junction
0:04:55 > 0:04:58of the Manassas Gap Railroad with the Orange and Alexandrian.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01Two railroads that provided access to points north,
0:05:01 > 0:05:02south and west of here.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06So whoever controlled the junction controlled access to those areas.
0:05:06 > 0:05:1122,000 Southern Confederate soldiers advanced north to Manassas
0:05:11 > 0:05:17to confront the 35,000 Northern Union troops marching south.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20Lincoln's volunteer soldiers lacked experience
0:05:20 > 0:05:24and, when 10,000 Confederate reinforcements arrived,
0:05:24 > 0:05:26the Union army lost cohesion.
0:05:26 > 0:05:31And in that first battle, were trains used by the forces?
0:05:31 > 0:05:33Yes, trains were used
0:05:33 > 0:05:36and actually it was the first time that troops arrived by rail during
0:05:36 > 0:05:39the history of railroad use and military use in the United States.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43The result of the battle was a Confederate victory, a resounding Confederate victory.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45They drove the Federals from the field.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49It was a humiliating defeat for the North.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55Just over a year later, in August 1862,
0:05:55 > 0:05:58Manassas was the site of a second battle.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03The commander of the Southern Confederate forces,
0:06:03 > 0:06:06General Robert E Lee, sent troops north.
0:06:06 > 0:06:11His target was a storage facility crucial to the Union supply chain.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16When he got here, he found an enormous Union supply depot.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20Thousands of tonnes of ammunition, clothing, food, stock.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23So his troops were very hungry, so they ate what they could
0:06:23 > 0:06:26and, whatever they couldn't carry off, they burned.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29They burned down buildings, they burned crates of uniforms.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31They destroyed it all,
0:06:31 > 0:06:33because they didn't want to leave it for the Union army.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36The Union forces launched a counterattack,
0:06:36 > 0:06:39but were unable to dislodge the Confederates
0:06:39 > 0:06:42who were dug into positions in surrounding woodland.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46When Confederate reinforcements under General Lee
0:06:46 > 0:06:48arrived on August the 30th 1862,
0:06:48 > 0:06:53they inflicted heavy casualties on the Union army,
0:06:53 > 0:06:56forcing it to retreat towards Washington.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00Today, Manassas National Battlefield Park commemorates the place
0:07:00 > 0:07:03where the Confederates twice saw off the Union army.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Mary, I find this battlefield very well preserved
0:07:08 > 0:07:09with just a few hints, you know.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12The cannon here, the farmhouse here.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15How extensive was that battlefield at the time of the second battle?
0:07:15 > 0:07:17The second Battle of Manassas was huge.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21At one point, there was a very large charge by Confederate troops that
0:07:21 > 0:07:24was one of the largest in the war of men committed all at one time.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27What were the consequences of the second battle of Manassas?
0:07:27 > 0:07:29General Robert E Lee, the Confederate commander,
0:07:29 > 0:07:32a lot of people consider that one of his greatest victories
0:07:32 > 0:07:36because he drove the Union army from the field and the road was open north.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40Less than a week later, on September the 5th 1862,
0:07:40 > 0:07:45General Lee launched the first Confederate invasion of the North.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51These Confederate victories, you're a Virginian,
0:07:51 > 0:07:53how do you feel about them?
0:07:53 > 0:07:56Well, I am very proud of my Virginia heritage and my Southern heritage,
0:07:56 > 0:08:00but I think it's important that when we look back on that and take a certain pride in that
0:08:00 > 0:08:03that we don't attempt to put our 21st century knowledge and values
0:08:03 > 0:08:06on a set of 19th-century issues and problems.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09That we really need to look at it as what they knew to be true.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11And I think, if you do that,
0:08:11 > 0:08:13then it's OK to celebrate that part of your past.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21The American Civil War can be represented
0:08:21 > 0:08:24as a struggle between good and evil.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26And there's truth in that.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29But as soon as you come to the South and stand here
0:08:29 > 0:08:33you develop an extra perspective.
0:08:33 > 0:08:38Those young Americans who fought and died here for the Confederacy
0:08:38 > 0:08:41deserve to be remembered and honoured.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52One in four young white Southern men died
0:08:52 > 0:08:55during the four years of the American Civil War.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59After the conflict, the North continued to industrialise
0:08:59 > 0:09:03while the ravaged South faced a 12 year reconstruction period
0:09:03 > 0:09:09to rebuild its cities, railroads and economy without slave labour.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12- Can I join you a second?- Please.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16Do you use the trains very much?
0:09:16 > 0:09:18Yes, actually, I ride the train all the time.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22I'm a cellist and, if you ride the aeroplane,
0:09:22 > 0:09:27you have to buy your cello its own seat, so actually I ride the train.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29It's my main mode of long-distance transportation.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32Do you perform all over the United States?
0:09:32 > 0:09:35I'm working on it. I just graduated from school.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37I just got my masters in cello performance,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40so I'm trying to get started as a cellist.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44I'm actually just coming from Philadelphia, where I got my cello repaired.
0:09:44 > 0:09:49How do you find getting it up the steps, because it's quite a long way up on to these trains, isn't it?
0:09:49 > 0:09:50It's a major pain.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54The cello is a wonderful instrument, but it is a hassle to travel with.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03I'll leave this train at Fredericksburg,
0:10:03 > 0:10:07which Appletons' tells me is a quaint and venerable old city
0:10:07 > 0:10:10on the south bank of the Rappahannock River.
0:10:10 > 0:10:16It was founded in 1727 and contains about 6,000 inhabitants.
0:10:16 > 0:10:21An ideal place for me to begin to discover the spirit of the South.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39Bourbon corn whisky is America's official native spirit.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43It takes its name from Bourbon County in Kentucky.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47Virginia's oldest family-run bourbon distillery
0:10:47 > 0:10:51was established here in Fredericksburg in 1935,
0:10:51 > 0:10:54two years after the end of the prohibition of alcohol.
0:10:56 > 0:11:01I'm meeting Brian Prewitt, the master distiller at A. Smith Bowman.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04It feels like we're walking down the aisle of a cathedral here,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07but the aroma of the incense has been replaced by the sweet
0:11:07 > 0:11:11and slightly pungent smell of bourbon.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14I like to tell people it's our church of bourbon.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18- Our church of whisky.- So is bourbon a whisky?- Bourbon is a whisky.
0:11:18 > 0:11:23So, to be called bourbon, it has to be at least 51% corn.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26It has to be distilled at less than 160 proof.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29It has to go into a brand-new charred oak barrel.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32- Tell me about your ingredients. - So we use three primary ingredients.
0:11:32 > 0:11:37We use a yellow dent corn, we use a rye and a malted barley.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40So, that is what I would call corn on the cob, is it?
