The Planting of Virginia PDF

3 4 3. The planting of Virginia The English hoped, too, that they would find in the New World the staple raw materials that Much had been learned from the failure of the they were spending their precious go...

3 4 3. The planting of Virginia The English hoped, too, that they would find in the New World the staple raw materials that Much had been learned from the failure of the they were spending their precious gold and sil- Roanoke colony. Raleigh and Gilbert, helped by ver to buy from other European countries. Eng- Hakluyt's advertising, had laid the groundwork land was using up its own forests, and timber for a British Empire in America. was needed for the navy. The settlers in Amer- At the end of Elizabeth's reign, England had ica would be a market for British goods, espe- the power and the will to found colonies in the cially for woolens. Commerce with the colonies New World. In a great burst of activity from would support a growing navy and merchant 1606 to 1637, England planted Virginia, Mary- marine. land, and New England as well as colonies in In England the rise in sheep farming had Bermuda and the British West Indies. forced many men and women off the land These jobless displaced people were flocking to Reasons for colonies. There were many rea- the cities and increasing the crime there. If they sons why England wanted to establish colonies. were sent overseas, they could make their own There was the lure of gold and silver. English way. And they could help convert the Indians to sailors hoped at last to find a water passage Protestant Christianity. through the North American continent to the rich trade of China and the Indies. And, of The unknown land. Even with all these mo- course, there was the chance to challenge Spain tives, most people still did not want to emigrate. in North America! Why should they leave their familiar homeland John Visscher's 1616 engraving of London Bridge shows a crowded city with no grass or trees. Promoters of the colonies emphasized the healthy life and open space to be found in America. The British Library - Enfor w a r k  35 for the dangers of an unknown America? Most stretching land between what is now the north- of the facts they were told about the new coun- ern end of New Jersey and the middle of South try were wrong. Some of these imagined facts Carolina. were printed because honest promoters did not In 1603 King James I succeeded Queen Eliza- know the truth. But much of what was printed beth on the throne. He was the son of Mary was a sales pitch. The fantastic advertising bro- Queen of Scots, who had been executed by chures invented "facts" to help sell land in Queen Elizabeth. With his passion for theories, America. People who had invested in the Ameri- he was as different as possible from the practi- can land knew that if nobody went out there it cal Virgin Queen. He could not get along with would remain a wilderness. And their land Parliament and was known as "the most would be worthless. learned fool in Christendom." So the promoters drew imaginary pictures, James I gave the Virginia Company its grant using ancient legends mixed with their wildest in 1606. The company quickly sent out three hopes and fondest dreams. The weather in ships. This time the settlers avoided Roanoke America, they said, was always sunny. The or- anges, lemons, apples, pears, peaches, and Advertisements glowed with the w o n d e r s ? r e a l apricots were "so delicious that whoever tastes imaginary-of the New World. Printers at this time often used a letter something like an "f' where we use an "s." them will despise the insipid watery taste of North Carolina Collection, University those we have in England." The American veni- of North Carolina Library son was so juicy that English people would barely recognize it. The fish were large and easy to catch. In America there were no diseases A Brief DESCRIPTION and no crowds. Everybody stayed young and O F everybody could live like a king. Come to this American paradise! T h e P r o v i n c e The real America was very different. Of course the Europeans heard rumors about the Indi- ans, and what they heard was not encouraging C A R O L I N A The "savages" of America, it was said, were not content merely to kill their victims. There were Ontle COAsTsof FLOREDA stories that they liked to torture their captives and even to eat them. Some Indian cruelties AND were supposed to be too horrible to tell. More perticularly of a Nex-Plansation It is surprising that English men and women begun by the ENG L IS H at Cape-Feare, dared to come to America at all. For in addition on that River now by them called Charles-River, to all the real threats of a "hideous and desolate the 2gth of May. 1664. wilderness," they were haunted by horror stor- Wherein i for forth ies and nightmares. Out there in Virginia the The Healibfulnefs of the Air; the Fertilry ol cheery advertising boasts were not much help. the Earth, and Waters; and the great Pledare and. Profu will accrue to thole that hall go thither to enjoy And it is still more surprising that, in spite of all , the fame. their wrong "facts," the settlers in Virginia and elsewhere along the Atlantic Coast not only sur- Directions and advice to fuch as hall go thither whethe ; on their own accompts, or to ferve under anucher. vived but managed to build lasting