The Queen has arrived in the US to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the first permanent English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia - although many Americans will still tell you it was in Plymouth, Massachusetts - 13 years later.
So why was Jamestown largely ignored by Americans? It was, after all, the capital of Virginia for almost 100 years.
In truth it was partly due to image and a bad press.
Captain John Smith landing on the Virginia coast in 1607
At the beginning it was a nightmare of a place. They arrived in a drought with a charter from King James to find gold, keep the Spanish out of North America and find a new route to the riches of the East.
But in 1609 they starved and died like flies. There is even documentary evidence to suggest that at one point they ate each other.
So we begat the story of the Pilgrim fathers.
Nineteenth century historians had little respect for the settlers whom they described as lazy and incompetent. In short, Jamestown was a fiasco.
Virginia was also on the wrong side in the civil war. Sitting on top of Jamestown fort are the remains of a confederate gun emplacement.
Historians in the 19th century were looking for a more noble beginning and opted for The Pilgrim Fathers.
"They landed in Plymouth in 1620. They had their women and children, and were determined to forge a new life with religious freedom in a new England."
That read much better than the story of the commercially driven Virginia company with its slaves and tobacco in the background, and reports of violence and cannibalism.
With the history of settlement re-versioned, the Thanksgiving holiday became associated with the ideals of the Pilgrim Fathers and although nothing remains to be seen of Plymouth's original settlement today most Americans will tell you that Plymouth is where it all began.
So some of you "WAS" could be related to me
So why was Jamestown largely ignored by Americans? It was, after all, the capital of Virginia for almost 100 years.
In truth it was partly due to image and a bad press.
Captain John Smith landing on the Virginia coast in 1607
At the beginning it was a nightmare of a place. They arrived in a drought with a charter from King James to find gold, keep the Spanish out of North America and find a new route to the riches of the East.
But in 1609 they starved and died like flies. There is even documentary evidence to suggest that at one point they ate each other.
So we begat the story of the Pilgrim fathers.
Nineteenth century historians had little respect for the settlers whom they described as lazy and incompetent. In short, Jamestown was a fiasco.
Virginia was also on the wrong side in the civil war. Sitting on top of Jamestown fort are the remains of a confederate gun emplacement.
Historians in the 19th century were looking for a more noble beginning and opted for The Pilgrim Fathers.
"They landed in Plymouth in 1620. They had their women and children, and were determined to forge a new life with religious freedom in a new England."
That read much better than the story of the commercially driven Virginia company with its slaves and tobacco in the background, and reports of violence and cannibalism.
With the history of settlement re-versioned, the Thanksgiving holiday became associated with the ideals of the Pilgrim Fathers and although nothing remains to be seen of Plymouth's original settlement today most Americans will tell you that Plymouth is where it all began.
So some of you "WAS" could be related to me
) Yep, she's about 30 minutes away from me...too bad I'm stuck at work... 
