ant to inspire and educate your children? Join us in Virginia as we gather Christian families together to remember the providences of God in the establishment of our country. Learn of real heroes like Patrick Henry, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson as we tour their homes at Scotchtown, Montpelier and Monticello. Travel with us to Jamestown, Yorktown and Williamsburg as we learn historical lessons that transcend time and storm the redoubts on the battlefield where Cornwallis was defeated, ending the War for Independence. This trip will help you understand where it all began, with imperfect men striving to honor God in the establishment and maintenance of a nation built on His principles.

George Orwell was right when he said “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history”. We have lost our moorings as a nation and have been set adrift. Come with us and get anchored and encouraged as we mine the vast providential treasure in the Old Commonwealth. You’ll be glad you did!

Come with us to Virginia as we travel with like-minded families to some of the richest historical ground our nation has to offer. The cast of characters God employed in this region is as impressive as it is lengthy: John Smith, Rev. Richard Hakluyt, Pocahontas, Rev. Samuel Davies, Washington, Lafayette, Cornwallis, Henry, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Lee, Jackson, Stuart and many more. At St. John’s church we have arranged a fantastic historical reenactment at the original location of the Second Virginia Convention of March 1775. Professional actors in 1770s attire portray ten delegates, including Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington. The delegates engage in the debates and arguments of the Second Virginia Convention, which lead up to Patrick Henry’s immortal “Give me liberty or give me death!” speech. The delegates remain in character for tour members to interact with after the presentation. A truly wonderful experience for all!

Special Note — A Homecoming for Bill Potter

Our historian, Bill Potter, lived in or near Williamsburg, Virginia for twenty-eight years, devoting hundreds of hours to the study of the Old Dominion and searching out the providential hand of God in the lives of the Founders. As president of the Williamsburg Civil War Roundtable for ten years, he met fellow historians, walked the battlefields and pursued a voracious reading life. As a veteran tour guide, Mr. Potter deeply appreciates the importance of visiting the very ground where the families and founders of the colony, the country, and the Confederacy sacrificed and suffered, worked and fought since 1607, and is eager to share the stories with you.

Register today as space is limited on this popular trip!

Tour Highlights

Historian Bill Potter lived in or near Williamsburg, Virginia for twenty-eight years, devoting hundreds of hours to the study of the Old Dominion and searching out the providential hand of God in the lives of the founders. As president of the Williamsburg Civil War Roundtable for ten years, he met fellow historians, walked the battlefields and pursued a voracious reading life. As a veteran tour guide, Mr. Potter deeply appreciates the importance of visiting the very ground where the families and founders of the colony, the country, and the Confederacy sacrificed and suffered, worked and fought since 1607.

On Monday night, September 15, Mr. Potter will begin our tour with a lecture entitled “The Long Forgotten Reformation Founders of the Virginia Colony”.

Jamestown

In 1607 the efforts to establish a permanent English colony finally bore fruit with the planting of the Jamestown colony. The mistakes and hardships suffered by the colonists could have ended the story then and there, but God intended otherwise. Today two sites commemorate those first pioneers. The original island colony is an ongoing archeological wonder which includes the remains of the first church, thousands of relics carefully dug and preserved and monuments to John Smith, Pocahontas, the Rev. White and much more.

The “Festival Park” is a modern re-creation of the original fort, a native village, and costumed interpreters. We will board the wooden ships at anchor and tell the stories of the remarkable providences that enabled the original colonists to survive, and all without experiencing the disease, mud, massacres, and despair that attended the first settlers.

Williamsburg

In the unique restoration of the ancient capitol of Virginia, we will walk the streets and enter the shops that tell the tales of colonial America. From the first representative assembly in the New World to the magnificent governors’ palace to the shops of artisans and merchants, we will immerse ourselves in the life of the 18th Century Virginians. Mr. Potter lived but a block away from colonial Williamsburg for many years and will help us understand an age long past and what it should mean to us today.

We will visit Bruton Parish Church where the likes of Patrick Henry, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Judge Tyler worshipped, and where they implored God to grant them liberty and independence.

Yorktown

The independence of the United States was secured on the battlefield of Yorktown. We will stand in the American trenches and charge the British redoubts. Few battlefields are as well preserved and uncluttered, and few can boast the providential significance of changing world history for the good.

Monticello

At the forefront of historic American homes stands the magnificent mansion of Thomas Jefferson. Here lived the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and the Kentucky-Virginia Resolutions. A quiet, unassuming man of genius and dedication, Jefferson still stands as one our most controversial but powerful founding fathers. He admired the French Revolution, doubled the size of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase, created the Library of Congress, and forged an unforgettable friendship with John Adams. His home reflects his worldview, ideas Jefferson self-consciously intended to convey to the world of his time and to us today.

Montpelier

James Madison, friend of Jefferson but antagonist of Patrick Henry, applied his own brilliant mind to the cause of liberty and the construction of the Constitutional Republic. Devoted to a strict construction of the Constitution he helped bring to fruition, he served as President and led the nation to the controversial war against Britain in 1812. Montpelier witnessed the fellowship of the founders of the nation as well as the remarkable marriage of James and his irrepressible Dolley.