colonies. A mof accurate MA or the whole PROKENCE. Settling Jamestown. The first successful col- ony that these English people founded was in Virginia. A joint stock company named the Vir- Zondox, Printed for Robert Horne in the firf Court of Cragham! ginia Company of London (often called the Lon- Calledge neer Bighop|gare frees, 1666. don Company) was granted all the westward-  37 Island and shallow Pamlico Sound and sailed jured by a gunpowder explosion and was forced instead into the broad, deep Chesapeake Bay. to return home. The woods were full of game The settlers went up a river about 32 miles, and the soil was fertile for growing corn. But landed on a peninsula, and began to build a without their leader the colonists proved unable town. Both the river and the town they named to feed themselves. The bitter winter of 1609- after their king. 1610 was called "the Starving Time." There In selecting the spot for Jamestown these set- were ghastly tales of cannibalism. Only 60 of tlers showed poor judgment. The site was low the 500 settlers were left when spring arrived. and swampy-just what the company had Over the next years the company still poured warned against. But the 104 men and boys who in settlers and supplies. But the colony could landed in this wilderness on May 23, 1607, not be self-supporting unless they could pro- somehow thought the site would be easy to de- duce something they could sell. What they fend against the Indians and the Spanish. found was quite a surprise. Earlier, the Span- From the swampy ground came mosquitoes ish had brought tobacco to Europe from Amer- carrying malaria, and from their well water ica, and the English had quickly taken to smok- came dysentery. They would have been better ing. They smoked not only because they enjoyed off if they had faced their enemies on dry and it. Doctors at the time said it would cure almost solid ground. any disease. In 1612 John Rolfe, who later mar- The council that governed the colony had no ried the Indian princess Pocahontas, learned head. Members wasted time arguing, while no one had the power to make decisions. Dis- rupted by its squabbling council and weakened by disease, Jamestown was also menaced by T h i spainting shows Pocahontas, also known as Indian raids. These raids were brought on by Matoaka, in English clothes. She married John Rolfe rash acts of the colonists themselves. and died in England in 1617 just as she was about to return to America. Still, the colony was blessed with a remarka- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. ble leader, Captain John Smith. He had been a merchant's poor apprentice in England. But adventure was his middle name, so he had joined armies and fought in distant Hungary and Turkey. He had the bad luck to be made a slave in Turkey. But he escaped, returned to England, and joined the new Virginia Company. Smith saved the settlers from themselves. With his courage and his wide experience he knew how to stop the settlers' quarreling. He worked to keep peace with the Indians. The In- dians traded him the corn needed to feed the settlers till they could raise their own crops. Even then, more than half the colonists died of fever, starvation, or the arrows of Indians be- fore the winter was over. Fortunately, the company back in London tatis sue 21.1510 was committed to make the colony succeed. In 1608 they sent out new recruits men, women latoaks ats Rebookadoughter to H omhatan t and children-and supplies, In 1609 alone omported and baptized ou about 400 colonists arrived; But then the col- Wife to the twor ony lost its leader when John Smith was in-  38 how to grow a kind of tobacco in Virginia that starvation took some, and others fell to the tom. English people especially liked. Because the ahawk. In 1622 the indians attacked in an all. English were eager to buy this crop, the colony out try to drive the European invaders from now finally had found a solid economic base. their land. The colony lost 350 lives (including John Rolfe), and the settlers were pushed back A colony established. By 1619 the Virginia close to Jamestown. colony was well on its way to success. The com- The men running the Virginia Company in- pany was sending out hundreds of craftsmen cluded some of King James s opponents in Par- and laborers. New directors in London then liament. He used the problems of the company decided to give the settlers more freedom. Up to to persuade his judges to annul the company then the colonists had lived under strict martial charter. The settlement now became a royal law. For example, every man and woman had to colony with its governor appointed by the king, attend church twice daily and could be fined a But after a brief pause the legislative assembly full day's pay for one absence, whipped for a sec- was allowed to continue. ond, and put in jail six months for a third. The London Company had founded the first Strict discipline helped the colony survive the permanent English settlement in America. To- early years. But it would scare away new set- bacco-its staple crop-gave the colony a firm tlers. The company sent out a new governor economic base. And the settlers in Virginia had with orders to let the people work for them- set the pattern of representative government for selves as well as for the company. The governor future English colonies. All this had been done