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[PAST EVENT] War of 1812 Exhibit at Swem Library
January 7, 2013 - April 12, 2013
Location
Swem Library, Special Collections Research Center400 Landrum Dr
Williamsburg, VA 23185Map this location
During the War of 1812, British soldiers carried out a series of raids throughout Southeastern Virginia from the relative safety of their ships. While their one foray onto land - the Battle of Craney Island - ended in defeat, the British were able to burn the city of Hampton and destroy property around Williamsburg. In letters, maps, and testimony those affected by the war tell their part of its larger narrative.
But it was not just the battles themselves that changed the lives of the people of Southeastern Virginia. The British blockade reduced trade, leaving merchants without goods and farmers without a way to sell their produce. And even though the "Enemy has disappeared from our Waters," as St. George Tucker wrote after the burning of Hampton, it was not until the end of the war that the blockade was lifted and life returned to normal.
View the new exhibit "The Enemy Has Disappeared From Our Waters: The War of 1812 in Southeastern Virginia" in Swem's Special Collections now-April 12.
But it was not just the battles themselves that changed the lives of the people of Southeastern Virginia. The British blockade reduced trade, leaving merchants without goods and farmers without a way to sell their produce. And even though the "Enemy has disappeared from our Waters," as St. George Tucker wrote after the burning of Hampton, it was not until the end of the war that the blockade was lifted and life returned to normal.
View the new exhibit "The Enemy Has Disappeared From Our Waters: The War of 1812 in Southeastern Virginia" in Swem's Special Collections now-April 12.