Very cool place. Visited with my father and brothers in the early 2000's, our last name is Shirley, so we were pretty excited seeing our name on something this major. Our dad was a history buff and loved explaining everything to us. And when he passed away in 2017, we found a lot of photographs, this trip being one of them. Very special time.
As a historian who has worked at several historical homes, the majority of the time the stories of the slaves were not recorded and thus not preserved for later generations. Often times you only have a name or two recorded if you just have that. Remember slaves could not read or write therefore personal diaries or letters for the most part, would not exist. How do you present to guests what you do not know? I would welcome YOU do as much research on the slaves at the Shirley plantation and when you find anything, IF you even find anything, share it with them so they can present it. As a historian, I am sick and tired of being accused of "white washing" when the fact is you simply can not present what you don't have and can not document. And then if you do find some interesting documented slave information and present it they will accuse you of "gloryifying slavery". In this PC world historians and historic sites are constantly under attack. We are not guilty of the sin of slavery. We are only story tellers of what we can verify and document historically. Now put that virtue signaling into action. Go research and find all the slave information and share it with the historic site. They would appreciate it. But if you can't find any slave infomation to share then we can accuse you of white washing.
Why are you knocking these people? What do you think slaves did? They worked fields and some kept house. If you listened to the video, you would have heard that the family BOUGHT many vegetables and things from the slaves who had their own gardening areas. You are not better than the historians who do tour guides or the Hill/Carter family members who owned and ran the plantation. Virtue signaling is cheap and easy, establishing a successful plantation in the sixteen hundreds in a hostile wilderness and keeping it going for generations is not cheap, easy or done by bad, villainous people. Get off your high horse.
@@paulascott5701 she’s knocking these people because every time someone makes a video or visits these homes, slaves aren’t mentioned or it’s very glossed over. You can’t be that naïve to think that slaves were only used to work in fields and keep up the house. They were the ones cutting, laying, and putting materials together building a lot of these plantations. Like let’s be serious. And I’m sure it was cheap to upkeep because everyone was working for free. You’re no better than anyone who turns a blind eye or pretends that everything was castles and rainbows. Yes the grounds are beautiful, the homes are beautiful. But it doesn’t erase the ugly things that took place for hundreds of years. Get off your oblivious high horse.
I helped plant those trees lol we just did 600 more, to the front left of the "main house." I've also helped pick grapes at the vineyard. Wonderful family :)
I remember going years ago on a school trip. They told us a story about the upstairs being haunted. They said a late relative can still be seen sitting in her rocking chair upstairs.
I am descended from the origina. Hill family! My husband is a Carter, I tried to find if he was related to these Carters, but to no avail. I found myself being the one related to the Carters through the Hills. The Hills migratedj to southwestern Virginia and my gg grandfather Archealus Archibald Thomas married Eliza Jane Hill from Grayson County, Virginia. They had migrated there from King and Queen County, Virginia.
I'm also trying to determine whether my Hill family is connected to the Hill family of Shirley. My most distant known ancestor is John Hill d. abt. 1781, Amelia County, Virginia.
My emigrant, John Stancil/Stansall sailed from England to Virginia in 1683 on 4-year indenture. Did this tobacco plantation work indentured servants? I would love to know where he worked. FYI: STANCIL was listed in the 1704 Nansemond County Quitrent list as owning 500A. You are not too far from Nansemond County I don't think. Very interesting!
family business, really ??.. 'had to be a tough go".."what do you attribute to being able to keep the plantation in one family for that entire time"?..appreciate acknowledging the enslavement component. nice video, informative, thank you
They were people.. so please, please use the term enslaved people, not slaves.. They worked so hard.. and we don't even know their names..(some names, not all.. mostly first names.. and many times, the names we know, weren't their real names.) but at least we can recognize the fact that they were people.. even though slavery did it's best to dehumanize them.. They were human.. they felt, bled, cried, and occasionally laughed.. We owe them credit for the blood, sweat, and tears they poured into these plantations that we are talking about now as being so spectacular.
No political correctness. People were slaves and you're trying to change history. History is NOT politcially correct. Fredrick Douglass talked about the "Slave narratives" not "enslaved narratives". Laws like the "Fugitive Slave Act are history, they were not called the "Fugitive Enslaved Act". I refuse to change history for the sake of PC.