allowed the colonists to elect an assembly to at fearful cost in money and lives. But the Vir- help make their own laws. The House of Bur- ginia experience-the successes and the fail- gesses, as Virginians called it, met at James- ures?would save lives and light the way for town on July 30, 1619. It was the first elected later settlers. legislative assembly in America. That same year saw the arrival of two groups Section 3 Review who played a leading role in the colony's future. Jamestown was changed from a military out- 1. Identify or explain: John Smith, John Rolfe, the post into a full community when the Virginia Starving Time, indentured servant. Company sent out from London a group of "re- 2. Locate Jamestown. spectable maidens" who soon married men of their choice. About the same time a Dutch ship 3. Why did England want colonies? arrived carrying twenty blacks. These were 4. What problems faced the Jamestown settlers? probably not slaves but indentured servants 5. What significant events happened in Virginia (like many of the white settlers). An indentured in 1619? Why was each important? servant was a person who had signed an "in- 6. Critical Thinking: Making Comparisons. Con- denture," an agreement to serve a master for a trast Spain's and England's colonies. certain number of years. (It was called an "in- denture" because the two parts of each agree- ment-one for master, one for servant-were indented to fit together.) Outright slavery prob- 4. The Puritans come to ably did not appear in the English colonies until New England later. In the next few years the company sent many The settlement of Virginia was mostly a busi- m o r e s e t t l e r st o V i r g i n i a - o f t e n w i t h o u t t h e ness enterprise. Settlers of New England also needed supplies. Some 5000 arrived between hoped to make money. But their lives and their 1619 and 1624. And yet by 1624 the total popu- hopes were ruled by religion. The people who lation in the colony had increased by only went there were called "Puritans" because they 200. Sickness killed most of the newcomers, wanted to purify the Church of England. They  39 wanted to do away with the colorful robes of until in 1608 they took refuge in Holland. That priests, with prayer books, and even with al- was the only country in Europe where complete tars. Some Puritans remained inside the religious freedom was allowed. But after they Church of England and worked for reform had lived there for a few years, they began to there. Others were known as "Independents" or fear that their children would forget the cus- "Separatists." They went out of the church? toms and speech of England. These Separatists separated from it. decided to move on to the new land of America. They were given permission by the London The Pilgrims. Three centuries ago kings and Company to settle in Virginia. queens believed that the religion of their people They went back to England, where they set helped keep them loyal and obedient. Subjects out from Plymouth in the Mayflower on Sep- who were allowed to make up their own minds tember 16, 1620, with 102 passengers. After a about religion might also make up their own seven-week voyage in cramped quarters, they minds about politics-and even about whether first sighted land in early November. They to obey the king! James I began his reign by looked for a suitable place and finally landed on declaring that his subjects had to "conform" in December 21, 1620. The winter was harsher religion or he would "harry them out of the than anything they had known in England. land." Their pilot brought them by mistake to Cape The Separatist congregations of some little Cod. They had no right to own the land there, villages in the east of England were harried for that required a patent, or land grant. They This New Testament title page (left) is from William Wilian Bradford ron! Bradford's Bible. His autograph is above it. Bradford was one of the main leaders of the Pilgrims who settled in New England in 1620. Peregrine White, the first English child born in New England, slept in this cradle (below). His name and that of the Pilgrims comes from the Latin word meaning "to travel abroad." Pilgrim Society, Plymouth, MA T H E Paregome sprise. Newe Teftament of our Lord lefus Chrift, Conferred diligently with the Grecke and beit approued tranflations Imprinted at London by the Deputies of Chriftopher Barker, Printer to the Queenes 15 93, Cue grate o privilagio Regra Malefata, 4 0 had no power either to establish a government, government. It worked surprisingly well for the for that required a charter. infant colony, and later became the foundation But they had something far better. They had for the state of Massachusetts. a plan to build a purified society, and they had a guide in the Bible. This was important, for in Squanto to the rescue. The Pilgrims and the mysterious New World you would surely be other Puritans thought God was on their side lost unless you had some plans of your own. If when they settled in the wilderness. And often you had goals, they would guide and encourage it seemed that He was. The Pilgrims might all you while you were discovering what America have died if a remarkable Indian had not come was really like. Your plans had to be definite, to help them. but not too definite. You had to be willing to Squanto was an Indian kidnapped a few