Arrival of new Emigrants and Supplies.—Prosperity of the Colony.—Implantation of Republicanism.—New Constitution.
ministered the government with equity until the failure of his health required him to return to England. (a) Percy was left in charge of affairs until Delaware's successor should a 1611arrive. In the mean while, Sir Thomas Dale, an "experienced soldier of the Low Countries," arrived with supplies, (b) and assumed the government, which he b May 10 administered upon the basis of martial law. In less than four months afterward, Sir Thomas Gates arrived with supplies, and three hundred emigrants, in six ships, and assumed the functions of governor. Under Dale and Gates, the colony, now numbering nearly a thousand souls, thrived wonderfully. There were but few drones; industry and sobriety prevailed, and a bright future dawned upon Jamestown.
A new charter was granted to the London Company in 1612. The supreme council in England was abolished, and its powers were transferred to the whole Company, who were to meet as a democratic assembly, elect their own officers for the colony, and establish the laws therefor. This was the republican seed which found its way to Virginia, and took deep root there. Another important concession was made; the Bermudas, and all islands within three hundred leagues of the Virginia shore, were included in the grant, and opened a commercial field. The colony continued to flourish; and the marriage of John Rolfe with Pocahontas, with the consent of her father, and the concurrence of Opechancanough, her uncle (who "gave her away" at the marriage altar), cemented the friendship which had been gradually forming between the white men and natives.
In 1614, Gates went to England, and left affairs in the hands of Dale, who ruled with energy for five years, when he appointed George Yeardly deputy governor, and returned to England. Yeardly encouraged agriculture, and, during his administration, the tobacco plant began to be cultivated. It soon became not only the staple, but the currency of the colony. He was succeeded in office (c) by Samuel Argali, an unprincipled man, and sort of c 1617 buccaneer, * who ruled with tyranny for two years, and was then displaced. Yeardly was made governor; the planters were released from further tribute-service to the colony; martial law was abolished; and on the 29th of June, 1619, the first colonial assembly ever held in America was convened at Jamestown. The domain of the English had been divided into eleven boroughs. Two representatives from each were present at the assembly, and were called burgesses. This was the kernel of the Virginia government which prevailed until the Revolution—a governor, his council, and a house of Burgesses. It was the beginning of the American constitutions.
Twelve years had elapsed since planting Jamestown, and now the settlement first assumed the character of permanency. Ninety respectable young women were sent over in 1620, ** and the following year sixty more came to be wives for the planters. The settlers "fell to building houses and planting corn," with a determination to make Virginia their home. The gold mania had passed away, and the wealth of the rich mold was delved for with success. A written constitution was granted to the colony by the Company in 1621, (d) which ratified the form of government introduced by Yeardly. It was d August, 1621 brought over by Sir Francis Wyatt, who succeeded Yeardly, and was received with joy by the colonists. General prosperity prevailed, and glad dreams of happiness filled
* Argali, as we have noticed, obtained possession of Pocahontas, and made her his prisoner, in 1613. The same year he sailed with his fleet to the coast ol Maine, to protect the English fisheries. He broke up a French colony near the Penobscot, and sent some of the people to France and some to Virginia. He also broke up a French settlement at Port Royal, and made the conquest of Acadia. On his return voyage to Virginia, he entered the Bay of New York, and compelled the little Dutch trading settlement there to acknowledge the supremacy ol' England.
** On the 20th of August, in this year, a Dutch man-of-war entered the James River, and landed twenty negroes for sale. Almost simultaneously with the birth of civil liberty in Virginia, by the concession of the representative system, and the tacit acknowledgment of the universal right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," the system of human bondage, which has ever weighed upon our national energies, and tarnished our national character, was introduced. Englishmen have attempted to cast off the stain from themselves by alleging that the traffickers from a foreign country first brought the negroes here. Had not Englishmen become the willing purchasers, the slave-trade and its system would never have been known in this country.
Massacre by the Indians.—Retaliation.—The Patents canceled.—Policy of Charles I.—Governor Harvey.
the minds of the settlers. They were now four thousand strong, and fast increasing; but a cloud was gathering.
Powhatan, the firm friend of the English since the marriage of his daughter, was now dead. * The restraints of his influence were lifted from his people, and they, apprehending their own annihilation by the white men, resolved to strike a blow of extermination. At b March 22, 1622 mid-day, (a) the hatchet fell upon the more remote settlements around Jamestown, and more than seventeen scores of men, women, and children perished in an hour. ** A friendly Indian, a Christian convert, warned his white friend (Pa Ca) in Jamestown of the plot the night before. The people prepared for defense, and were, with the nearest settlements, to whom they sent notice, saved. General alarm prevailed. The remote planters fled to Jamestown, and the number of plantations was reduced from eighty to eight. A terrible reaction ensued. The English arose, and, moved with a spirit of hatred and revenge, they smote the Indians with great slaughter, and drove them far back into the wilderness.