Do you think people are too stupid to not know that slaves were people? People are sick of the Politcial correctness BS. They were slaves and changing that history does them a disjustice. History is NOT politcally correct. It is what it is. Read the historic documents. Was the law called the "Fugitive Enslaved Act" or the "Fugitive Slave Act"? Was Frederick Douglass's work called "The Enslaved Narritives" or " The Slave Narritives"? But we ahve all seen your virtue singnaling.
So lovely so nice this is a plantation where people were tortured and children taken from their parents let's be real what really happened at this beautiful place..
@@HHWC100 a little place called "fieldale Virginia Henry County" I used to live not far from it the kkk used to have marches over there and as a black person myself I was never welcome even in the gas station over there
I don't have a great answer for that. Our organization is still working to overcome biased omissions like this. We are a very small organization who are very eager to hear from our viewers. Especially when we haven't done our best work as storytellers. You can find our contact information here vpm.org/contact .
If you noticed they never mentioned slaves built that beautiful complex. And they used indentured servitude before using the word slavery nor did they mention any slave taverns or show them?. Hmm
@@Akil- If they don't talk about slavery then you say they are "white washing" history and then if they do talk about slavery you all say they are "glorying slavery and romanticizing slavery". SO racist if they do and racist if they don't.
Hey! show them the slave cabins. Show them how nice they were. Yeah right. The cabins were filthy. They were shacks with dirt floors and the slaves used straw for beds. They were fed the guts or intestines of the pig. Hes not gonna show u the slave cabins because Im guessing they were all torn down years ago. Many caretakers of these plantation dont want people to know how horrible the conditions were for the slaves.
Do you realize how many white people lived the same way? People in the 1930s still had dirt floors. You can't compare hundreds of years to today. Brainwashed
As a historian who has worked at several historical homes, the majority of the time the stories of the slaves were not recorded and thus not preserved for later generations. Often times you only have a name or two recorded if you just have that. Remember slaves could not read or write therefore personal diaries or letters for the most part, would not exist. How do you present to guests what you do not know? I would welcome YOU do as much reserach on the slaves at the Shirley plantation and when you find anything, IF you even find anything, share it with them so they can present it. As a historian, I am sick and tired of being accused of "white washing" when the fact is you simply can not present what you don't have and can not document. And then if you do find some interesting documented slave information and present it they will accuse you of "gloryifying slavery". In this PC world historians and historic sites are constantly under attack. We are not guilty of the sin of slavery. We are only story tellers of what we can verify and document historically. Now put that virtue signaling into action. Go research and find all the slave information and share it with the historic site. They would appreciate it.
That jail that he is talking about at the end was a slave jail. Virginia bred and sold slaves west. The slaves were put in jail after they were sold to the slave trader, who would wait until he/she had enough slaves to sell out west.
Slavery has existed since the beginning of mankind. It has been interwoven into the fabric of society. It has affected every race. There were prosperous black slave owners, in America, the first slave owner in North America 1600's was a BLACK MAN named Anthony Johnson. native Americans had slaves that included black and white slaves. These groups also supported the south in the civil war. If any of you were born back then and were a wealthy plantation owner you would have owned slaves and yes that included black people. Just a friendly reminder, ALL of US benefit from modern day slavery. Where do you think many of the products you buy regularly come from? I bet none of you have lost a night's sleep over it.
A lot of old money in Virginia, this is one example. You have families, wealthy white families living off inheritance from the blood sweat and tears of black slaves. Sad but true. Richmond Va is the Mecca or capital of old money.
This is awesome admiration history. when reparations is enforced ..... This info will reassure a well paid generation receive there due . Then maybe generation of abused Africans can begin to heal
Isn't it interesting how the US government and slave holders tried to buy land in Africa so the freed slaves could go back home. Africa refused to sell land and didn't want them back. I guess that is why they sold them in the first place. They had to buy land where Liberia is today.
well yes of course. That was the point in buying a slave so you would not be out of money on labor thus making a bigger profit. It was smarter to have many slaves if one could afford it.
