blacksmith, four carpenters, fifty-two "gentlemen," and a barber! In 1608 additional colonists to the number of nearly 200 were brought over, but these also were chiefly persons who would not or could not perform hard labor.

ment

How was this motley collection of isolated Englishmen Govern to be governed? The government of the colony was planned by King James himself. Supreme authority was placed in the hands of a general council which was to reside in England. This general council was appointed by the king and was directed by his instructions. A second council, also appointed by the king and subject to his instructions, was to reside in the colony and have the direct management of colonial affairs. Thus the government was so planned that all power flowed from the king. The colonists, however, were to have the rights and privileges of English subjects. Jury trial was guaranteed and all ordinances made by the resident or colonial council were to be consonant to the laws of England."

66

What were the business features of this colonial venture? Business Features The land of the colony was to be owned by the company which secured the charter. The business affairs of the colony were to be conducted by the chosen agents of the company. The colonists themselves, even when they were stockholding members of the company, were forced to work. Each able-bodied man had to work at the task assigned him and the products. of the labor of all were to be thrown into a common stock for five years. Out of this common stock the colonists were to be fed and supported. If after the needs of the settlers were supplied there should be a surplus, this was to be sent to England in the vessels of the company and sold for the benefit of the merchant adventurers who risked their capital in the enterprise. The colony, therefore, was planted primarily not for the benefit of those who went over the seas but for the benefit of those who remained at home.

John

It turned out that neither the form of government nor the captain business arrangements were satisfactory. The first resident Smith or colonial council was soon torn asunder by faction and

before many months had passed its authority had completely vanished. At a moment when all was confusion and chaos and when it seemed that the Jamestown colonists would suffer the same fate that had overtaken the Roanoke settlers, Captain

Captain John Smith.

John Smith, a member of the council, came forward and by his good sense and energy saved the colony. from the impending ruin. The greatest drawback in the colony was idleness. Since the men were fed out of the common stock there was no strong incentive to work. But Smith succeeded in putting everybody to work, using a strong hand when necessary. He announced that all who would not work would be banished from the colony and set adrift in the

great forest where they would be at the mercy of savages and wild beasts. This had a good effect, for the fine gentlemen and the idlers now began to chop wood and dig in the ground and help in the building of the houses. Smith also rendered a great service to the colony by visiting the Indians and establishing peaceful relations with them. He traded with them, giving them trinkets for the corn which the colonists needed so badly. In 1608 Smith explored the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. He made the voyage not only in order to acquaint himself with the region bordering upon the bay, but for the further purpose of finding a waterway to China, for the colonists believed that the Pacific Ocean lay only a short distance from the Chesapeake. When some savages told Smith and his companions that the bay stretched to the South Sea the story was received as a piece of good news. Smith remained with the

colonists until 1609, when he sailed for England, leaving behind him a fairly prosperous settlement.

New

After Smith's departure the colony again fell upon evil The times and almost perished of starvation. In the summer of Charter 1610 the starving colonists were on the point of leaving Jamestown and returning to England in a body when the company in London came to the rescue with fresh supplies of food. The company had recently (in 1609) secured a new charter for the government of the colony. Under this charter the government of the colony was entrusted to a council of fifty members who were to hold their sessions in London. The colonial council already existing in Virginia was to be abolished. The council in London was to appoint a governor for the colony and he, in turn, was to appoint the colonial council and other necessary officers. Thus under the charter of 1609 the company gained for itself many of the powers which before had been reserved for the king. It also secured a much larger grant of land, for under the new charter the territory of Virginia was to extend along the coast two hundred miles each way from Old Point Comfort and "up into the land throughout from sea to sea, west and northwest." 1 Moreover under the charter of 1609 greater inducements were offered to the settlers. Every planter, even the humblest, was promised his food and clothing and a hundred acres of land for himself and each member of his family. Lord Delaware was made “sole and absolute governor" under the new charter. It was his timely arrival with provisions (June 1610) that saved the abandonment of Jamestown and the utter extinction of the colony.

Delaware soon returned to England and for five years

1 The vague expression west and northwest " led to serious controversies respecting the boundaries of Virginia. "If the northwest line was drawn from the southern end of the 400 miles of coast, and another boundary line was drawn westward from the northern extremity of the coast, the domain thus limited would constitute a triangle of moderate area. If, on the other hand, one line was drawn westerly from the southern of the two points fixed in the coast and the remaining boundary was drawn northwesterly from the fixed point north of Old Point Comfort, the included territory would embrace a great part of the continent and extend from sea to sea. This was the construction given by Virginia to the language of the charter." Avery, Vol. II, p. 52.

Sir
Thomas
Dale

(1611-1616) Virginia was ruled by Sir Thomas Dale. Dale's policy was to make the colony a permanent success and to return as much money as possible to the company in London, and he carried it out by ruling with a strong hand. He changed materially the plan by which the colonists had been fed out of the common store; he made a number of the colonists tenants on the company's land, for which they either paid rent or rendered lim

of the Woods

Lake

Superio

St. Lawrenc

ited services; he gave a number of servants small tracts of
land which they could work as gardens. He worked the labor-
ers hard and if any attempted to run away he brought them
back and punished them in
the most cruel manner.
When the Indians showed
any disposition to be
troublesome Dale marched
against them in person and
brought them to terms.
In 1613 he sent Samuel
Argall to break up some
settlements which the
French were attempting to
make in Acadia (Nova
Scotia) and along the
coast of Maine. Argall
obeyed his orders to the
letter and thus delivered
the first British blow at

Ohio

RRG

GULF OF MEXICO

James

Old Pt. Comfort

LA

T

OCEA

Extent of Virginia according to another interpretation of the Charter of 1609.

French colonization in America. The rule of Dale was harsh but it was energetic and it seemed to be what the colony needed. When he left Virginia in 1616 the colonists were glad to get rid of him, but they themselves did not care to follow him to England. The colony was now securely planted and there was no longer a thought of abandoning it. England had at last gained a foothold on the American continent.

The thing that did most for early Virginia was tobacco. Tobacco In 1612 John Rolfe began the systematic cultivation of the tobacco plant and by 1616 he was able to ship to England a cargo of tobacco which was sold in London at a good price. Here was the opportunity of the colonists. Soon every settler who had any land was raising tobacco, and planters began to grow rich from the profits of the weed. Since tobacco was so much more profitable than any other commodity the cultivation of food-products was neglected. The settlers would plant all their land in tobacco and trade their firearms to the Indians for food. The colonial authorities tried to compel the planters to raise more grain and less tobacco but their efforts in this direction did not meet with much success. As long as tobacco was the most profitable crop the planter would raise no other.

in

The widespread cultivation of tobacco created a brisk de- slavery mand for laborers and there were not enough white men in Virginia the colonies to supply the demand. Indian labor was out of the question, for the Indians could not be tamed and they would not work. So the planters had recourse to the labor

of negro servants. The first negroes who came to Virginia were twenty that were brought in a Dutch man-of-war in the year 1619. These negroes were held in a condition of temporary servitude as many whites were held.1 At first

1 Negroes were not the only class held in temporary servitude. In Virginia a large class of servants consisted of persons who had been found guilty of committing crime or taking part in rebellious movements. Another class consisted of "indented 99 servants who came to America under contract to work a certain number of years for the master who had advanced the money to pay for their passage across the ocean. Sometimes the term was as long as ten years, but often it was much shorter. When the term of service was completed the "indented "9 servant became a freeman.