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Not necessarily what you would get in your grocery store,
0:11:43 > 0:11:45that you would be cooking on your grill.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47This is more of what you would find, say,
0:11:47 > 0:11:50that people would typically feed to their animals and things like that.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53It's got a really nice sweet flavour for bourbon.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56Whisky was introduced to America by Scottish
0:11:56 > 0:12:00and Irish immigrants, who arrived in the 1700s.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04These pioneers found corn and maize aplenty
0:12:04 > 0:12:07and used them to create whisky.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10Later, the use of charred oak barrels
0:12:10 > 0:12:13made it the bourbon that we appreciate today.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17The importance of American oak is the fact
0:12:17 > 0:12:20that the porosity of the oak keeps it from basically seeping out.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24But essentially what they do is they burn this inside of the barrel
0:12:24 > 0:12:27and that will caramelise the sugars in the oak
0:12:27 > 0:12:29and it will get that nice, red layer,
0:12:29 > 0:12:32just like if you were making caramel on your stove at home.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34This is the great part. If you look at that line.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37This is about an eight-year-old barrel.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40That's how far that bourbon really got into the barrel
0:12:40 > 0:12:44- over the course of its lifetime and that is called the soak line.- Wow.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48- So it's picking up flavour and it's picking up colour.- Absolutely.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51So we don't... By law, we can't add colour to bourbon.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54So the only colour that we get is from the oak.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00Legend has it that barrels shipped down the Ohio
0:13:00 > 0:13:04and Mississippi rivers from Bourbon County to New Orleans
0:13:04 > 0:13:06had an extra month to mature
0:13:06 > 0:13:10and their contents were considered some of the best in the country.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:13:16 > 0:13:20Another gorgeous space and this is where the work is done.
0:13:20 > 0:13:25- Absolutely. I call this my play ground.- What a wonderful room.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28This is our bourbon still. This is Mary.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31And she's named after the matriarch of the Bowman family.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33Mary is a very, very unique design.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37- It looks like a child's chemistry set on a very large scale.- Yes.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41It's as if somebody just kind of drew it out on a piece of paper
0:13:41 > 0:13:43and said, "Sure, we will make it into a still."
0:13:43 > 0:13:45And that's pretty much exactly what they did.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49The distillate comes out in three phases.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51First, the sharp flavoured heads.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55Then the long phase of the hearts with the sweet alcohol.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57And finally the tails.
0:13:57 > 0:13:59Both the heads and the tails contain impurities
0:13:59 > 0:14:04and the art of distillation is to know when to make the cuts.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09This is where we do our cuts, where we will actually do the tasting
0:14:09 > 0:14:11and I happen to have some of the heart right here.
0:14:11 > 0:14:16One of the ways that we do this is we're just going to pour a little bit into our hand.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19It's going to make your hands nice and soft. Kind of air it out.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23- Tell me, what do you smell?- Oooh.
0:14:25 > 0:14:26Sweetness.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31- Vanilla. - Really nice, sweet, soft alcohol.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33That's what we're looking for in the heart.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36You must have an extraordinary palate and nose.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39It just takes a little bit of practice. You too can get there.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41- It must be fun practising!- It is!
0:14:42 > 0:14:46The heart of the run is collected for ageing and bottling
0:14:46 > 0:14:50while the heads and tails are added back to the next distillation.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52I thought we would give you the opportunity,
0:14:52 > 0:14:55since you're here, to bottle your own bottle of bourbon.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57- Would you like to give it a try? - I'd love to give you a hand.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00All right. We are going to start with some bottles over here.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03Throw them facedown on the rinser and basically what we need to do
0:15:03 > 0:15:07is put them right in there and line them up with the fill nozzle.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10Put your foot on the lever there.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12You missed one.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14LAUGHTER
0:15:14 > 0:15:16Go ahead and try again. It should fill that one up.
0:15:20 > 0:15:25- Almost there. There's a little more skill to it.- Apparently!
0:15:25 > 0:15:26There you go.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29And we're just going to grab a cork and push it in
0:15:29 > 0:15:32and this is where a little elbow grease comes in.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36All right. Now for the best part of the tour, which is the tasting.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39- Yes.- We're going to taste two of our bourbons here today.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42This is a seven-year-old Small Batch bourbon.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46Then, we're also going to taste its older brother, the John J.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49It's about ten years old. John J is my go to.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52That's the one, when I'm going to sit down in the evening
0:15:52 > 0:15:55with a nice glass of bourbon, it's the John J.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58- Enough talking!- All right, let's taste.- Let's go.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02'To taste the bourbon correctly,
0:16:02 > 0:16:06'Brian advises me at first to take a small sip to stir up the palate.'
0:16:08 > 0:16:10Palate definitely now awake.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15You're right about that method.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19All the flavours come zooming through your mouth, don't they?
0:16:19 > 0:16:24'Now for the ten-year-old single barrel John J.'
0:16:26 > 0:16:28It's bigger, rounder, fuller.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31Deeper somehow. Darker.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35Yes, I'm with you. That's the one.
0:16:35 > 0:16:36- Cheers.- Cheers.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02It's a new day and I'm rejoining Amtrak's northeast regional service
0:17:02 > 0:17:05to Virginia's state capital, Richmond.
0:17:09 > 0:17:14Virginia. Named after the virgin queen, Elizabeth I.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18The colony that produced Washington and Jefferson.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22I think that, in its capital, I'm going to feel the pride
0:17:22 > 0:17:25and the greatness of the American South.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38But Richmond's history also has its fair share of controversy.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41In the decade before the American Civil War,
0:17:41 > 0:17:46it was second only to New Orleans as a centre for the slave trade,
0:17:46 > 0:17:50with thousands transported south by rail from its slave market.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55'Before I explore further, I'm in need of sustenance.
0:17:55 > 0:18:01'I'm ordering ham and eggs with a Southern twist - grits.'
0:18:01 > 0:18:03Oh, that looks great.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06Can you just tell me, what is grits?
0:18:06 > 0:18:08They're browned off and made out of corn.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11They're a big seller in the South.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14Grits stands for "Girls Raised In The South",
0:18:14 > 0:18:16which I think is a really cute slogan.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20- I hope you enjoy your meal. - Thank you very much indeed. - You're welcome.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22Popular though grits is in the South,
0:18:22 > 0:18:24I'm not sure I'm going to like it very much.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28Mmm. Actually, it's not bad.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31It's a combination of porridge and semolina.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34I just came to check to see how your meal is.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37- Cindy, it's great. It's very, very nice.- Do you like the grits?
0:18:37 > 0:18:39You were right to tell me to have grits. Thank you very much indeed.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41- Wonderful. Great.- Bye.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49I'm now perfectly primed to visit Virginia's seat of government,
0:18:49 > 0:18:54which was designed by one of the founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson.
0:18:54 > 0:19:00This polymath was a politician, writer, lawyer and architect.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05"The most prominent building in Richmond", says Appletons',
0:19:05 > 0:19:11"is the State Capital, adorned with a portico of ionic columns.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14"The plan having been furnished by Thomas Jefferson
0:19:14 > 0:19:18"after that of the Maison Carree at Nimes in France."
0:19:18 > 0:19:21So this building has the triple distinction
0:19:21 > 0:19:26of being Roman, Jeffersonian, Virginian,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29and I might add one of the most beautiful buildings
0:19:29 > 0:19:31in the United States.
0:19:35 > 0:19:40The Capitol was completed in 1788 and was the first state seat
0:19:40 > 0:19:43of government to be designed after the War of Independence.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49The architecture is so elegant,
0:19:49 > 0:19:51the colours are so tasteful
0:19:51 > 0:19:55and the state of restoration is absolutely perfect.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00'I'm meeting Mark Greenough, tour supervisor
0:20:00 > 0:20:02'and historian of the Capitol,
0:20:02 > 0:20:05'in the old hall of the house of delegates.'
