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ANALYSIS.
PERIOD II. -- SETTLEMENTS.
Chap. I.-- Virginia.
I. Virginia under the Charters, p. 29.
II. Virginia a Royal Province, P. 33.Chap. II.--Massachusetts.
II. Plymouth Colony, p. 36.
III. Colony of Massachusetts till the Union of 1643, p. 39.
IV. Massachusetts from the Union to the Close of the Period, p. 41.Chap. III.--New Hampshire, p. 45.
Chap. IV.--Connecticut.
II. Colony of New Haven, p. 48.
III. Connecticut and New Haven united, p. 49.Chap. V.--Rhode Island.
Il. Rhode Island Plantation, p. 50.
III. The United Plantations, p. 51.Chap. VI.--New York.
II. New York under the English, p. 55.Chap. VII.--New Jersey, p. 57.
Chap. YIII.--Delaware, p. 58.
Chap. IX.--Maryland, p. 59.
Chap. X. --Pennsylvania, p. 61.
Chap. XI.--North and South Carolina.
II. North Carolina, p. 66.
III. South Carolina, p. 66.Chap. XII.--French Possessions in what is now the United States, p. 67.
Chap. XIII.--Condition, at the Close of this Period, of what is now the United States, p. 68.
PERIOD II.
DISTINGUISHED FOR SETTLEMENTS.
EXTENDING FROM THE FIRST PERMANENT ENGLISH
SETTLEMENT, AT JAMES
TOWN, VIRGINIA, 1607, TO THE ACCESSION OF WILLIAM AND MARY
TO THE THRONE OF ENGLAND, 1689..
VIRGINIA.1
I. VIRGINIA
UNDER THE CHARTERS. --
1. In May, 1607, a *1607.* colony under the auspices of the
London Company2 began, on the north bank of the James
River, the first permanent English settlement in America,
and named it Jamestown.3
Three small ships, under the command of
Christopher Newport, conveyed to the New World the colonists, who
numbered one hundred and five persons. It was their original
intention to settle at Roanoke, but a storm drove the little fleet
into Chesapeake Bay.
1 See Map, p. 33.
2 The members of the company named in the charter were Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Richard Hakluyt, and Edward Maria Winfield See p. 17, § III.
3 The capes at the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay they named Charles and Henry, after the sons of King James I.; the river and the settlement they named in honor of the king.
QUESTIONS. -- 1. Name the first permanent English settlement in America? When, where, and by whom made? How many ships were sent out, and under whose command? The number of the colonists? Where did they originally intend to settle?
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2. The
prominent men in the local council,1 appointed
for the government of the new colony, were Bartholomew
Gosnold,2 John Smith,3 Edward Maria
Wingfield, Christopher Newport, and John Ratcliffe. Smith was the
ablest man among them; and, on the voyage, his companions, jealous
of his genius and influence, had imprisoned him on a false charge
of sedition. A trial was at length granted him, and being
honorably acquitted, he was restored to his seat in the council.
In the trying times that followed, the salvation of the colony was
owing to his energy and ability.
3. In June Newport
sailed for England, and the colonists soon experienced a
variety of calamities. They were but poorly fitted to grapple with
life in the wilderness. Among them were only twelve laborers and a
few mechanics, and no men with families. The majority were
gentlemen, as they were called, unused to labor, many of them
despising it. Provisions were scarce and of a poor quality. The
neighboring tribes of Indians became jealous and hostile; and,
worse than all, sickness spread among the colonists. Before autumn
one half of their number had perished, and among them Gosnold, the
projector of the enterprise. To add to their distress, it was
discovered that Wingfield, the president., was designing to escape
to the West Indies, with the most valuable stores. He was
therefore deposed, and Ratcliffe was made president in his place.
The latter, however, was incapable; and the settlers turned for
relief to Smith, who soon restored order, and obtained from the
Indians abundant supplies of food.
4. Smith
made several tours of exploration in the neighboring country. On
one of these, he was attacked by a party of Indians, and taken
prisoner. His captors brought him before Powhatan, their king, and
he was condemned to death. His head was laid upon a stone; the
club was raised to strike the fatal blow, when, to the
astonishment of the savages, Pocahontas, the young and
beautiful daughter of Powhatan, threw herself upon the captive,
and implored her father to spare his life. The maiden's prayer was
granted. Smith was dismissed, with assurances of friendship, and
accompanied by a guard of twelve men to Jamestown, where he
arrived after an absence of seven
weeks.4
1 See p. 18, ¶ 2. 2 See p. 17, ¶ 5.
3 John Smith had been apprenticed to a merchant in his youth; but, being of a roving turn, he left his master, travelled in France, Netherlands, Egypt, and Germany, and at length entered the service of the Emperor of Germany, who was carrying on a war with the Turks. The regiment in which Smith served was engaged in several hazardous enterprises, in which he exhibited a bravery admired by all the army. Subsequently he was wounded in battle, taken prisoner, and sold as a slave. His master treated him with such inhumanity, that, in a fit of desperation, Smith killed him, and escaped to Russia. From thence he made his way to England, where he arrived in season to join the expedition about to sail under Newport..
