called Gosnold “one of the first movers
of the colony.” For many years, Gosnold had “solicited many of his friends”
but mustered little interest. He persisted
nevertheless and slowly won over several
individuals who had money to invest in
the venture.
Another critical supporter of the Virginia colony was the extraordinary merchant Sir Thomas Smythe, who had participated in a number of groundbreaking
overseas ventures, including the incorporation of the Turkey Company in 1584, the
development and activities of the Muscovy
Company in 1587, and an expedition to the
East Indies in 1591 to explore the opportunities to participate in the lucrative spice
trade. He was the first governor of the
English East India Company. Smythe also
held a number of government positions
that helped him build up his connections
for global voyages and trade.
In April 1606, the efforts bore fruit
when the crown granted a patent establishing two companies to colonize the territory called Virginia, “which are not now
actually possessed by any Christian prince
or people.” The patent included protecting the rights of Englishmen “as if they
had been abiding and born within this
our realm of England.” Most importantly,
the Virginia Company was granted rights
to all the “lands, woods, soil, grounds,
havens, ports, rivers, mines, minerals,
marshes, water, fishing [and] commodities,” thus laying the economic grounds
of the colony. No other subjects would
be granted competing patents that would
violate this monopoly. Yet, at this point,
no one questioned the communal and
centralized character of the colony for
those more consistent with free, enterprising Englishmen.
On December 20, 1606, 144 sailors and
adventurers set sail for Virginia as their
three ships quietly slipped their moorings.
They rode the ebb tide, sailing down the
Thames and catching a last sight of the
English countryside. On May 14, 1607,
they landed with great hopes of striking it
rich and establishing the first permanent
English settlement in America.
Over the next two months, the gentlemen-adventurers explored up the James
River, seeking any sign or news of mineral
wealth or the Northwest Passage to the
Orient. They wondered if the James itself
was the actual river that connected the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, England with
the wealth of the East. They sent home
a “taste of clapboard” that the investors
would have some idea of the bounty of
trees in Virginia. Most tantalizingly, the
council in Virginia warned that Spaniards
must be prevented from laying their “ravenous hands upon these gold-showing
mountains.” Indeed, the Jamestown council sent a barrel of earth back to England
because of the belief it contained gold.
After a chaotic summer during which
the president was deposed and disease and
Indian attacks severely reduced the colony, Councilman John Smith complained
that the settlers “would rather starve and
rot with idleness.” The colony was still
very low on food supplies especially since
the Indians had stopped bringing provisions. Smith and the other leaders could
Most tantalizingly,
the council in
Virginia warned that
Spaniards must be prevented
from laying their
“ravenous hands upon these
gold-showing mountains.”
force the colonists to work under threat of
punishment, but they could not offer any
better incentive to work hard. Individual
workers did not take initiative because
they were not rewarded for it and ate out
of the common storehouse. Under the
circumstances, the men did enough labor
to avoid punishment and continued to
consume the common stocks of food.
The first seven months of the colony
were an abject failure. Diseases had ravaged the settlement. The land was not
nearly as bountiful as described in promotional letters back in England. The native
peoples recognized the difficulties of the
colony and used it to their advantage and
interests. Ambitions and intrigues drove
the Englishmen apart and tore the fabric
of leadership. The reality of the colony
hardly matched the grand expectations of
the investors little more than a year before.
Their salvation seemed imminent when
Christopher Newport’s supply ship put in
at Jamestown during the frightful cold of
winter. The lives of the colonists hung in
the balance.
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