0:20:05 > 0:20:08Virginia played such an important part
0:20:08 > 0:20:11in the early days of the United States.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14For example, Jefferson, Washington, they were both from Virginia.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16Other presidents?
0:20:16 > 0:20:19We've had a total of eight presidents of the United States
0:20:19 > 0:20:21who were born within the borders of Virginia.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25Seven of them served in their office of president
0:20:25 > 0:20:28before the American Civil War broke out.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30After gaining independence from Britain,
0:20:30 > 0:20:34a convention adopted in Philadelphia in 1787
0:20:34 > 0:20:38established a constitution for the new nation.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41But states had to ratify the constitution.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46Virginia was the oldest of the original British colonies in America.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49It was the largest. It was the wealthiest.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51It was the most populated.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53We had our ratification convention in Richmond.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56It was a few blocks from this site.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58At that point, in June of 1788,
0:20:58 > 0:21:01Virginia endorsed our new national charter.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04Was that very influential on other colonies?
0:21:04 > 0:21:10Virginia's vote on the question would be a great help to others
0:21:10 > 0:21:13who were wavering on whether or not to support our new federal Union.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15It was a controversial question.
0:21:17 > 0:21:2174 years later, the state played an equally important role
0:21:21 > 0:21:23in the country's descent into civil war.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28The flashpoint was an attack by southern Confederate forces
0:21:28 > 0:21:33in April 1861 on Fort Sumter in South Carolina.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37Lincoln called for troops to suppress the rebellion.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39War had begun.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42Virginia, not yet part of the Confederacy,
0:21:42 > 0:21:46now had to decide whether to fight with her southern neighbours.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50This is the room where, after two months of active debating,
0:21:50 > 0:21:54Virginia leaders voted to secede from the Union -
0:21:54 > 0:21:56another controversial question.
0:21:56 > 0:22:0288 voted to secede, but 55 voted to stay in the union.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05So Virginia's joining the Confederacy was by no means
0:22:05 > 0:22:08- something that could be assumed. - No means at all.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11But then she makes the vote to secede.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13What happens in this room after that?
0:22:13 > 0:22:16They next looked for a qualified leader
0:22:16 > 0:22:19to defend the borders of the Commonwealth of Virginia
0:22:19 > 0:22:23and they turned to Robert E Lee and he walked into this very chamber.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27He stood on that very spot, where today there is a statue
0:22:27 > 0:22:29of Robert E Lee, and this is where
0:22:29 > 0:22:33he pledged his sword in defence of his native state.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36It is not a triumphalist statue.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40You see here a man who is showing a dignity
0:22:40 > 0:22:46and sadness in the face of America's biggest dilemma
0:22:46 > 0:22:50and, in the end, Lee decided to follow the fate of his native State.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55The decision to make Richmond the capital of the Confederacy
0:22:55 > 0:22:58made it a target for Union troops.
0:22:58 > 0:23:03By 1865, General Lee was no longer able to defend the city
0:23:03 > 0:23:06and, on April the 3rd, it was evacuated.
0:23:07 > 0:23:12The next day, President Abraham Lincoln entered, victorious.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16Lee surrendered to Union forces on April the 9th.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19The American Civil War was all but over.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24'Today, Virginia's grand Capitol houses the state's General Assembly,
0:23:24 > 0:23:28'where senators and delegates meet to discuss
0:23:28 > 0:23:31'and vote on legislation, balance the state's budget
0:23:31 > 0:23:33'and elect judges.'
0:23:34 > 0:23:37We're now entering the Virginia House Of Delegates chamber
0:23:37 > 0:23:41and it's a chamber not guilty of understatement.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43I think many Europeans would understand that,
0:23:43 > 0:23:46at the national level, the United States has
0:23:46 > 0:23:49an upper house - the Senate, a lower house - the Congress,
0:23:49 > 0:23:53and an executive - the President, but that is also replicated,
0:23:53 > 0:23:57isn't it, in most of the states at state level?
0:23:57 > 0:23:59That's true. With only one exception,
0:23:59 > 0:24:02all of the state legislatures are bicameral,
0:24:02 > 0:24:03with a House and a Senate,
0:24:03 > 0:24:06and Virginia takes particular pride in being remembered
0:24:06 > 0:24:10as the oldest elected representative legislature
0:24:10 > 0:24:12still meeting in the Western Hemisphere.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17'The Virginia General Assembly dates back to 1619,
0:24:17 > 0:24:21'only 12 years after the English first settled the colony.'
0:24:23 > 0:24:26Well, here in this state of Virginia,
0:24:26 > 0:24:29I feel much that makes me feel at home, which is
0:24:29 > 0:24:32maybe not surprising, given that it's named after Queen Elizabeth I.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34Oh, good old Queen Bess. She was on the throne
0:24:34 > 0:24:39when England began setting her sights on settling Virginia,
0:24:39 > 0:24:41but it was after her death
0:24:41 > 0:24:45and the ascension to the throne of James I that
0:24:45 > 0:24:49an English settlement took hold and it was named Jamestown,
0:24:49 > 0:24:53and the river leading to it was named the James River.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59The English heritage of this nation
0:24:59 > 0:25:02is more evident in Virginia's Capitol
0:25:02 > 0:25:05than it has been anywhere else on my American journey.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08My next stop will require an attention to manners,
0:25:08 > 0:25:11for which the English were once famed.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16I'm invited to Virginia's oldest cotillion dance circle.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19Hi, nice to meet you.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23Learning to dance with a partner has long been a vital training
0:25:23 > 0:25:26for young men and women of society
0:25:26 > 0:25:30and here the tradition continues for adolescent Virginians.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33Hi, Jim. Hello, I'm Connor Stevens.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36- Connor, nice to meet you. - Very nice to meet you.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40I seem to have joined some sort of a receiving line.
0:25:40 > 0:25:41I don't know what it's about,
0:25:41 > 0:25:45but I suspect it's some kind of test already.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51- Hi.- Hi.- I hope I'm blending in.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53Hi, I'm Hayley, nice to meet you.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57- This is Angelo.- I'm Miss Davidson.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59How do you do? Michael Portillo.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02Very nice to meet you, Michael, I'm Miss Williams. Welcome.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04- Charmed, Ms Williams. - This is Andrew Cole.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07- Hello, I'm Michael Portillo.- Hello, nice to meet you I'm Andrew Cole.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10Bob, Michael Portillo, what a pleasure. How do you do?
0:26:12 > 0:26:17- Sandra, nice to meet you.- It's my privilege. Thank you very much.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21- Liz.- Nice to meet you. - Such a pleasure. How do you do?
0:26:21 > 0:26:24- Katherine, Michael Portillo. - Hi, nice to meet you. Welcome.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28- What is cotillion? - Actually, it was a social event
0:26:28 > 0:26:32that started in the 18th century, in Europe, and then moved to America,
0:26:32 > 0:26:35and it was originally for more high society.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39But then, it became more popular among all different groups.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42And I think, today, that it's even more important and more popular,
0:26:42 > 0:26:45here in the States especially, and probably more important
0:26:45 > 0:26:47- in the South, and more common in the South.- Mm-hm.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51We're so excited to be in our 71st year of Cotillion,
0:26:51 > 0:26:54- here at the Junior Assembly. Pretty proud of that.- Yes.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56Why is it important to teach dance?
