History of the United States

by John Clark Ridpath

Marriage of Pocahontas.

Expedition against Acadia.

4. Captain Argall was next sent with an armed vessel to the coast of Maine, to protect the English fishermen, and to destroy the colonies of France, if any should be found within the territory claimed by England. The French authorities of Acadia were building a village near the mouth of the Penobscot. The settlement was pillaged and the houses burned. The French colony at the mouth of the St. Croix was attacked, and the fort cannonaded and destroyed; the hamlet at Port Royal was burned. By these outrages, the French settlements in America were confined to the banks of the St. Lawrence.

Cultivation of Tobacco.

5. In March of 1614 Sir Thomas Gates returned to England, leaving the government with Dale. In these times the laws of the colony were much improved, and the industry took a better form. Hitherto the settlers had engaged in planting vineyards and in the manufacture of soap, glass, and tar. The managers of the company had at last learned that these articles could be produced more cheaply in Europe than in America, while some products of the New World might be raised and exported with great profit. The chief of these was the tobacco-plant, the use of which had become fashionable in Spain, England, and France. This, then, became the leading staple of the colony, and was even used for money. So entirely did the settlers give themselves to the cultivation of the weed that the streets of Jamestown were plowed up and planted with it.

6. In 1617 the unprincipled Captain Argall was elected governor. When the news of his fraudulent and violent proceedings reached England emigration ceased, and Lord Delaware embarked for Virginia, in the hope of restoring order. But he died on the voyage, and Argall continued in office until 1619, when Sir George Yeardley was appointed to succeed him.

The House of Burgesses.

7. Martial law was now abolished. Taxes were repealed, and the people freed from many burdens. Governor Yeardley divided the plantations into eleven boroughs, and ordered the citizens of each to elect two of their number to take part in the government. The elections were duly held, and on the 30th of July, 1619, the Virginia House of Burgesses was organized—the first popular assembly in the New World. In this body there was freedom of debate but very little political power.

Introduction of Slavery.

8. The year 1619 was also marked by the introduction of slavery. The servants at Jamestown had hitherto been English or Germans, whose term of service had varied from a few months to many years. No perpetual servitude had thus far been recognized. In the month of August a Dutch man-of-war sailed up the river to the plantations, and offered by auction twenty Africans. They were purchased by the wealthier class of planters, and made slaves for life.