Camp Flintlock is a window to the Colonial past

By Benjamin Sanderford | Photo by Johnston County Visitors Bureau

A cold, crisp morning is no big deal at Camp Flintlock. In fact, for the reenactors who work there, mostly recruited from word of mouth, it is just another day at the office, especially when a fourth-grade class of schoolchildren comes to visit.

“Our goal at Camp Flintlock is to allow participants to actually do activities that were commonplace at the time of the Revolutionary War,” said camp owner Tim Langdon, “and learn about our past and forefathers by experiencing in a small way the activities they would have done themselves.”

The youngsters, from Raleigh Oak Charter School, are excited when they arrive with their teachers at the campground near Four Oaks, and the opening demonstration, Langdon’s personal favorite, does not disappoint. The head re-enactor fires off his musket, then lets the teachers take a shot. With the students’ rapt attention established, he leads them to the next stations.

Half the group is sent to play Colonialera games such as rolling the hoop and, everyone’s favorite, tug-of-war. Meanwhile, the other group gets a crash course in journal-making. No staples, of course. The students have to stick the leather covers and pages together with a hammer and nails before tying them up. After showing them the process, the head re-enactor gently admonishes the children to shout, “I love Camp Flintlock” every time they hit their thumbs.

Next stop is a lesson on Colonial fashion. Four lucky volunteers, selected by their teachers for their ability to stay still, get to serve as models so their classmates can learn about waistcoats, short skirts, coonskin caps and parasols. Of course, this is not just about clothing. The students get a sense of Colonial culture as well.

For example, girls used their fans to send signals to boys three centuries ago. One gesture told an annoying young man to shoo, another signaled that a girl was ready to get the boy in trouble with her father and a third in which the young lady turned her fan upside down and held the handle close to her lips meant that she wanted a kiss.

“Our proudest moments happen whenever we see young adults that did one of our programs years later and they still remember activities and experience,” said Langdon. The collective horrified cry from the schoolboys suggested that they will remember the kiss signal for a long time.

The immersion offered by Camp Flintlock, founded in 1999, and other living history organizations is what makes them special. Not only can they show and tell students what life was like long ago, but allow them to experience it too.

What better way is there to understand Colonial games than to play them? What better way is there to learn about Colonial clothes than to wear them? And what better way is there to imagine the battles of the War for Independence than to see the flash and hear the crack of musket fire?

It is Langdon’s hope that all who visit Camp Flintlock leave “with a better understanding of how our ancestors lived and a greater appreciation for the lives they lived to set the foundation for the country we love.” We should be glad that Camp Flintlock’s hands-on approach works. The more children become interested in the Colonial past, the better, even if they had no ancestors in America at the time.

This is the age that produced arguably the greatest generation of Americans ever. They protested the British government’s infringement of their liberty, endured years of war to preserve that liberty and enshrined it in documents that still have the power to inspire people today.

Learning about Colonial daily life is the best place for schoolchildren to start their quest to understand the Founding Generation. From there, they can delve into the ideas and values that Colonial Americans held dear. They can see the social context that shaped their predecessors’ outlook. Most importantly, they can apply the lessons of the past to the present.

It is a tall order to show the courage of the men who crossed the Delaware in December 1776, let alone the wisdom of General Washington when he resigned as commander-in-chief rather than seize power for himself after the war. However, with luck and a decent education, the children of today will prove themselves worthy of the Founding Generation’s legacy.

Benjamin Sanderford, a resident of Clayton, studied social science at UNC Greensboro. He can be reached at benwsanderford@gmail.com.