0:26:56 > 0:26:59The tool is dancing that we use really to teach
0:26:59 > 0:27:02social self-confidence and social graces in these teens and tweens,
0:27:02 > 0:27:04which really is lacking in this day and age,
0:27:04 > 0:27:07with technology and social media being so prevalent,
0:27:07 > 0:27:11and the social self-confidence and the social graces that they learn
0:27:11 > 0:27:13really carry them throughout life
0:27:13 > 0:27:17and those are, you know, successes that they'll have as they get a job
0:27:17 > 0:27:19and as they interact in their adult lives,
0:27:19 > 0:27:22so we think it's very important to start with dancing.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25You've been great successes, because these young people have
0:27:25 > 0:27:28- the most beautiful manners. - We think so, yes.- Thank you.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31Now, I was put through a series of very frightening tests.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34- First of all, a receiving line. How did I do?- Excellent.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36You introduced yourself with your first and last name,
0:27:36 > 0:27:39gave a warm smile. It looked like you were excited to be here.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41- We hope you were, ha-ha! - One of our goals is confidence.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44A lot of boys, especially the first cotillions, look at their feet
0:27:44 > 0:27:47and feel nervous, wondering if they're doing it correctly.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49We didn't see any of that with you, so you did a great job.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53So, if I were to join in the event, and I'm thinking I might do that,
0:27:53 > 0:27:56- what tips would you have? - Have fun.- Big smile.- Yes.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59Have fun, show some self-confidence.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03- Relax.- Choose a partner, thank your partner and just be yourself.- OK.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05- I'll join in. Wish me luck. - Good luck, you'll do great.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08- Best of luck. You'll do great. - Have fun.- Keep your smile.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10(I'm not so confident.) LIZ LAUGHS
0:28:10 > 0:28:12MUSIC BEGINS
0:28:14 > 0:28:18First introduced to the colonies from Europe in the 1770s,
0:28:18 > 0:28:21cotillion became a favourite dance at assemblies,
0:28:21 > 0:28:26allowing couples to exchange partners in an early square dance.
0:28:26 > 0:28:29Today, the music and the dances are more varied.
0:28:29 > 0:28:34Still, dance is an instrument for teaching teenagers social graces.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37I'm hoping not to let the side down.
0:28:40 > 0:28:41Help me, help me!
0:28:41 > 0:28:43It's easy.
0:28:43 > 0:28:45Ready, and go.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48Out, in, out, in. Heel, heel, toe, toe.
0:28:48 > 0:28:51Right, cross, right.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53Left, cross, left.
0:28:53 > 0:28:54Forward, forward, forward.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57Back, back, back.
0:28:57 > 0:28:59One, two, three, turn,
0:28:59 > 0:29:01five, six, seven, eight.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04'Lacking any sense of rhythm, I must call on my manners.'
0:29:04 > 0:29:06I'm sorry.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09Back now, ready for the pause.
0:29:09 > 0:29:10Outside rock. To the centre.
0:29:10 > 0:29:15'The formal dress and white gloves worn today evoke the gilded age
0:29:15 > 0:29:21'of the late 1800s, when the tradition of presenting in society
0:29:21 > 0:29:26'18-year-old debutants from America's wealthiest families started.'
0:29:34 > 0:29:38It's clear that cotillion has taught these teens
0:29:38 > 0:29:40more than fancy footwork.
0:29:40 > 0:29:44Their social skills and confidence are beyond their years.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56- Thank you.- Thank you, you saved me from humiliation and from myself.
0:29:56 > 0:29:58Thank you very much.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15TRAIN HORN BLARES
0:30:21 > 0:30:25I'm reaching the end of my United States journey
0:30:25 > 0:30:27travelling through Virginia.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30As I've raced through American history,
0:30:30 > 0:30:33from colony to global superpower, I'm looking forward to
0:30:33 > 0:30:37a conclusion that will lift up my heart.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44Today, I'll continue south through Petersburg
0:30:44 > 0:30:47to the naval base at Norfolk.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50From there, I'll head to Colonial Williamsburg.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54I'll enter at the first permanent English colonial settlement -
0:30:54 > 0:30:55Jamestown.
0:31:05 > 0:31:07- Where are you going?- Petersburg.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09- To your left.- Thank you.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13'I'm travelling on a route recommended in my Appletons'
0:31:13 > 0:31:15'which starts in Richmond and goes all the way
0:31:15 > 0:31:17'to Charleston, South Carolina.'
0:31:19 > 0:31:22My next stop is Petersburg, which Appletons' tells me is,
0:31:22 > 0:31:27"A well built-city at the head of navigation of the Appomattox River.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30"Since the Civil War, the place has prospered
0:31:30 > 0:31:34"and the signs of the conflict are rapidly disappearing."
0:31:34 > 0:31:36To which I say -
0:31:36 > 0:31:37hallelujah!
0:31:44 > 0:31:45Thank you very much. Bye!
0:31:47 > 0:31:51Petersburg was the scene of one of the last great struggles
0:31:51 > 0:31:52of the American Civil War,
0:31:52 > 0:31:57which culminated in the abolition of slavery in the United States.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01I'm meeting Julian Green Jr from the First Baptist Church -
0:32:01 > 0:32:05the oldest African-American Baptist church in America.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08- Oh, Michael, it's such a pleasure to meet you.- And you, sir.
0:32:08 > 0:32:09Welcome to First Baptist.
0:32:09 > 0:32:13Julian, when do black people first become Baptists in Virginia?
0:32:14 > 0:32:19In Virginia, it goes back to 1756.
0:32:19 > 0:32:25Blacks were worshipping on various plantations, because that was
0:32:25 > 0:32:28the saving grace for what they endured on a day-to-day basis.
0:32:28 > 0:32:30Because families were split,
0:32:30 > 0:32:33husband and wives were sold to different plantations.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39Some Baptists defended slavery, but others preached against it,
0:32:39 > 0:32:43believing that all men were created equal by God.
0:32:43 > 0:32:48By the 1770s, up to a tenth of Virginia's population was Baptist.
0:32:51 > 0:32:52We're 241 years old.
0:32:52 > 0:32:56We are proud of that and we are humble of that.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00Was singing important from the earliest days?
0:33:00 > 0:33:04Singing was the way that the message translated to them.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08The music was how the message got to the masses.
0:33:08 > 0:33:10John Newton had a revelation
0:33:10 > 0:33:15when he coined the song, "Amazing Grace,
0:33:15 > 0:33:18"how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me."
0:33:18 > 0:33:23MUSIC: Amazing Grace by John Newton
0:33:23 > 0:33:27In the late 1800s, gospel music began to evolve as
0:33:27 > 0:33:32Southern African-American churches fused different musical styles.
0:33:32 > 0:33:34These included hymns, like John Newton's
0:33:34 > 0:33:38and religious folk songs called spirituals.
0:33:40 > 0:33:42When they sang the song,
0:33:42 > 0:33:45# Swing low, sweet chariot
0:33:45 > 0:33:48# Coming for to carry me home. #
0:33:48 > 0:33:49What was that saying?
0:33:49 > 0:33:53That was saying that, "Look out, there are writers coming,
0:33:53 > 0:33:57"there are people coming to take you away from where you are."
0:33:57 > 0:34:00How they're coming and where they're coming and where they're going,
0:34:00 > 0:34:04that was the song that was telling them the destination
0:34:04 > 0:34:08moving up to Canada, moving up to the north to seek their freedom.
