Fort Christanna
| Fort Christanna | |||
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| Location: | Virginia , United States | ||
| Next city: | Lawrenceville, Virginia | ||
| Surface: | 1.8 km² | ||
| Founding: | 1714 | ||
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Fort Christanna was a fortification in what is now Brunswick County in Virginia on the North Carolina border . The name is composed of Christ us and Queen Anne . The fort was built by Governor Alexander Spotswood in 1714 and closed again in 1718. It served the settlers , but also the neighboring Indians in particular, as protection against hostile tribes. In addition, the Indians should be proselytized and attend a school to learn the English language and culture.
Location and structure
The fort was on the Meherrin River in what is now Brunswick County in Virginia and the adjacent Indian reservation was about 90 km² (36 square miles).
According to two old descriptions, the fort was laid out in the shape of a pentagon , which was customary at the time , with a log house with a large-caliber cannon at each corner . The corners, 100 meters apart, were connected by palisades with an internal catwalk on an earth wall. The fort was manned continuously by an officer and 12 men from the Virginian Indian Company . Archaeological excavations were carried out in three campaigns in 1979, 1980 and 1981 in order to gain knowledge of details of the structure and appearance of the complex. The excavations essentially confirmed the historical building descriptions of the facility.
history
During the Tuscarora War (1711–1715) there were numerous reports of Native American atrocities. They worried the inhabitants of Virginia in the areas that were on the so-called frontier , i.e. on the settlement border of European immigrants. Governor Alexander Spotswood, with the support of the citizens, developed the plan for a fortified place in which the settlers and the Sioux and Iroquois tribes, allied with Virginia since 1677 , could live safely. The fort was supposed to serve as protection from enemy tribes. He also planned to set up a trading post and a school for Indian children.
Upon completion of the facility in 1714, Governor Spotswood visited the tribes in the area and asked them to live under the protection of Fort Christanna. The Sioux-speaking Saponi , Tutelo and Occaneechi followed him into their assigned area, while the Iroquois tribes, the Nottoway and Meherrin , declined the offer. They didn't want to live near the Sioux. On the south side of the Meherrin River settled members of the Sioux-speaking Occaneechi, Monacan , Manahoac , Eno , Tutelo and Saponi, while on the north side the Nansemond could be found, who belonged to the Algonquians with a different language and culture. The Indians tilled the fields with corn and tobacco; however, most of them were only supposed to inhabit this reservation for four to five years. Inside the fort there was a school for Indian children. The teacher, Charles Griffin, taught them English so they could read the Bible and learn the common prayers.
In 1718 a treaty was signed between the British and the Iroquois in New York , in which they assured that they would never again set foot on the country east of the Blue Ridge Mountains . The citizens of Virginia voted to quit the fort and to fire the teacher. The Indians were asked to leave the reservation as soon as possible. Even so, the Saponi and Tutelo stayed near the fort in the village of Junkatapurse for several years . They began withdrawing in small groups around 1730, with the majority moving to Shamokin , Pennsylvania in 1740 . In 1753 they were formally adopted by the Cayuga Nation in New York. By now colonists had populated the land at the earlier fort in large numbers, so that the area was designated as a separate county in 1720 . It was named after the Duchy of Braunschweig-Lüneburg in Germany, since one of the titles of the British kings was Duke of Brunswick-Lunenburg from the House of Hanover .
Recent research has shown that descendants of some Native American families from Fort Christanna now live in Greensville , Brunswick and Mecklenburg Counties in Virginia and Northampton in North Carolina and have known Native American ancestors. These families apparently descended from Indian residents at the fort who never moved further.
Web links
- Douglas Summers Brown: Historical and Biographical Sketches of Greensville County, Virginia, 1650–1967, excerpt from this book (pp. 31–38) about Fort Christanna (PDF)
- Fort Christanna: Established 1714 , Historical Marker Database (includes photos and a map of the fort)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Fort Christanna. Retrieved November 22, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Historical Society. Retrieved November 22, 2016 .
- ^ Mary C. Beaudry: Colonizing the Virginia Frontier: Fort Christanna and Governor Spotwood's Indian Policy in: Stephan L. Dyson: Comparative Studies in the Archeology of Colonialism , 1985