Jamestown, Virginia

The First Permanent English Colony

Mar 14, 2006 Mary Trotter Kion

Jamestown, Virginia: Founded in 1607, was the first permanent English colony established in America. It experienced starvation, rebellion, and Indian attacks.

English King Grants Charter in New World

Jamestown, founded on May 14, 1607, was the first permanent English colony established in America. It was located on a peninsula of the James River in the present-day state of Virginia. It was named for King James I of England and here the first American representative government was established. One year before Jamestown was founded the King of England granted a charter to the Virginia Company of London. This charter gave the company the right to settle, explore and govern limited parts of the New World. And so it began when, on December 20, 1606, a group of some 100 men, including Captain John Smith and commanded by Captain Christopher Newport, sailed away from a port near London, beginning an adventure to the New World.

The New World and James River in Virginia

Just five months later, in May, this expedition reached a marshy peninsula about 30 miles up the James River. There they anchored their three small ships-the Godspeed, the Discovery, and the Susan Constant. On the following day, May 14, 1606, these adventurous and brave men first stepped foot upon the soil of America.

Brave and enterprising as this group surely was they rather missed the boat on one point. They had been instructed, back in London, to select the site of their settlement with care. They were told to be certain that the location was healthy. I suppose this meant not to locate their town too near swampy land where all sorts of illnesses abound. However, this was exactly what they did do. They selected what was an island at high tide in the James River. Although the island did possess some hills, the low surrounding areas of the island, at low tide, were damp and swampy. Eight months later when a supply ship arrived, which also brought more colonists, only 38 of the original 105 settlers remained above ground. They were also instructed to choose a site that was easily defended; this they did do.

Death by Famine and Indian Attacks

What had been the cause of all these deaths? Famine played a major role. Attacks by Indians added also to the demise. And then there was trouble amongst the settlers themselves over the system in use at the time of holding property in common. It is believed that only one man, Captain John Smith, held what was left of the original colony together.

Jamestown Burning

But there was another disaster that Smith would have been powerless to halt had he not already returned to England. In 1609, a fire swept through Jamestown.

The blaze was a last straw, and probably did burn the last straw, for what was left of the colonists. In the spring of 1610, they packed up their scanty belongings and set sail for England. But this was not the end of the colonists in America or the end of Jamestown.

Colonists Return to Jamestown

Just a few miles down the James River colonists met a supply ship making its way towards Jamestown. Aboard was a man of importance. The gentleman was Lord Thomas West De la Warr and he was to be their new governor. Today De la Warr's name is spelled differently, as in the state name and Indian tribe of Delaware. Under this new leadership the colonists agreed to return to Jamestown and try again.

Tobacco and Land Creates a Virginia Economy

By 1612, things were getting better for the inhabitants of Jamestown. John Rolfe, who had married Pocahontas, introduced the cultivation of tobacco. Now the colony had a firm economic base.

Then in 1619, the first democratically elected legislative body in America was formed in Jamestown. Progress was certainly in the future for the colony as settlement expanded eastward and westward along both sides of the James River. That same year a new charter went into effect that allowed each free colonist a tract of land.

Sources:

Comptons, The Complete Reference Collection. CD Rom, 1997, The Learning Company, Inc.

Musick, John R. Columbian Historical Novels, Volume IV: Pocahontas: A Story of Virginia. Funk & Wagnalls Company, New York, London and Toronto, 1895.

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