I think it will be so awesome. If white Americans learn how to tell the full truth not just a half true 1787 at family plantation had 67 slaves registered under the age of 16 and another 67 slaves register above the age 16 and that did not include all the other slaves that did not have paperwork
White amnesia, "wonderful heritage," it wouldn't exist without the brutal institution of slavery. The descendants of slaves deserve reparations for everything that was taken from them. Out houses= slave quarters? How do you talk about a plantation and never mention the people that were enslaved there?
Absolutely, I want to hear more about the contributions of the slaves. I am sure the owners of the plantations kept recordkeeping on the maintenance and daily business of these plantations.
WHAT UP? You understand all areas in the world had slaves whites,blacks,Jews etc .. all of Europe, the United States,Caribbean islands etc all owned slaves, it’s a horrible sad fact. If you know your history.. it was Africans selling off other tribes humans etc. plus whites etc. Please don’t think it’s just the usa etc.
What many people don't understand is often times historic places don't have much information on the slaves. Remember, slaves could not read or write so you don't have much in the way of primary source documents like diaries or letters, etc.. When I worked at a historic site, often we didn't even have any names to start research with and even if we had a a name we didn't have a last name. It's easy to set back and criticize historians so I encourage YOU to go research the slaves here and pass along any info you find. IT ISN'T EASY. And when you don't find anything, we can accuse YOU of white washing.
It was AGAINST THE LAW FOR A SLAVE TO READ OR WRITE!!! The few who could read could only read the SLAVE BIBLE! Yes…. Those existed! But get caught reading a newspaper! YOU WOULD BE HANGED FROM ONE OF THOSE BIG BEAUTIFUL TREES and all the other slaves forced to single file walk by and OBSERVE WHAT COULD HAPPEN TO THRM! Tell it right if you’re going to speak omit!
Meade Music Denial !!!! Of the truth! How can you live with yourself. With such blinders on. You are just like the rest white privilege at its finest !!!
“Us Greys don’t like them Braithwaites!”
it is nice to see the homes and properties own by the same family for hundreds of year.
Very cool place. Visited with my father and brothers in the early 2000's, our last name is Shirley, so we were pretty excited seeing our name on something this major. Our dad was a history buff and loved explaining everything to us. And when he passed away in 2017, we found a lot of photographs, this trip being one of them. Very special time.
It's a beautiful place.. I'm a descendant of Captain Thomas Carter.
To hell with ALL slave "masters"
@@Akil- bless your heart
And now we are all slaves of the Fed and the Rothchilds
Speaks of what the people of the house did but what about what the slaves did?! They deserve alot of credit as well.
As a historian who has worked at several historical homes, the majority of the time the stories of the slaves were not recorded and thus not preserved for later generations. Often times you only have a name or two recorded if you just have that. Remember slaves could not read or write therefore personal diaries or letters for the most part, would not exist. How do you present to guests what you do not know? I would welcome YOU do as much research on the slaves at the Shirley plantation and when you find anything, IF you even find anything, share it with them so they can present it. As a historian, I am sick and tired of being accused of "white washing" when the fact is you simply can not present what you don't have and can not document. And then if you do find some interesting documented slave information and present it they will accuse you of "gloryifying slavery". In this PC world historians and historic sites are constantly under attack. We are not guilty of the sin of slavery. We are only story tellers of what we can verify and document historically. Now put that virtue signaling into action. Go research and find all the slave information and share it with the historic site. They would appreciate it. But if you can't find any slave infomation to share then we can accuse you of white washing.
Why are you knocking these people? What do you think slaves did? They worked fields and some kept house. If you listened to the video, you would have heard that the family BOUGHT many vegetables and things from the slaves who had their own gardening areas. You are not better than the historians who do tour guides or the Hill/Carter family members who owned and ran the plantation. Virtue signaling is cheap and easy, establishing a successful plantation in the sixteen hundreds in a hostile wilderness and keeping it going for generations is not cheap, easy or done by bad, villainous people. Get off your high horse.