Scotchtown

The home of the third and most beloved of the Virginia triumvirate, Patrick Henry, reflects the life of a non-aristocratic, frontier family man. He drew his neighbors, friends and colony to independence from Britain with his powerful oratory and uncompromising leadership. His home reflects practicality, hospitality, and rustic camaraderie. Our visit to the home of the “Trumpet of the Revolution”, a true son of Scottish fortitude, will not soon be forgotten as we talk of Patrick Henry’s bold Christian witness, sacrificial service for independence, and fatherhood of seventeen children.

St. John’s Church

The Second Virginia Convention met at St. John’s in Richmond, the only venue which could accommodate the House of Burgesses, thus avoiding collision and resistance by the Royal Governor. We will sit in the very seats of the representatives and experience the professional re-enactment of that convention. In the powerful climax to the event we will witness Patrick Henry’s powerful call of the colony to military preparation and resistance to British tyranny. We will get to vote on subservience or resistance!

Hollywood Cemetery

We will be staying in historic Richmond, the capitol of Virginia and of the Confederate States of America. Hollywood Cemetery is one of those historic sites where we step back in time and remember great men and express thanks for God’s providences. We will stand at the graves of Presidents James Monroe, John Tyler, and Jefferson Davis. On our stroll through the beautiful hills, we will visit the “Gettysburg Graveyard” overlooked by the monument to General George Pickett. There are twenty-five Confederate generals buried here, including J.E.B. Stuart and Fitzhugh Lee, as well as Southern heroes like Dr. Hunter McGuire, Stonewall Jackson’s physician and Douglas Southwell Freeman, General Lee’s great biographer. When a man dies, a thousand stories die with him. We will try to resurrect some of those tales as we visit this unforgettable memorial ground.

Pamplin Park

The last great campaign of the War Between the States occurred around Richmond in 1864 and 1865. Join us to commemorate the heroic defense of Petersburg in its Sesquicentennial year, at Pamplin Park. This private, state of the art, interactive battlefield offers the unique Museum to the Common Soldier, the original entrenchments where the Union besieging forces finally broke through General Lee’s thinly stretched lines, and reconstructed forts that show the original look of the lines. We will witness infantry and artillery firing and talk with costumed reenactors — soldiers, civilians, and slaves who interpret the original farm. This is the Civil War historian’s dream historical visit.

You will have the opportunity to visit the Confederate White House and the Museum of the Confederacy. You can drive down historic Monument Avenue and see the magnificent statues of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, J.E.B. Stuart, and Stonewall Jackson. If interested, you can join Bill Potter in a free-time visit to the Black Swan bookshop, one of the best antiquarian book vendors in America.

Event Speakers

Event Schedule

Meet outside the visitors centers of the venues below

		62 miles ≈ 75 mins.
9:00am		Historic Jamestowne – 1368 Colonial Parkway, Jamestown, Virginia 23081. (National Park)
		1.5 miles ≈ 5 mins.
12:00pm		Jamestown Settlement – 2110 Jamestown Road, Route 31 S., Williamsburg, 23185
		19 miles ≈ 30 mins.
2:30pm		Yorktown Victory Center – 200 Water Street, Route 1020, Yorktown, 23690
		1 mile ≈ 5 mins.
4:00pm		Yorktown Battlefield – 1000 Colonial Parkway, Yorktown, Virginia 23690.
		70 miles ≈ 80 mins.

Meet outside the Visitors Centers of the venues below

		70 miles ≈ 75 mins.
9:00am		Monticello – 931 Thomas Jefferson Pkwy, Charlottesville, VA 22902
		30 miles ≈ 45 mins.
3:00pm		Montpelier – 11407 Constitution Highway, Montpelier Station, VA 2295
		70 miles ≈ 75 mins.

Meet outside the Visitors Centers of the venues below.

		57 miles ≈ 60 mins.
10:00am		Williamsburg – 101 Visitor Center Drive Williamsburg, VA 23185

40 miles ≈ 45 mins. 9:00am   Pamplin Park – 6125 Boydton Plank Rd, Petersburg, VA 23803     35 miles ≈ 45 mins. 2:00pm   Museum & White House of the Confederacy* – 1201 E Clay St, Richmond, VA 23219     10 miles ≈ 15 mins. 7:00pm   Farewell Dinner* – Residence Inn West End

* Optional. Additional fee required.

Accommodations

Ticket Information

Study Preparation

Bibliography

The historic works connected with the subjects we will teach and discuss is vast and impossible to cover in a few or even short books. Nonetheless, there are some books that will be helpful in both the short and long run for study of the historical artifacts of our tour, both intellectual and material. As usual, there is much on the internet that is very helpful for learning about the actual monuments and memorials we will visit, but their meaning, purpose, and relevance is at the real heart of our tour.

• Jamestown Narratives: Eyewitness Accounts of the Virginia Colony, 1607-1617, edited by Edward Wright Haile
• Captain John Smith by Bradford Smith
• A Land as God Made It: Jamestown and the Birth of America by James Horn
• Forged in Faith: How Faith Shaped the Birth of the Nation 1607-1776 by Rod Gragg
• Lion of Liberty: Patrick Henry by Harlow Giles Unger
• The Jefferson Image in the American Mind by Merrill Peterson
• Victory at Yorktown by Richard Ketchum
• The Petersburg Campaign by A. Wilson Greene
• Richmond Redeemed by Richard Sommers
• Defend This Old Town: Williamsburg During the Civil War by Carol K. Dubbs