0:34:08 > 0:34:11MUSIC: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot by Wallace Willis
0:34:11 > 0:34:15Virginia was on what became known as the Underground Railroad -
0:34:15 > 0:34:19a covert network for escaped slaves fleeing north.
0:34:19 > 0:34:22It was neither underground nor a railroad,
0:34:22 > 0:34:25but supporters adopted rail terms as code.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28A "rest stop" was a station.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31The "owner of a safe house" was a stationmaster.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34A "guide" was a conductor.
0:34:34 > 0:34:36Did the slave owners suspect that there were codes being
0:34:36 > 0:34:38transmitted in the church?
0:34:38 > 0:34:42Not until they saw some retribution, some retaliation.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46And there was a special way that the messages were delivered
0:34:46 > 0:34:51in the black church than how they were delivered in the white church.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54The ministers had different dialect.
0:34:54 > 0:34:55Different words.
0:34:55 > 0:34:59Those words meant something to those sitting in the church.
0:34:59 > 0:35:02"Canan" referred to Canada
0:35:02 > 0:35:06and "shepherd" was another name for a guide.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09Up to 100,000 slaves are thought to have escaped
0:35:09 > 0:35:12using the network between 1810 and 1860
0:35:12 > 0:35:15as America wrestled with the question of slavery.
0:35:17 > 0:35:21What difference does the end of the Civil War make to blacks
0:35:21 > 0:35:23and their church here in Virginia?
0:35:23 > 0:35:27What it meant was then that a person held as slaves
0:35:27 > 0:35:31could be set free and they could go about their way
0:35:31 > 0:35:35living in a free society.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37Because the Emancipation Proclamation
0:35:37 > 0:35:43was signed, it didn't change the heart, the mind of individuals.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46So, the slavery context was still there.
0:35:46 > 0:35:51The 13th Amendment of 1865 abolished slavery,
0:35:51 > 0:35:54freeing four million enslaved people.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56But they didn't become equal citizens.
0:35:56 > 0:36:01New legal codes denied African-Americans key civil rights,
0:36:01 > 0:36:04such as voting and serving on juries.
0:36:04 > 0:36:08US society, once divided between free and enslaved,
0:36:08 > 0:36:11continued to be split between black and white.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16Today, the First Baptist Church continues in fine voice.
0:36:19 > 0:36:23# The Lord is my Shepherd
0:36:25 > 0:36:29# And I shall not want
0:36:32 > 0:36:33# He will
0:36:35 > 0:36:41# Supply my needs
0:36:44 > 0:36:49# Whatever I need
0:36:50 > 0:36:57# I implore and he blesses me
0:36:57 > 0:36:59# God will
0:36:59 > 0:37:02# Supply
0:37:02 > 0:37:07# All of my needs
0:37:09 > 0:37:12# God will
0:37:12 > 0:37:13# Supply
0:37:15 > 0:37:19# He will supply
0:37:22 > 0:37:25# God will supply
0:37:27 > 0:37:34# He will supply
0:37:34 > 0:37:39# God will supply
0:37:39 > 0:37:46# All of my needs. #
0:37:46 > 0:37:51The opening words of Psalm 23, but sung with a power
0:37:51 > 0:37:54and a passion and a beat that I've never heard before.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57And in the mouths of a black choir in the American South,
0:37:57 > 0:37:59how poignant are the words,
0:37:59 > 0:38:02"the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want"?
0:38:07 > 0:38:11I'm continuing 85 miles southeast to a centre
0:38:11 > 0:38:14of American naval history - Norfolk, Virginia.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18Here in the Hampton Roads water basin,
0:38:18 > 0:38:22the James and Elizabeth rivers pass into Chesapeake Bay
0:38:22 > 0:38:23and the Atlantic Ocean.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28On its eastern shore, is Naval Station Norfolk -
0:38:28 > 0:38:31the largest naval base in the world
0:38:31 > 0:38:35and home to the United States Atlantic Fleet.
0:38:35 > 0:38:39With some 43,000 military personnel, nearly a third more than
0:38:39 > 0:38:43Britain's entire Royal Navy, it's home port to 59 vessels.
0:38:46 > 0:38:52The Wisconsin is a World War II ship built on the most incredible scale.
0:38:52 > 0:38:56I mean, those are 16-inch guns which means that the shell
0:38:56 > 0:39:00was 16 inches in diameter, of course, feet in length.
0:39:00 > 0:39:05Hurled with enormous ferocity over a distance of miles to make
0:39:05 > 0:39:08an impact on an enemy ship devastating.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13'Battleships like the USS Wisconsin owe much
0:39:13 > 0:39:15'to an historic American Civil War battle -
0:39:15 > 0:39:19'history's first dual between ironclad vessels.
0:39:19 > 0:39:24'I've come to discover more from naval historian Clayton Farrington.'
0:39:24 > 0:39:27Appletons' tells me of a battle at sea between the
0:39:27 > 0:39:32Confederacy and the Union in 1862, just off Norfolk, Virginia.
0:39:32 > 0:39:33Tell me about that.
0:39:33 > 0:39:38At the beginning of the conflict, the first realistic strategy
0:39:38 > 0:39:42that was proposed was to strangle the Confederacy by the sea.
0:39:42 > 0:39:45The only way that the South was going to be able to win is if it had
0:39:45 > 0:39:49continued relations with the rest of the world, including Great Britain.
0:39:49 > 0:39:53So, the initial strategy taken by the Confederate naval authorities
0:39:53 > 0:39:58was simply to build a ship, an unstoppable ship,
0:39:58 > 0:40:03to destroy the blockade and that came into being as a vessel
0:40:03 > 0:40:06called the Confederate State Ship, Virginia.
0:40:06 > 0:40:11The 263 foot Virginia was a Union steam frigate
0:40:11 > 0:40:14salvaged from Norfolk Navy Yard by the Confederates
0:40:14 > 0:40:16who armoured it with iron.
0:40:16 > 0:40:21On March 8th 1862, she virtually decimated a Union fleet
0:40:21 > 0:40:23of wooden warships.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26But as Confederate hopes of breaking the blockade rose,
0:40:26 > 0:40:30a fearsome new Union naval foe arrived.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32That vessel was called the USS Monitor
0:40:32 > 0:40:38and it was conceived by a Swedish immigrant, John Ericsson.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42Ericsson's Monitor... As revolutionary as the Virginia was,
0:40:42 > 0:40:45it wasn't even close to the USS Monitor.
0:40:45 > 0:40:48The Monitor presented almost no profile in the water
0:40:48 > 0:40:51which to shoot at, only one turret.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54But it was enough to do the job.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57'History's first dual between two ironclad vessels took place
0:40:57 > 0:41:00'the next day.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03'The Unionist Monitor was fast and manoeuvrable,
0:41:03 > 0:41:07'whilst the Confederate Virginia struggled to keep up steam
0:41:07 > 0:41:09'and retired with a leak in her bowel.'
0:41:09 > 0:41:12What were the consequences for navy design generally
0:41:12 > 0:41:14of what happened during the American Civil War?
0:41:14 > 0:41:18Well, virtually every major combat vessel that was designed,
0:41:18 > 0:41:20not only the American Navy,
0:41:20 > 0:41:23but in navy's around the world after the Battle of Hampton Roads,
0:41:23 > 0:41:27was a variation on the essential Ericsson design.