@@paulascott5701 she’s knocking these people because every time someone makes a video or visits these homes, slaves aren’t mentioned or it’s very glossed over. You can’t be that naïve to think that slaves were only used to work in fields and keep up the house. They were the ones cutting, laying, and putting materials together building a lot of these plantations. Like let’s be serious. And I’m sure it was cheap to upkeep because everyone was working for free. You’re no better than anyone who turns a blind eye or pretends that everything was castles and rainbows. Yes the grounds are beautiful, the homes are beautiful. But it doesn’t erase the ugly things that took place for hundreds of years. Get off your oblivious high horse.
Beautiful home..!!
Wish we all could track our families back to the origin..
I helped plant those trees lol we just did 600 more, to the front left of the "main house." I've also helped pick grapes at the vineyard. Wonderful family :)
Very cool
I wanna see the ice house! How could we not see that lost technology? 😢
Only the hall and one room shown in the home. I would have loved see more!!
I remember going years ago on a school trip. They told us a story about the upstairs being haunted. They said a late relative can still be seen sitting in her rocking chair upstairs.
Such interesting history. I love it!
Excellent video.
I am descended from the origina.
Hill family! My husband is a Carter, I tried to find if he was related to these Carters, but to no avail. I found myself being the one related to the Carters through the Hills. The Hills migratedj to southwestern Virginia and my gg grandfather Archealus Archibald Thomas married Eliza Jane Hill from Grayson County, Virginia. They had migrated there from King and Queen County, Virginia.
I'm also trying to determine whether my Hill family is connected to the Hill family of Shirley. My most distant known ancestor is John Hill d. abt. 1781, Amelia County, Virginia.
My emigrant, John Stancil/Stansall sailed from England to Virginia in 1683 on 4-year indenture. Did this tobacco plantation work indentured servants? I would love to know where he worked. FYI: STANCIL was listed in the 1704 Nansemond County Quitrent list as owning 500A. You are not too far from Nansemond County I don't think. Very interesting!
No, the Shirley Plantation was built and maintained by slave labor. I know a woman who's a direct descendant of Shirley Planation Slaves.
@@americanlady738
Slaves did not design and build this property. Nor did they carve the furniture. You are absolutely mad.
They absolutely did. Cope. @@Gr13fKvlt
Great place
Thank you I’m on my way I don’t want yaw to tire out loves thank you
''Us Gray don't like them Braithwaite.''
Caliga haul
family business, really ??.. 'had to be a tough go".."what do you attribute to being able to keep the plantation in one family for that entire time"?..appreciate acknowledging the enslavement component. nice video, informative, thank you
They were people.. so please, please use the term enslaved people, not slaves.. They worked so hard.. and we don't even know their names..(some names, not all.. mostly first names.. and many times, the names we know, weren't their real names.) but at least we can recognize the fact that they were people.. even though slavery did it's best to dehumanize them.. They were human.. they felt, bled, cried, and occasionally laughed.. We owe them credit for the blood, sweat, and tears they poured into these plantations that we are talking about now as being so spectacular.
No political correctness. People were slaves and you're trying to change history. History is NOT politcially correct. Fredrick Douglass talked about the "Slave narratives" not "enslaved narratives". Laws like the "Fugitive Slave Act are history, they were not called the "Fugitive Enslaved Act". I refuse to change history for the sake of PC.
Do you think people are too stupid to not know that slaves were people? People are sick of the Politcial correctness BS. They were slaves and changing that history does them a disjustice. History is NOT politcally correct. It is what it is. Read the historic documents. Was the law called the "Fugitive Enslaved Act" or the "Fugitive Slave Act"? Was Frederick Douglass's work called "The Enslaved Narritives" or " The Slave Narritives"? But we ahve all seen your virtue singnaling.
So lovely so nice this is a plantation where people were tortured and children taken from their parents let's be real what really happened at this beautiful place..
In Virginia an hour away from sundown town too 😳 I know there are descendants who deserve a piece of this "beautiful place"
@@businessbuilder92 Which town was sundown town? Still learning about history.
@@HHWC100 a little place called "fieldale Virginia Henry County" I used to live not far from it the kkk used to have marches over there and as a black person myself I was never welcome even in the gas station over there
So let's attack a history museum. Your virtue signaling is well seen.
ROBERT EDWARD LEE WAS BORN THERE.......he went to live at Stratford Hall when he was a little older.