years change your plans when you ran into trouble, before by an English sea captain, who had sold or when the New World did not offer what you him into slavery in Spain. He escaped to Eng expected. You had to be prepared for disap- land, where he learned some English, and then pointment. Yet you had to have self-confidence, returned to New England in 1619. There he faith in your mission and in yourself. The Pil- found that his whole village had died of disease. grims and other Puritans had all this. They Now, in March 1621, it was Squanto-of all the were equipped, too, with just the right combi- thousands of Indians in America?who hap- nation of hopes and fears, optimism and pessi- pened to turn up in Plymouth! He knew enough mism, self-confidence and humility to be suc- English to act as an interpreter. And he showed cessful settlers. And this was one of the most the Pilgrims how to plant corn (which was not fortunate coincidences in our history. known in England), how to fertilize the soil, where to catch fish, and how to trap beaver. No The Mayflower Compact. When the Pilgrims wonder the Pilgrims called him a "special in- reached Cape Cod, they were outside the strument sent of God for their good beyond boundaries where they had permission to set- their expectation." tle. Some unruly passengers noticed this. They The Plymouth Colony never grew very large, threatened "that when they came ashore they and in 1691 it was absorbed into the Massachu- would use their own liberty, for none had power setts Bay Colony. But we still revere the Pilgrim to command them, the patent they had be- Fathers as the first successful settlers of the ing for Virginia." But the Mayflower leaders, New England shore, who began an American anxious to land and begin their colony, could custom-finding a way of self-government for not tolerate a community without government. every occasion. Why should their plans be spoiled by a few roughnecks? The Massachusetts Bay Colony. Charles I's So they decided on shipboard, then and archbishop, William Laud, and other high offi- there, to create a new government to serve their cials within the established Church of England very special purposes. Their leaders included tried to force the Puritans to conform to the the steady William Bradford, who would be gov- rules of the church. Many Puritans then made ernor of Plymouth Colony for 31 years, and Cap- up their minds to leave England, and fortu- tain Miles Standish, whom they had hired to nately they had a place to go to. Some of them head their militia. Like people making up rules had received a charter from King James for a for a club that already existed, they wrote out company that was allowed to create settlements and signed an agreement, or covenant. This in the Massachusetts Bay area in New England. was the famous Mayflower Compact. In it they The most significant point about this charter pledged allegiance to the king, combined them- was that it did not say where the company selves "into a civil body politic," and bound headquarters had to be. It did not say where the themselves to obey all the laws this new govern- company should hold its meetings to admit new ment might enact. They created an instant members, to select officers, or to make laws.  41 This meant that if the company headquarters Massachusetts Bay. By the end of the first de- was transferred from England to Massachu- cade, 20,000 settlers had arrived. Among these, setts, the stockholders in Massachusetts would right from the start, were more people of means be able to run the company. Since they were set- and influence than in any other group of colo- tlers, it also meant that settlers would be gov- erning themselves. nists. When the settlers arrived, they soon founded settlements at Boston, Charlestown, In 1629 the company members voted to Watertown, Lynn, Medford, Dorchester, and transfer the company to Massachusetts Bay. Roxbury. Certain strong Puritans, leaders like John Win- The Puritan religion was admirably suited for throp, were now willing to go there. From the settling the wilderness. A church (by which the start, Massachusetts Bay was a self-governing Puritans meant the members of a congregation) colony. would receive a grant of land from the Great and One thousand settlers went out in the sum- General Court (a meeting of the company). mer of 1630 and planted settlements around Then it would move as a group to a spot already selected and surveyed. There a village would be built around a meetinghouse with the fields scattered outside the village. John Winthrop, whose portrait was painted by a n unknown artist in England, provided strong leadership as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. A City upon a hill. The Puritans had a grand American Antiquarian Society purpose in America. John Winthrop, who was to be their governor for many years, spoke to them on the boat coming over: We shall be as a City upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us; so that if we shall deal falsely with our god in this work we have undertaken and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world. Winthrop wassaying what many Americans then and since have felt. The American example could help shape the lives of people everywhere. With their beliefs, it would have been difficult for the Puritans to fail. Even the Devil, who was a lively presence