After our visit to Great Hopes Plantation, we had time in the Historic Area to watch some of the Revolutionary Cit Programming. The fellow in the middle is thinking about joining the Continental Army. The recruiter on the left wants him to, his wife does not want him to go.
After lunch at Chowning's Tavern, we walked to the Wythe House to learn about a "Gentleman Farmer," George Wythe.
The house is Georgian in style, and could be in any county in England.
It is in the most desirable part of town, near the palace, as befits a man of Wythe's wealth and standing in the community.
I have noticed how many prominent Virginians have lovely desks.
Wythe, a friend of Thomas Jefferson, shared an interest in science, as we could see from the things in his study.
Although we were quite hot outside, we were pleased to meet a "Person from the Past" as it said on our schedules, Robert Carter, a plantation owner and statesman.
We were so hot by the time we were done that several teachers went directly to the small creek in the back of this photo and went in.
The rest of the afternoon was spent looking at labor systems, both indenture and slavery, in colonial Virginia. Although most people in Virginia had to work outside in the 17th and 18th centuries, we got to study them inside, in the basement of Brick House Tavern.
We cooled off and looked at some primary source accounts of labor in the period.
We had time after that on our own, and even dinner on our own, before our evening activity, a program called "Dance, our Dearest Diversion." We had a lovely time, most of us got to dance at least one of the dances, and the we were indeed diverted! As we came out of the program, which was held in the palace, we could see lightening and hear thunder. By the time we had walked back to our houses we felt the first large splashes of rain. The storm raged through quickly, with dramatic rain and wind, and perhaps just slightly cooler temps.
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