0:41:27 > 0:41:33As the Union's stranglehold on the 3,500-mile Confederate coastline
0:41:33 > 0:41:38intensified, the Southern states where aided by Great Britain.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41Some of the most effective vessels put on the seas
0:41:41 > 0:41:44by the Confederate States were built in Britain.
0:41:44 > 0:41:49They were new vessels, the Alabama and the Florida in particular
0:41:49 > 0:41:51were responsible for dozens and dozens
0:41:51 > 0:41:55of American merchant ships being lost.
0:41:55 > 0:41:59And that became a bone of contention to some considerable degree
0:41:59 > 0:42:01after the war.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04The South needed to maintain its lucrative exports of cotton
0:42:04 > 0:42:06to the Lancashire mills.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09It ordered blockade runner ships from Liverpool.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12British crews signed up to the Confederate Navy,
0:42:12 > 0:42:15joining the British-built Alabama,
0:42:15 > 0:42:18which captured or destroyed 55 Union merchant ships.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23The United States and Britain have had many conflicts.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26How would you characterise the downs and ups of that relationship?
0:42:26 > 0:42:27The low points were here.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29That aside, however,
0:42:29 > 0:42:33within a generation or two, the situation had completely changed
0:42:33 > 0:42:38and this was the place from which the most help militarily
0:42:38 > 0:42:41came from to help Britain in both World War I and World War II.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45No single place has seen more highs and lows in this country
0:42:45 > 0:42:46than Norfolk, Virginia.
0:42:48 > 0:42:52To reach my next destination, passengers must cross the water
0:42:52 > 0:42:56in order to rejoin the rail road for a short journey upstream.
0:42:58 > 0:43:02My last railway journey takes me back in history
0:43:02 > 0:43:04to before the American Civil War.
0:43:04 > 0:43:07Indeed, before the American Revolution,
0:43:07 > 0:43:11to colonial times to a town founded in 1632
0:43:11 > 0:43:15and now restored and preserved - Williamsburg.
0:43:23 > 0:43:27In Appletons' day, this historic settlement had fallen into ruin.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30But after careful and lengthy restoration
0:43:30 > 0:43:34dating back to the 1920s, today it's a living recreation
0:43:34 > 0:43:39of its colonial past, populated by costumed re-enactors.
0:43:39 > 0:43:42- Good day to you.- Good day, sir.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44I'm looking forward to meeting the locals.
0:43:48 > 0:43:49- Good morning.- Morning.
0:43:49 > 0:43:51Are there many farmers in town today?
0:43:51 > 0:43:54Most of them reside in the James City
0:43:54 > 0:43:56and the York County plantations.
0:43:56 > 0:43:58- Mm-hm.- But I can think of my father is out of town today,
0:43:58 > 0:44:02but he owns a James City and a York County plantation nearby.
0:44:02 > 0:44:03So, is your father...
0:44:03 > 0:44:06Would he be regarded as middle-class or part of the gentry?
0:44:06 > 0:44:07Certainly middle-class.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10Might you be in a position to own slaves?
0:44:10 > 0:44:13Yes, and indeed my father does own slaves.
0:44:13 > 0:44:15At this point, he has a variety of different slaves
0:44:15 > 0:44:17on the York County and the James City plantation
0:44:17 > 0:44:21and we also have three house slaves, each with two children,
0:44:21 > 0:44:23in our property in Williamsburg.
0:44:23 > 0:44:25- You must have heard, as I have... - Mm-hm.
0:44:25 > 0:44:28- ..of Baptists, particularly... - Yes.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31- ..going around saying that slavery is morally wrong.- Yes.
0:44:31 > 0:44:33How do you react to that?
0:44:33 > 0:44:35I feel that we could not make our society work
0:44:35 > 0:44:38without slaves currently. It's simply impossible.
0:44:38 > 0:44:42Mr Thomas Jefferson says, "It's like holding a wolf by the ears.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45"You don't like it, but you don't want to let go."
0:44:45 > 0:44:47Now, I'm paraphrasing the man, certainly,
0:44:47 > 0:44:51but that certainly one sentiment helped.
0:44:51 > 0:44:54The middle-class became established in American colonial society
0:44:54 > 0:44:56during the 18th century.
0:44:56 > 0:44:59And its success in the South was underpinned by slaves,
0:44:59 > 0:45:04forcibly transported from Africa to work on the cotton plantations.
0:45:04 > 0:45:08By 1775, they numbered 200,000.
0:45:09 > 0:45:12Excuse me, ma'am. Do you mind if I share this bench with you
0:45:12 > 0:45:14- for a moment?- Oh, not at all. Go right ahead.
0:45:14 > 0:45:16Thank you very much indeed.
0:45:16 > 0:45:18What costume are you wearing?
0:45:18 > 0:45:24Pretty much like folks that are working-class, lower class, slave.
0:45:24 > 0:45:26And here you are sitting out on a bench in the street.
0:45:26 > 0:45:30Would an enslaved person be able to do that?
0:45:30 > 0:45:35No, sir, your enslaved were definitely...
0:45:35 > 0:45:39Very rarely did they have, um, free time where they can
0:45:39 > 0:45:42sit down and do anything.
0:45:42 > 0:45:47Their main responsibility was to either be working in the field
0:45:47 > 0:45:51or cooking in the kitchen, that type of thing.
0:45:51 > 0:45:55Now, some of the black population is, in the 18th century, freed.
0:45:55 > 0:46:02I think there's only 12 free blacks in the town here.
0:46:04 > 0:46:07So, at first I was thinking,
0:46:07 > 0:46:09"This is a bit like an amusement park."
0:46:09 > 0:46:13But then, as I began to approach the people in costume
0:46:13 > 0:46:18and the people in character, I find they all have a life story.
0:46:18 > 0:46:22And so history lives through their biographies.
0:46:24 > 0:46:28'It's time to increase my experience in the field of history.'
0:46:30 > 0:46:34Ooh, ah! I've got a furrow to plough!
0:46:34 > 0:46:38In colonial times, most Virginians lived on rural farmsteads,
0:46:38 > 0:46:40like Great Hopes Plantation.
0:46:42 > 0:46:46'By Appletons' day, landowners gave labourers housing
0:46:46 > 0:46:50'and a share of land in return for half the crop.'
0:46:50 > 0:46:53They sent me over to help with the ploughing.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56Perfect. We need some help, we always need some help here.
0:46:56 > 0:46:58These are a beautiful beasts, what are they?
0:46:58 > 0:47:00These are oxen. This is Duke and Dan.
0:47:00 > 0:47:02This is a fine team.
0:47:02 > 0:47:04Ten years old and they know what they're doing.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07Hello, Matt. Would you mind teaching me the ropes, please?
0:47:07 > 0:47:09Of course, of course.
0:47:09 > 0:47:13So, your plough is going to cut the sod, turn it over.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16A fairly easy contraption to run.
0:47:17 > 0:47:19Good, now, lower. Lower down.
0:47:19 > 0:47:20A little bit too deep,
0:47:20 > 0:47:23so push down a little bit and then push away for me.
0:47:23 > 0:47:25Push away with the left.
0:47:25 > 0:47:26Yep.
0:47:26 > 0:47:27- Quite tough work.- Yep, yep.