4 Ever after this, Pocahontas was the firm friend of the English. In 1609, circumstances having arisen to interrupt the friendly disposition of Powhatan towards the colonists, he plotted their entire destruction. His design was to attack them unapprised, and to cut them off at a blow. In a dark and stormy night, the heroic Pocahontas hastened alone to Jamestown and disclosed the inhuman plot of her father. The colonists were thus put on their guard, and their ruin averted. Pocahontas afterwards embraced the Christian religion, and was married to an English gentleman. named Rolle, with whom she visited England, where she was received with great respect. She died at the age of twenty-two, and left one son, whose descendants inherited her lands in Virginia, and are among the most respectable families in that state.
QUESTIONS. -- 2. Who were the prominent men in the local council? What is said of John Smith? 3. What is said of the colonists? What difficulties beset them? Before autumn how many had perished? What is said of Wingfield? What of Ratcliffe? To whom did the settlers turn for relief, and with what success? 4. Tell the story of Smith's capture, sentence, and escape
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5.
He found the utmost disorder ailing in affairs at
Jamestown. The number of the English was reduced to forty, and
many of these were restrained from abandoning the settlement only
by the persuasion and threats of Smith. The arrival of Captain
Newport with provisions and a hundred and twenty new settlers,
promised some improvement in the condition of the colony; but the
new-comers were of the same sort as their predecessors -- vagabond
gentlemen and broken-down tradesman, who, in spite of the
remonstrances of Smith, wasted their time searching for
gold.
6. In the year
1609, the London Company obtained from the king a second
charter, 
granting
enlarged territory and more ample privileges. They now received,
as absolute property, a region extending two hundred miles north
from Old Point Comfort, and the same distance south, -- that is,
from the southern limit of North Carolina to near the northern
boundary of Maryland, -- and westward indefinitely.
The affairs of the colony were to be managed by
a council, to be chosen by the company. This council,
resident in England, was empowered to make the laws and to appoint
a governor, who should supersede the local council of the old
charter.
7. Captain Smith, the "shield and sword"
of the colony, returned to England in 1609, and his departure was
the signal for insubordination and idleness. The Indians refused
to furnish further supplies of provisions, and the horrors of
famine ensued. Some of the English, while in search of food, were
waylaid and slain by the savages; others sailed away to turn
pirates. This 
period
was long remembered in Virginia as the starving time. Smith left
in the colony nearly five hundred persons; in six months the
number was reduced to sixty.
8. At this juncture, Lord
Delaware, who had been appointed governor for life under the
new charter, appeared, with men
QUESTIONS. -- 5. How did Smith find affairs at Jamestown? What is said about Newport and new settlers? How did the new-comers spend their time? 6. what is said of a second charter. What region was granted by it? -- was the council appointed? What was it empowered to do? 7. What happened to the colonists after Smith returned to England? 8. Who arrived as governor, and what was the result?
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and provisions, just in season to prevent the
disheartened colonists from returning to England. 
By
his judicious management, matters presently wore a better aspect;
but ill health soon obliged him to leave the administration, and
he was succeeded by Sir Thomas Dale. Sir Thomas introduced
the policy of assigning to each settler a few acres of land as his
own. The advantages of this measure were soon so apparent, that a
larger assignment was made, and the plan of working in a common
field1 abandoned.
9. A third charter was granted in
1612, and the control of affairs heretofore committed to
councils2
was assumed directly by the company3 Till 1619 the
colonists had no voice in making the laws by which they were
governed; but that year, under the administration of Sir George
Yeardley, a representative government was introduced, and
the first legislative assembly in America convened at
Jamestown.
10. Two years later the London
Company confirmed, by a written constitution, the
privileges conceded by Yeardley. By this constitution the
government was vested in a governor and council, appointed by the
company, and a general assembly to convene yearly, consisting of
the council and two representatives, called burgesses, from each
borough. Immigrants continued to arrive. Several
settlements had now been established near the James and York
Rivers.4 Corn was raised in considerable
quantities, and the culture of tobacco had become so
profitable that even the streets of Jamestown were planted with
it. It subsequently became not only the staple, but the currency
of the colony.
11. In 1620, a Dutch ship, from Africa,
touching at Jamestown, landed twenty negroes, for 
sale
as slaves. These were purchased by the planters, and negro
slavery was thus introduced into the English colonies in
America.
There were at this time but few women in
Virginia. In order to attach the colonists to the country, one
hundred and fifty respectable young women were brought
over. These were sold to the planters, as
wives,
1 See p. 18 ¶ 2. 2 See p. 18, ¶ 2, and p. 31.¶ 6. 3 See p. 17, § III.
4 Some years before this, the colony had become strong enough not only to protect itself, but to disturb its neighbors. In 1613 captain Argal, from Virginia, broke up a French settlement begun at Mount Desert Island, off the coast of Maine, burned Port Royal (see p. 15, § III.), and it is asserted, though on somewhat doubtful authority, compelled some Dutch traders on Manhattan Island (see p. 53, ¶ 1) to acknowledge the authority of the English. On the departure of Argal, however, the French reestablished themselves at Port Royal, and the Dutch flag was again hoisted at Manhattan.
QUESTIONS. -- Who was Lord Delaware's successor? What policy did Dale introduce? What is said of the advantages of this measure? 9. What change took place in the control of affairs in 1612? When anunder what governor did the tint legislative assembly in America convene? 10. What did the London Company do two years later? How was the government vested, by the constitution? What is said about immigrants and settlements? What about corn and tobacco? 11. When and how was negro slavery introduced? -- How were the colonists supplied with wives?
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© 1999, 2000, 2001 for NEGenWeb Project by Ted & Carole Miller