There are few places in the United States that offer the authenticity of colonial days in America like Williamsburg, VA. It's an experience every school child and certainly adults who are fuzzy about our history should have. And it includes seeing and tasting as well witnessing daily events that made the revolutionary period dangerous to citizens of the time depending upon the causes they espoused.

October is a red month (excellent time for brisk Autumn weather) but holidays and other months are as meaningful. The planners at Williamsburg meticulously created and recreated ways to educate visitors on important events that make us who we are. You have to experience it at least once to really understand your roots, I think.

To feel the uncertainty of those days is to listen to redactors and townsfolk argue and explain the issues. They place you in the mid-1770s and '80s and arouse excitement for incidents that are milestones of US history today. Observe how Virginians reacted to Lady Martha Washington's visit to the then capital of Virginia at Williamsburg in August, 1777. She received honors in her husband's name for his service in the "Glorious Cause" in front of the famous Raleigh Tavern, a well known drinking spot for early Williamsburg residents.

You may find yourself moving with the flow of the crowd to Cristina Campbell's eating establishment and enjoying the soups or staples of the day. Today you need a reservation...then you merely showed up when the doors opened.

Listen to citizen's debate the merits of fiery orator and patriot Patrick Henry who had just made his "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" speech in Richmond as battlelines were drawn and Paul Revere made his famous ride to Lexington, MA while a hastily organized colonial force was defeated at Bunker Hill. British regulars removed the gunpowder from the magazine shelter at Williamsburg. King George III declares the colonies to be in rebellion and George Washington, a planter and former British officer, is named commander in chief of the American forces.

Meanwhile, ordinary citizens like Revere, a silversmith and prominent Bostonian, become caught up in the political upheaval. He likely never dreamed that after his death he would become a revolutionary figure known for a famous "midnight ride" depicted in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Paul Revere's Ride." The ride to alert the countryside may have been melodrama but the reasons for it told more about Revere. His business suffered when the British economy went into recession and the infamous Stamp Act further aggravated colony trade. Revere served as a courier and an intelligence agent for the Boston Committee of Public Safety. He traveled to Philadelphia and New York discreetly letting others know about the unrest in the country.

For Revere, the desperation was severe. Business was so bad that an attempt was made to attach his property and thus threaten his livelihood. To make enough money to survive, he even took up dentistry, a skill he learned from a practicing surgeon who lodged at a friend's house. The silversmith was captured on one of his journeys by British regulars and questioned. and his horse was taken as soldiers rode off to warn an approaching column of British troops. The soldiers decided to release him when shots were heard in the countryside and they were anxious to warn advancing regulars. Revere walked to Rev. Jonas Clarke's house where patriots John Hancock and Samuel Adams were staying. As the battle for Lexington Green evolved, Revere aided Hancock and his family escape the city.

Thomas Paine, who became the voice of the common man for the American cause, was the volunteer propagandist for the colonials. He was the son of an English corset maker who struggled to make a living for his family. He was eventually forced into apprenticeship in his father's trade. He came to America after the death of his first wife and his separation from his second. Benjamin Franklin helped him immigrate to the colonies and interested him in the colonial cause. A tactless person who was always hard pressed for money, he depended upon the generosity of American friends and others. He became a self-taught journalist after settling in Philadelphia where he worked for several publications before writing the pamphlet "Common Sense" which solidified his position in the American cause and riveted colonials on why military force was necessary to battle the British. He spent what little money he had on the American cause and fully believed it would be success. When the war ended, however, he had to campaign to receive due compensation. Paine played no part in establishing the new republic after the war ended. Congress did reward him with $3,000 for his efforts and commitment. It came years later. Pennsylvania gave him $700 in cash and New York was more generous. It gave him a confiscated Tory farm in New Rochelle.

Meanwhile, he spent time trying to create income from inventions: a smokeless candle and an iron bridge. Both enterprises failed.

Then of course, there was Virginian Patrick Henry, orator-politician, a founding father and the 6th post colonial governor of Virginia. He came from Hanover County and middle class gentry. Like Thomas Paine, Patrick's business ventures failed. But he made a name for himself with the first law case he tried called "Parson's Cause." The argument was about whether the price of tobacco paid to clergy for their services should be set by the colonial government or the Crown. Henry delivered a stirring oratory which brought a verdict in less than five minutes against the Rev. James Maury who had filed the suit. Henry urged the jury to make Maury an example of those who challenged Virginia law. Maury was awarded one penny. The colonial courthouse is the third oldest in use in the United States.

At Williamsburg you can feel the crisis of a different time and sense the concern of our forbearers as they struggled day to day with decisions that cost many families the lives of loved ones as well as the loss and destruction of their homesteads. One of the many publications said it best when describing how Williamsburg used the generous donation of the Rockefeller Foundation to virtually rebuild the city.

"Revolutionary city was designed not only to make you think about what it meant to live before and during the Revolution when subjects of a monarchy found the courage to turn themselves into citizens of an independent republic. It also makes you consider what it meant to be a twenty-first century citizen, a participant in the ongoing experiment of democracy."

Send me your comments at Jbehrens13323@gmail.com.