0:47:27 > 0:47:29Let the beast do the work. Let them pull.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32- I see, yes. - And just guide.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36So, relax your arms, relax your chest, your elbows.
0:47:36 > 0:47:37That's better already.
0:47:37 > 0:47:40OK, yep. Come to me a little bit.
0:47:40 > 0:47:42Good, now straighten out.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45Perfect. That is a beautiful looking furrow.
0:47:45 > 0:47:47And spill.
0:47:47 > 0:47:48- Very good.- Oh!
0:47:48 > 0:47:51More furrows than on my brow!
0:47:51 > 0:47:52Ed, what sort of farmers are we?
0:47:52 > 0:47:55Oh, middle-class. We're doing well.
0:47:55 > 0:47:57We're not surviving, we're thriving.
0:47:57 > 0:48:01- What do we plant here? - We'll plant tobacco next year.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04And how long will that take before we have our crop?
0:48:04 > 0:48:09Oh, we'll plant in May and then, about August, we cut it.
0:48:09 > 0:48:12Uh-huh. And what do we do the rest of the year?
0:48:12 > 0:48:14- Everything! - LAUGHTER
0:48:14 > 0:48:16Farming never stops!
0:48:16 > 0:48:18We plough, we harrow, we plant...
0:48:18 > 0:48:22We plant and pick cotton, we harvest wheat with a sickle.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26Er, we do what they did, as they did it,
0:48:26 > 0:48:28according to the time and day and season.
0:48:28 > 0:48:32Are we fairly self-sufficient now in America,
0:48:32 > 0:48:36- or are we still importing stuff? - We buy a lot of your stuff.- Oh.
0:48:36 > 0:48:38Because of this reason - we make money.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41We make money through tobacco especially
0:48:41 > 0:48:43and you all want it and we're delivering.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46- What can we sell for you? - Oh, you can sell iron.
0:48:46 > 0:48:49You can sell cloth.
0:48:49 > 0:48:52We don't make our cloth. Why would we do that?
0:48:52 > 0:48:55We grow tobacco. We make money, we buy it from you.
0:48:55 > 0:48:58Virginian Indians had long-grown tobacco,
0:48:58 > 0:49:01but it was too harsh for European tastes.
0:49:01 > 0:49:04In the early 17th century, the English settler John Rolfe
0:49:04 > 0:49:08cultivated a leaf with milder West Indian seed.
0:49:08 > 0:49:14By the 1770s, tobacco was the bedrock of the colony's economy.
0:49:14 > 0:49:16What religion are we?
0:49:16 > 0:49:20Anglican at first. Church of England.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23We're required by law to go at least once a month -
0:49:23 > 0:49:25head of household, the man.
0:49:26 > 0:49:28That all changes after the revolution.
0:49:28 > 0:49:31- Do we have to pay a tithe to the church?- Oh, yes.
0:49:31 > 0:49:35It's our duty. We feel, you know, we're transplanted Englishmen.
0:49:35 > 0:49:39You know, during the revolution, we see ourselves as something else.
0:49:39 > 0:49:40Americans.
0:49:40 > 0:49:43I mean, actually, you live in 2015.
0:49:43 > 0:49:45Oh, yeah, I'm just like you.
0:49:45 > 0:49:47And you're ploughing a field...
0:49:47 > 0:49:50And you're ploughing a field with some oxen. How come?
0:49:50 > 0:49:52I love history and I want to share it
0:49:52 > 0:49:54and this is a unique way to share it.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56The thing is this is real.
0:49:56 > 0:49:58We're really going to plant this field.
0:49:59 > 0:50:03And I think that has a special connection with people.
0:50:03 > 0:50:07'Colonial farmers also cultivated Indian corn to eat.
0:50:07 > 0:50:11'From field to fork, I'm curious to know what they made with it.'
0:50:12 > 0:50:15- Hello, Steph.- Hi. - What's the recipe today?
0:50:15 > 0:50:19Well, today, we are doing a recipe for johnny cake or hoecake.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22This comes from Amelia Simmons, 1796.
0:50:22 > 0:50:24This is the first known published American cookbook.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27Basically, you're going to start with your cornmeal
0:50:27 > 0:50:29and then you got your shortening or your lard.
0:50:29 > 0:50:31So, this is basically your pig fat here.
0:50:31 > 0:50:33That really looks revolting, doesn't it?
0:50:33 > 0:50:35I like it, I've grown accustomed to it.
0:50:35 > 0:50:37This is your shortening for everything.
0:50:37 > 0:50:39I mean, it's delicious once you get used to it.
0:50:39 > 0:50:40So, how's this doing?
0:50:40 > 0:50:44'The lard is mixed with cornmeal and milk and molasses to sweeten it.'
0:50:44 > 0:50:46Just take a bit.
0:50:46 > 0:50:47Give up the spoon there.
0:50:47 > 0:50:48And just kind of form it.
0:50:48 > 0:50:51And then we're going to put it in the frying pan over here.
0:50:51 > 0:50:53And you'll notice we've got the frying pan with the legs,
0:50:53 > 0:50:56so we can use it over the coals.
0:50:56 > 0:50:58There you go.
0:50:58 > 0:51:00I'm beaten back by the heat.
0:51:00 > 0:51:01They're looking good.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03- Shall I see whether they're ready? - I think you should.
0:51:05 > 0:51:06Oh, they look good.
0:51:10 > 0:51:11Mmm.
0:51:11 > 0:51:12It's good. It's...
0:51:12 > 0:51:15A little bit austere, but with the molasses
0:51:15 > 0:51:16it's a little bit sweeter.
0:51:16 > 0:51:18Crunchy, like what you would call a cookie.
0:51:18 > 0:51:20- Absolutely.- What I call a biscuit.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23You see it referred to, when people talk about visiting Virginia,
0:51:23 > 0:51:24writing down what they've eaten.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27You know, you see corncakes, johnny cakes.
0:51:27 > 0:51:29This is a pretty common meal.
0:51:29 > 0:51:34Putting on period costume helps me to stand in the shoes
0:51:34 > 0:51:36of a historic Virginian.
0:51:37 > 0:51:41Virginia was respected by the other colonies because of its antiquity
0:51:41 > 0:51:45and its learning and its riches and its success.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48And they didn't much like being told by the British that they
0:51:48 > 0:51:52should pay taxes to the Crown and, later in their history,
0:51:52 > 0:51:54they didn't much like being told by Yankees
0:51:54 > 0:51:56that they shouldn't own slaves.
0:52:00 > 0:52:04After the American Civil War, the South had to be rebuilt.
0:52:04 > 0:52:08It remained mainly agricultural, but by the end of the 19th century,
0:52:08 > 0:52:11its railroad mileage had doubled
0:52:11 > 0:52:15and new industries in coal, steel and cigarettes were flourishing.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19My Appletons' Guide now leads me seven miles southwest
0:52:19 > 0:52:22to the shore of the James River and the site of the first permanent
0:52:22 > 0:52:24English settlement.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27Jamestown, named after British king James I,
0:52:27 > 0:52:32is as fascinating today as it was for the 19th-century traveller.
0:52:32 > 0:52:36The small colony which took root here spawned a nation,
0:52:36 > 0:52:41which one day would outgrow its mother country many times over.
0:52:41 > 0:52:45'I'm meeting senior archaeologist David Givens.'