for them, could not really de- feat them. Sooner or later, they knew, God al- ways won. He would see that His own people were not destroyed. The troubles of this world? New England blizzards, Indian arrows, the plottings of enemies in England, or the crimes of their own people-never overwhelmed them. The Puritans were ready for what wilderness America demanded. Rhode Island. The Puritans who settled Mas- sachusetts Bay did not believe in religious free- dom. They thought that they knew God's truth and that all reasonable men and women should be able to see that truth. If you disagreed with 4 2 them, you had the right to go away but not to stay in Massachusetts. Roger Williams, the young pastor of the church in Salem, would not agree to the Puri- tan version of the truth, so he was banished from Massachusetts Bay. He made his way, in 1636, to Narragansett Bay. There he purchased a tract of land from the Indians and began the settlement we know as Rhode Island. Rhode Island was a haven for independent thinkers. One who went there was the bright, brave, freethinking Anne Hutchinson. She had held meetings at her house in Boston to discuss the preacher's Sunday sermons. Then she had begun to put forth her own ideas. Soon she was disagreeing with some of the accepted doctrines of the churches of the Bay Colony and criticiz- ing many of its ministers. So Mrs. Hutchinson was banished. She moved to Rhode Island. Later she settled in New York where, in 1643, she and all but one of her household were mas- sacred by Indians. The scornful Puritans in Massachusetts called the Rhode Island people "the Lord's de- bris." They sneered that if any man had lost his religion he would be sure to find it in some Rhode Island village. Still, Rhode Island grew and prospered as a refuge for liberty. In the 1650s, Quakers (considered in Massa- chusetts the most dangerous of all Separatists) and Jews began to appear in the colony. The Jews formed their first congregation there in 1658. In 1763 they built the beautiful Touro Synagogue, which still stands in Newport. But Catholics were not welcomed even in Rhode Is- land. They were allowed to settle there but were not allowed to vote. Other New England settlements. In 1636, men and women from several Massachusetts towns were granted permission to "transport themselves and their estates" westward to the Connecticut Valley, noted for its rich farmland. They were the first wave of the mighty overland movement to the West that marked Ameri- Jack Spratt can history for 200 years. In Connecticut the Beautiful Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, first settlers founded Hartford, Windsor, and was designed by Peter Harrison, Wethersfield.  43 Dial Newher M A P O F N E W - E N G L A N D Hort Nots 14 h i t e t e l e t h e r e mu h ehire h ator, d and h edoes r s ibaa Some places defellive, in made ste asher loger call s 12 gn get sochit (offereally he yete Seitastion of Spring) the Contrip antee planely well she Tate Fittee cage atal ????? 00 1/200 Requid Court.. ? Vr. Bachat 6) Stoniton Niomul Lancollen Naganif I Waleras Calequa R' American Antiquarian Society This 1677 woodcut by John Foster is the first such map made in the colonies. West is at the top. The map shows Puritan settlements stretching from Connecticut to Maine. The Merrimack River (center) and the Connecticut River (top) are featured. In 1639 the Connecticut settlers adopted except that it was not quite strict enough! They their own "Fundamental Orders." This was a had come from England to start commerce frame of self-government with a governor, a leg- here, and they could find no harbor to their islative assembly, and courts. Voting was re- taste in Massachusetts Bay. At New Haven they stricted to male property owners, as was cus- had the harbor they needed. They settled there tomary at that time. To vote in Massachusetts in 1638. This colony attracted many of the Bay, you still had to be a member of the church, wealthiest settlers who had yet come to Amer- but not here. Features of the Fundamental Or- ica. But the location they had chosen was not as ders remained the basis of Connecticut's gov- good as they had thought. The harbor was too ernment long after it became a state. shallow. And hemmed in by Connecticut, they Another group of settlers who left Massachu- lacked lands to produce goods to export. The setts Bay founded the New Haven Colony. They New Haven Colony was absorbed by Connecti- had no real quarrel with the Bay Colony? cut in 1664.  44 Settlers also went north from the Massachu- setts Bay Colony. Some moved into New Hamp- shire, which became a royal province in 1679. Others traveled to Maine where Sir Ferdinando Gorges had tried in vain to plant a colony. He wanted one, unlike Massachusetts Bay, that would be faithful to the king and the Anglican church. But Maine remained a province of Mas- sachusetts until 1820. Section 4 Review 1. Identity or explain: Separatists, Puritans, Pilgrims, James 1, Squanto, John Winthrop, Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson. 2. Locate: Cape Cod, Plymouth, Rhode Island, Hartford, New Haven. 3. What was the Mayflower Compact? Why was it important? 4. What made the Puritans successful settlers? 5. Why was the Rhode Island Colony founded? 6. Critical Thinking: Drawing Conclusions. In which colonies were religious beliefs a central focus?