Colonial Williamsburg essays

Colonial Williamsburg essays Colonial Williamsburg St. Augustine, Roanoke, Plymouth, and Jamestown all set the pace for the colony known as Williamsburg. The settlers came to America to create a new life for themselves. These people were not opposed to using a little elbow grease, to ensure their new found freedom. Williamsburg is a great example of a society based on culture and architecture. Impressions from the colonial period can be found everywhere. People in Williamsburg made simple, but sturdy houses. For each house there was a half acre plot reserved. All freestanding houses were built with a garden and an orchard space. The outhouses were built in the rear of the house and resembled the main house. Houses with shingled roofs that were a story and a half in height were common in Williamsburg. The houses had brick chimneys and windows placed on both sides of the door (Kocher 13-14). The materials were just as simple as the designs. For the house wood framing faced with weather boarding was a common method. Brick and wood were also popular with the houses. Wood was the preferred material for the houses because brick created a dreary atmosphere (Kocher 15). The walls were made of plaster and the majority of the furnishings inside of the house were imported from England (Kocher 25). Henry David Thoreau put it best when he said, How much more agreeable it is to sit in the midst of old furniture...which [has] come down from other generations, than amid that which was just brought form the cabinetmakers, smelling of varnish, like and old coffin (Kocher 25). The colonists wanted a home away from home. Williamsburgs elaborately simple architecture is one of the defining elements of what the 18th century resembled, unity and structure with a touch of elegance. On a note of unity and structure, the culture of Williamsburg exemplified these terms best. Everything has to have its beginning, and in this time per...