0:52:45 > 0:52:46- Nice to see you.- I'm very moved.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50I mean, this spot, we are so close to where the first
0:52:50 > 0:52:54English European colonists come and establish their settlement.
0:52:54 > 0:52:55Oh, yeah. This is ground zero.
0:52:55 > 0:53:00This is the centre of the beginning of the New World.
0:53:00 > 0:53:02Who were these English people who came here?
0:53:02 > 0:53:04These weren't Puritans.
0:53:04 > 0:53:07No, our first colonists are a varied sort.
0:53:07 > 0:53:10We have miners, goldsmiths, bookmakers.
0:53:10 > 0:53:14They were over here as part of a company to transform
0:53:14 > 0:53:17the New World as a safe place to extract resources.
0:53:20 > 0:53:24In 1607, three ships with around 100 sailors onboard
0:53:24 > 0:53:26landed at Cape Henry
0:53:26 > 0:53:30and sailed upriver into the territory of the Powhatan Indians.
0:53:31 > 0:53:35There they established the first permanent English settlement.
0:53:36 > 0:53:39How are they greeted by Native Americans?
0:53:39 > 0:53:41The natives greet them actually with open arms.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44Virginian Indians that were here
0:53:44 > 0:53:48wanted to make them part of their kingdom, to use the term.
0:53:48 > 0:53:51And so, of course, you know that doesn't go very well,
0:53:51 > 0:53:54because the English want to make the Powhatan part of their kingdom.
0:53:54 > 0:53:56Are they short of food?
0:53:56 > 0:53:58Yes, they are.
0:53:58 > 0:54:01They're continually short of food and trade with the Virginia Indians
0:54:01 > 0:54:04only lasts so long.
0:54:04 > 0:54:07When John Smith returns to England 1609,
0:54:07 > 0:54:10they resort to violence with the natives, the Virginian Indians,
0:54:10 > 0:54:12and that never works out well.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15And so, eventually, they're stuck here in their fort.
0:54:15 > 0:54:19The Indians are attacking them and they revert to cannibalism.
0:54:19 > 0:54:22'Captain John Smith was vital to the survival of Jamestown
0:54:22 > 0:54:24'in the early years.
0:54:24 > 0:54:28'Captured, but later released by Chief Powhatan's men,
0:54:28 > 0:54:32'he proved skilful at securing food from the Native Americans.
0:54:32 > 0:54:34'He instilled rigid discipline, ordering that,
0:54:34 > 0:54:38' "He who will not work, shall not eat." '
0:54:38 > 0:54:40Once it's realised how difficult it is to live here,
0:54:40 > 0:54:42how come they keep coming?
0:54:42 > 0:54:44The resources in the New World are so huge.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47They're so varied.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49To build an empire, you need to have resources
0:54:49 > 0:54:52and that's what the English did, of course.
0:54:52 > 0:54:55How does it come good in the end, then?
0:54:55 > 0:54:57Because after all, eventually, it succeeds.
0:54:57 > 0:54:59What's the turning point?
0:54:59 > 0:55:01The turning point is...
0:55:01 > 0:55:05The redemption of the colony is when Lord De La Warr arrives
0:55:05 > 0:55:09and he brings with him a new angle or a refocus of the colony.
0:55:09 > 0:55:13Lord De La Warr arrives in June 1610,
0:55:13 > 0:55:17just as the colonists were abandoning the Jamestown enterprise.
0:55:17 > 0:55:20He brought 150 new settlers, constructed two forts
0:55:20 > 0:55:24near the mouth of the James River and generally brought order.
0:55:26 > 0:55:29I've found on this journey and I've found it now with you,
0:55:29 > 0:55:32that there are great chunks of Virginian history
0:55:32 > 0:55:33that I did not know.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36It's kind of overshadowed by Massachusetts.
0:55:36 > 0:55:41- Why?- That pilgrim myth is a Victorian concept. It's a...
0:55:41 > 0:55:45After the South lost the war in our Civil War,
0:55:45 > 0:55:49the palatable, if you will, story was the pilgrims.
0:55:49 > 0:55:51Many history books for kids start with Plymouth
0:55:51 > 0:55:54and that first Thanksgiving, where the Indians and the pilgrims
0:55:54 > 0:55:56sat down together.
0:55:56 > 0:55:59And in reality, the first Thanksgiving is here in 1608
0:55:59 > 0:56:02when Pocahontas herself brings food to help the colonists
0:56:02 > 0:56:04survive that winter.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07The Virginia Company settlement of Jamestown
0:56:07 > 0:56:09drew on English precedence
0:56:09 > 0:56:13in recognising the private ownership of land, supplying 50 acres
0:56:13 > 0:56:17for any colonist who paid his passage across the Atlantic
0:56:17 > 0:56:20and in establishing an annual assembly -
0:56:20 > 0:56:22the oldest in the New World.
0:56:22 > 0:56:24With the wealth provided by tobacco,
0:56:24 > 0:56:29Virginia had ambitions beyond being an outpost of empire.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34Travelling by train has brought home to me
0:56:34 > 0:56:37how enormous is the United States.
0:56:37 > 0:56:41And journeying through its history, I'm impressed by
0:56:41 > 0:56:45the colossal ambition of its founding ideals
0:56:45 > 0:56:48of liberty and equality.
0:56:48 > 0:56:51Americans would disagree amongst themselves about how
0:56:51 > 0:56:55successfully their country has applied its values.
0:56:55 > 0:56:59But I'm convinced that those founding principles still supply
0:56:59 > 0:57:03the United States today with unity,
0:57:03 > 0:57:05clarity and a sense of purpose.
0:57:05 > 0:57:10Great strength in a nation still filled with hope about its future.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17'It's the end of this American adventure...
0:57:17 > 0:57:20HORNS BLARE '..and I brim with memories.'
0:57:20 > 0:57:21Whoa!
0:57:21 > 0:57:23Argh!
0:57:23 > 0:57:25'In Appletons' footsteps, I've travelled
0:57:25 > 0:57:28'on the world's largest rail network...'
0:57:28 > 0:57:33Don't you love American locomotives with their great big long horns
0:57:33 > 0:57:35and their bells? Off we go!
0:57:35 > 0:57:37TRAIN HORN BLARES
0:57:37 > 0:57:39'..marvelled at this nation's natural beauty...'
0:57:41 > 0:57:45The very first thing you see is a great plume of mist.
0:57:45 > 0:57:48'..and the scale of American ingenuity.'
0:57:48 > 0:57:50People felt like they were just
0:57:50 > 0:57:53flying with the birds walking across this bridge.
0:57:53 > 0:57:55- 'From lobster...'- Wow!
0:57:55 > 0:57:58'..to street food...'
0:57:58 > 0:58:00Mmm, that's pretty good, isn't it?
0:58:00 > 0:58:02'..cocktails to ale...'
0:58:02 > 0:58:05Wow! That is strong!
0:58:05 > 0:58:06- Cheers.- Cheers.
0:58:06 > 0:58:08'..I've embraced the cultural highs.'
0:58:08 > 0:58:11- MUSIC: Gonna Fly Now by Bill Conti - Go Rocky! Yay!
0:58:13 > 0:58:14LOUD EXPLOSION
0:58:14 > 0:58:20'Above all, I've enjoyed unfurling the triumphs and the tragedies
0:58:20 > 0:58:24'in the history of this idealistic republic.'