I miss working in the gift shop
General Lee lived there?
While this tour is enlightening, I'm wondering why there was so little talk of slaves.
I don't have a great answer for that. Our organization is still working to overcome biased omissions like this. We are a very small organization who are very eager to hear from our viewers. Especially when we haven't done our best work as storytellers. You can find our contact information here vpm.org/contact .
Good question! So many folk want whitewash slave history/PLANTATIONS.
Its called whitewashing!!!
If you noticed they never mentioned slaves built that beautiful complex. And they used indentured servitude before using the word slavery nor did they mention any slave taverns or show them?. Hmm
@@Akil- If they don't talk about slavery then you say they are "white washing" history and then if they do talk about slavery you all say they are "glorying slavery and romanticizing slavery". SO racist if they do and racist if they don't.
Hey! show them the slave cabins. Show them how nice they were. Yeah right. The cabins were filthy. They were shacks with dirt floors and the slaves used straw for beds. They were fed the guts or intestines of the pig. Hes not gonna show u the slave cabins because Im guessing they were all torn down years ago. Many caretakers of these plantation dont want people to know how horrible the conditions were for the slaves.
WHAT UP? Their trying to hide what really happened there. Trying to sugarcoat it! Just like Holocaust Deniers!
@@MienemLeben lol, it was nothing like that.
Meade Music your right. It was much worse
Do you realize how many white people lived the same way? People in the 1930s still had dirt floors. You can't compare hundreds of years to today. Brainwashed
And people today still eat pig intestines by choice. Slaves were also fed lobster. I don't hear you complaining about that
It is really sad to see that there is no mention of slavery.
As a historian who has worked at several historical homes, the majority of the time the stories of the slaves were not recorded and thus not preserved for later generations. Often times you only have a name or two recorded if you just have that. Remember slaves could not read or write therefore personal diaries or letters for the most part, would not exist. How do you present to guests what you do not know? I would welcome YOU do as much reserach on the slaves at the Shirley plantation and when you find anything, IF you even find anything, share it with them so they can present it. As a historian, I am sick and tired of being accused of "white washing" when the fact is you simply can not present what you don't have and can not document. And then if you do find some interesting documented slave information and present it they will accuse you of "gloryifying slavery". In this PC world historians and historic sites are constantly under attack. We are not guilty of the sin of slavery. We are only story tellers of what we can verify and document historically. Now put that virtue signaling into action. Go research and find all the slave information and share it with the historic site. They would appreciate it.
The house servants and cooks, they were American chattel slaves.
well they were African not American
I'm a direct descendant of Lady Sherley, thanks for sharing!
A different family perhaps, since yours is not the same spelling...
Tiktok brought me here
That jail that he is talking about at the end was a slave jail. Virginia bred and sold slaves west. The slaves were put in jail after they were sold to the slave trader, who would wait until he/she had enough slaves to sell out west.
Slavery has existed since the beginning of mankind. It has been interwoven into the fabric of society. It has affected every race. There were prosperous black slave owners, in America, the first slave owner in North America 1600's was a BLACK MAN named Anthony Johnson. native Americans had slaves that included black and white slaves. These groups also supported the south in the civil war. If any of you were born back then and were a wealthy plantation owner you would have owned slaves and yes that included black people. Just a friendly reminder, ALL of US benefit from modern day slavery. Where do you think many of the products you buy regularly come from? I bet none of you have lost a night's sleep over it.
You should have said “all of us”
We're did the slave's live on the land?
Wyt love plantations.
A lot of old money in Virginia, this is one example. You have families, wealthy white families living off inheritance from the blood sweat and tears of black slaves. Sad but true. Richmond Va is the Mecca or capital of old money.
This is awesome admiration history. when reparations is enforced ..... This info will reassure a well paid generation receive there due . Then maybe generation of abused Africans can begin to heal
No reparations. Ever.
Meade Music just in case you missed it. The North won the war. Dixie land is no more.
@@nicolefisher4779 Ha, ha. There are parts of the south that you can visit where you would never know it.
@@williamshelton4150 I believe that!
