Today, I had the privilege to be a part of my second McConnell Scholars Seminar. Our topic today was "Faith, Fortune and the Founding of English America" which centered on the Jamestown settlement in colonial Virginia. Dr. Lorri Glover, an expert on colonial America, came to talk with us about Jamestown and the shipwreck that "saved" the settlement before her public lecture this evening. She recently has done extensive research on these subjects and authored a book titled: "The Shipwreck that Saved Jamestown: The Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America".
Personally, I quite enjoyed the seminar. I found what Dr. Glover had to say on Jamestown to be interesting and, in some cases, very different from what I have learned in other places. For example, one of the central issues that we discussed was the importance of faith in the founding and success of the Jamestown colony. This is usually an aspect of Jamestown that is glossed over, and traditional textbook history teaches us that Jamestown was founded purely for monetary gain whereas Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth were founded for solely religious reasons. Dr. Glover contends (and I agree) that the founders of Jamestown had a deep rooted belief in God's providence and blessings, and this led them to persevere in the colonization of Jamestown. The colony was advertised by appealing to religious feelings, and one of the reasons people were interested in it was to prevent the spread of Spanish Catholicism in the new world. Other topics that we discussed included: what caused intial difficulties for Jamestown settlers; international struggles for religious, economic, and cultural supremacy; the importance of tobacco in the survival of the colony; and the qualities of audacity and perseverance that allowed for the colonization of North America.
I had a wonderful time, and I learned a lot. I look forward to many more exciting seminars, and I would like to thank Dr. Lorri Glover for taking the time to come talk with us.
Sam Whittaker