Montpelier Excavation Uncovers History of the Enslaved

MATTER OF FACT. JAMES MADISON WAS ONE OF OUR NATION’S FOUNDING FATHERS. HE HELPED WRITE THE CONSTITUTION AND THE BILL OF RIGHTS. HE WAS AMERICA’S FOURTH PRESIDENT AND A SLAVE OWNER. THE TRUTH OF AMERICA’S PAST IS SOMETHING WE CAN CONTINUE TO GRAPPLE WITH TODAY, INCLUDING AT MONTPELIER. THE 2600 ACRE PLANTATION IN VIRGINIA THAT BELONGED TO MADISON AND HIS FAMILY IN MONTPELIER’S LIBRARY. MADISON SPENT MONTHS RESEARCHING VARIOUS FORMS OF GOVERNMENT AND THOUGHT ABOUT AN AMERICA BUILT ON FREEDOM THAT FREEDOM DIDN’T EXTEND TO EVERYONE, INCLUDING THE HUNDREDS OF SLAVES ON HIS PLANTATION. TODAY, THE MONTPELIER FOUNDATION IS FOCUSED ON UNCOVERING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THIS FOUNDING FATHER, THE ENSLAVED PEOPLE WHO WORKED AT HIS PLANTATION, AND MAKING SURE THOSE STORIES ARE FULLY TOLD. IT’S A COOL, RAINY MORNING AT THE MONTPELIER ESTATE. JAMES MADISON AND HIS FAMILY LIVED. HERE FOR GENERATIONS. ONE OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS WHO HELPED WRITE THE CONSTITUTION AND THE BILL OF RIGHTS, MADISON WENT ON TO BECOME AMERICA’S FOURTH PRESIDENT. HE WAS ALSO A SLAVE OWNER, AND HIS HOME, A PLANTATION. WE’RE LOOKING ABOUT AT AROUND 2 TO 2 AND A HALF ACRES THAT HAVE GRAVES IN THIS AREA. MATTHEW REEVES IS THE DIRECTOR OF ARCHEOLOGY AT MONTPELIER YEAR, AND WE’RE STANDING ON A GRAVE SITE. SO HOW MANY GRAVES DO YOU THINK MIGHT BE IN THIS SPOT? THAT’S THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION. REEVES IS LOOKING FOR CLUES AT THIS UNMARKED BURIAL SITE FOR AFRICAN SLAVES TODAY, WE’RE DOING A SURFACE LEVEL EXCAVATION, THEN DIGGING DOWN ABOUT A FOOT TO FIND ARTIFACTS WITHOUT DISTURBING ANY BODIES. WE’RE EXCAVATING DOWN TO BELOW THE PLOW ZONE, WHERE THE SOIL HAS NEVER BEEN DISTURBED. THAT FIRST LAYER, ABOUT A FOOT DEEP, WAS PLOWED IN THE 19TH CENTURY TO GROW CROPS. SO THEY, LIKE, GREW VEGETABLES AND FOOD THERE. YOU KNOW, IT’S NOT THE BEST AGRICULTURAL LAND ON THIS ESTATE. WHY IS THIS BEING CHOSEN TO BE PLOWED WHEN THIS IS A BURIAL GROUND? THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION IS QUITE DISTURBING. IT’S IT’S A IT’S A CHOICE THAT WAS MADE WHILE FLAGS MARK THIS BURIAL GROUND. MADISONS ENSLAVED MASONS BUILT A BRICK WALL AROUND THE MADISON FAMILY CEMETERY. WE’D HAVE FAMILY REUNIONS HERE IN ORANGE, AND NOBODY WANTED TO COME TO SEE THIS PLACE. REVEREND LARRY WALKER’S GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GRANDFATHER WAS BENJAMIN MCDANIEL, A FORMER SERVANT OF PRESIDENT MADISON IN THE 1870S, HE WAS A DELIVERY DRIVER. HE WAS A CARPENTER. THE REVEREND WALKER FIRST VISITED THE PLANTATION IN 2017. NOW NOW HE’S THE PRESIDENT OF THE MONTPELIER DESCENDANTS COMMITTEE, REPRESENTING THE VOICES OF RELATIVES OF THE ENSLAVED WHO WORKED HERE. FOR ME, IT’S AN EXCITING TIME BECAUSE IT HELPS US GO BACK AND FIND STORIES THAT WE’RE THAT WE’VE BEEN DISCONNECTED FROM, BECAUSE PEOPLE WHO ARE JUST INTERESTED IN ARCHEOLOGY NOW HAVE HAD A CHANCE TO HEAR AND MEET DESCENDANTS AND RECOGNIZE THAT HOW IMPORTANT THE WORK THAT THEY’RE DOING IS TO US. BUT THAT WORK NEARLY CAME TO A HALT IN APRIL. OH MY GOD, MONTPELIER ARCHEOLOGY LAB BURNED TO THE GROUND IN A FIVE ALARM FIRE IMMEDIATELY AS I SAW SMOKE AND FLAMES, I DIALED 911 YOLA DANCE IS PRESIDENT AND CEO OF THE MONTPELIER FOUNDATION TO IMAGINE IT HAD TO FEEL LIKE. WHAT A SHOCK. ABSOLUTELY. IT WAS INCREDIBLY EMOTIONAL THINKING ABOUT THE COLLECTIONS. THESE ARE COLLECTIONS THAT ARE RELATED TO THE NATIVE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE AND INHABITANTS HERE. THE AFRICAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, THE MADISONS. AND IT WAS THAT THAT FEAR THAT WE COULD LOSE SOMETHING IRREPLACEABLE. I THOUGHT THAT THIS WAS JUST GOING TO BE SCUTTLED. MAYBE NOT FOREVER, CERTAINLY, BUT JUST IT WOULD PUT AN END IN THE SHORT TERM TO WHAT YOU’RE DOING. WE DID CONSIDER WHAT WHAT IS UM, WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO AND WHAT DO WE WANT TO DO? AND THIS FELT LIKE SOMETHING WE NEEDED TO DO. THIS IS A RECOVERY MOMENT, A RESTORATION MOMENT, AND A REBIRTH OF OUR COMMITMENT TO TELLING A WHOLE HISTORY, TELLING BOTH STORIES OF THE FATHER OF OUR NATION’S CONSTITUTION AND THE SLAVES HE OWNED WHO WORKED HIS LAND. WHAT DOES IT MATTER? WHY DID THE VOICES OF THE PEOPLE WHO WERE ENSLAVED, WHO OFTEN, WHEN NOBODY TELLS THEIR FULL STORY, WHY DOES THAT MATTER? WE THINK OF IT AS THE PARADOX OF SLAVERY. YOU’RE AT A PLACE WHERE ALL OF THOSE IDEAS ORIGINATED, RIGHT? IN JAMES MADISON’S LIBRARY. YOU’RE ALSO IN A PLACE WHERE OVER 300 ENSLAVED PEOPLE MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR HIM TO SEQUESTER HIMSELF IN THAT LIBRARY BECAUSE OF THEIR LABOR AND WHAT THEY DID TO HELP UNDERGIRD AMERICA AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA. THE DIG IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. THE PLAN IS TO CREATE A MEMORIAL HONORING THE SLAVES BURIED THERE. ONCE THE SITE IS FULLY MAPPED. FOR MO