Lexington and Concord, Boston and Philadelphia, the Delaware River and Valley Forge. When we reflect on the birth of the nation, these are the places that naturally come to mind. But as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and America’s beginning, we want to give the South its due. Travelers will find America’s Revolutionary history preserved in four cities that played crucial roles in the early development of our nation: Williamsburg, Virginia; Charleston, South Carolina; Salem, North Carolina; and New Orleans, Louisiana.
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Liberty Takes Root
Williamsburg, Virginia, proved a fertile ground for the seeds of a new nation
It’s not a stretch to say that without Williamsburg, Virginia, the United States may not have become a nation. The colonial city, positioned on the Virginia Peninsula between the James and York rivers, was a hotbed of revolutionary thought in the late 18th century. There, along the cobblestone streets, Patriots and Founding Fathers Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Patrick Henry—all native Virginians—met to discuss what could be, if the 13 colonies broke free of British rule. In 1773, Jefferson and Henry, along with Francis Lightfoot Lee and Dabney Carr, met to develop the intercolonial Committees of Correspondence, establishing shadow governments and resistance networks around the would-be nation.
As the capital of Virginia from 1699 to 1780, Williamsburg was a linchpin for the American Revolution, serving as an epicenter of social, political, and military planning, as well as a hub for fiery debates. On May 15, 1776, it hosted the vote that moved Congress to officially declare independence on July 4 in Philadelphia. Neighboring hamlet Yorktown became the site of the war’s final major showdown, and the place where General Washington negotiated an unconditional surrender from General Lord Charles Cornwallis on October 19, 1781…