Isn't it interesting how the US government and slave holders tried to buy land in Africa so the freed slaves could go back home. Africa refused to sell land and didn't want them back. I guess that is why they sold them in the first place. They had to buy land where Liberia is today.
They were “able to be so prosperous because they had free labor. The nerve of self delusion.
No, they had land grants from the King.
Meade Music And free labor as well ... And a few indentured servant‘s ! So stop it !
STOLEN LAND!!!!
well yes of course. That was the point in buying a slave so you would not be out of money on labor thus making a bigger profit. It was smarter to have many slaves if one could afford it.
Meade Music are you serious? The King gave away land. You a really are delusional and believe because your White, you must be right.
The woman conducting interview looks like the guy she's interviewing😞
I think it will be so awesome. If white Americans learn how to tell the full truth not just a half true 1787 at family plantation had 67 slaves registered under the age of 16 and another 67 slaves register above the age 16 and that did not include all the other slaves that did not have paperwork
A place of horror is what this. 😢
I have never seen SO MANY Overweight people in USA ever as in 2019. WHAT is going on? Is it all the processed food/McDonald's?????
I can’t believe they copied Caliga Hall (joke)
Not open any more
White amnesia, "wonderful heritage," it wouldn't exist without the brutal institution of slavery. The descendants of slaves deserve reparations for everything that was taken from them. Out houses= slave quarters? How do you talk about a plantation and never mention the people that were enslaved there?
Slaves were mentioned in this video. Did you not watch it? And Indentured servants working off their debt were mentioned too.
Edna Kelley indentured servitude was not real. White people love to make themselves feel better
Absolutely, I want to hear more about the contributions of the slaves. I am sure the owners of the plantations kept recordkeeping on the maintenance and daily business of these plantations.
@@nicolefisher4779 You're ignorant. There was very much indentured servants. Starting at Jamestown, VA.
@@ednakelley814 yes I know it was real however it is not the same thing at all. White people love bringing up that crap up. Stop your ignorance.
YES this was a place where they sold and owned human beings. What is beautiful about that? Anything connected to slavery is EVIL . Creepy video.
WHAT UP? You understand all areas in the world had slaves whites,blacks,Jews etc .. all of Europe, the United States,Caribbean islands etc all owned slaves, it’s a horrible sad fact. If you know your history.. it was Africans selling off other tribes humans etc. plus whites etc. Please don’t think it’s just the usa etc.
@@honeybubsakajenna : yep and some Tribes in Africa, still happens.
That dont mean its ok yalll sick in the head devils
@@rachelk5720 No slavery compares to the system Europeans created. When Africans ruled in Europe they brought with them education, hygiene, etc.
Using your logic I guess we need to ban the Democrat party. It was connected to slavery in that it had the pro-slavery platform
It is beautiful but of course it was they had free labor. A sad part of history
Did they have slaves? If so what we're their jobs? Are there any slave quarters?
Pure BS!!! Amazing how the very people who made that plantation are completely overlooked. What a shame!!!
What many people don't understand is often times historic places don't have much information on the slaves. Remember, slaves could not read or write so you don't have much in the way of primary source documents like diaries or letters, etc.. When I worked at a historic site, often we didn't even have any names to start research with and even if we had a a name we didn't have a last name. It's easy to set back and criticize historians so I encourage YOU to go research the slaves here and pass along any info you find. IT ISN'T EASY. And when you don't find anything, we can accuse YOU of white washing.
It was AGAINST THE LAW FOR A SLAVE TO READ OR WRITE!!! The few who could read could only read the SLAVE BIBLE! Yes…. Those existed! But get caught reading a newspaper! YOU WOULD BE HANGED FROM ONE OF THOSE BIG BEAUTIFUL TREES and all the other slaves forced to single file walk by and OBSERVE WHAT COULD HAPPEN TO THRM! Tell it right if you’re going to speak omit!
Most slaves were happy workers.
@Rebecca Swanson were you there? I doubt it.
Don't fall for this troll. It comments and bullies to get a response
You look like a FAT one like sadly so many folk in 2019😔
Meade Music Denial !!!! Of the truth! How can you live with yourself. With such blinders on. You are just like the rest white privilege at its finest !!!
Conditioning