Voyage of Newport.... Settlement at Jamestown.... Distress
of colonists.... Smith.... He is captured by the Indians....
Condemned to death, saved by Pocahontas.... Returns to
Jamestown.... Newport arrives with fresh settlers.... Smith
explores the Chesapeake.... Is chosen president.... New
charter.... Third voyage of Newport.... Smith sails for
Europe.... Condition of the colony.... Colonists determine
to abandon the country.... Are stopped by Lord Delaware....
Sir Thomas Dale.... New charter.... Capt. Argal seizes
Pocahontas.... She marries Mr. Rolf.... Separate property in
lands and labour.... Expedition against Port Royal....
Against Manhadoes.... Fifty acres of land for each
settler.... Tobacco.... Sir Thomas Dale.... Mr. Yeardley....
First assembly.... First arrival of females.... Of
convicts.... Of African slaves.... Two councils
established.... Prosperity of the colony.... Indians attempt
to massacre the whites.... General war.... Dissolution of
the company.... Arbitrary measures of the crown.... Sir John
Harvey.... Sir William Berkeley.... Provincial assembly
restored.... Virginia declares in favour of Charles II....
Grant to Lord Baltimore.... Arrival of a colony in
Maryland.... Assembly composed of freemen.... William
Clayborne.... Assembly composed of representatives....
Divided into two branches.... Tyrannical proceedings.
The funds immediately appropriated to the planting of colonies in
America, were inconsiderable, and the early efforts to accomplish the
object, were feeble.
The first expedition for the southern colony consisted of one vessel
of a hundred tons, and two barks, carrying one hundred and five men,
destined to remain in the country.
{1606}
[Sidenote: Voyage of Newport.]
The command of this small squadron was given to captain Newport, who,
on the 19th of December, sailed from the Thames. Three sealed packets
were delivered to him, one addressed to himself, a second to captain
Bartholomew Gosnald, and the third to captain John Radcliffe,
containing the names of the council for this colony. These packets
were accompanied with instructions directing that they should be
opened, and the names of his Majesty's council proclaimed, within
twenty-four hours after their arrival on the coast of Virginia, and
not before. The council were then to proceed to the choice of a
president, who was to have two votes. To this unaccountable
concealment have those dissensions been attributed, which distracted
the colonists on their passage, and which afterwards impeded the
progress of their settlement.[12]
[Footnote 12: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith.]
{1607}
[Sidenote: Is driven into the Chesapeake.]
Newport, whose place of destination was Roanoke, took the circuitous
route by the West India islands, and had a long passage of four
months. The reckoning had been out for three days, and serious
propositions had been made for returning to England, when a fortunate
storm drove him to the mouth of the Chesapeake. On the 26th of April,
he descried cape Henry, and soon afterward cape Charles. A party of
about thirty men, which went on shore at cape Henry, was immediately
attacked by the natives, and, in the skirmish which ensued, several
were wounded on both sides.
{May 13th.}
The first act of the colonists was the selection of a spot for their
settlement. They proceeded up a large river, called by the natives
Powhatan, and agreed to make their first establishment upon a
peninsula, on its northern side. In compliment to their sovereign,
this place was named Jamestown, and the river was called James. Having
disembarked, and opened the sealed packets brought from England, the
members of the council proceeded to the election of a president, and
Mr. Wingfield was chosen. But, under frivolous pretexts, they excluded
from his seat among them, John Smith, one of the most extraordinary
men of his age, whose courage and talents had excited their envy.
During the passage, he had been imprisoned on the extravagant charge
of intending to murder the council, usurp the government, and make
himself king of Virginia.[13]
[Footnote 13: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith.]
The first indications of a permanent settlement in their country, seem
to have excited the jealousy of the natives. Displeased with the
intrusion, or dissatisfied with the conduct of the intruders, they
soon formed the design of expelling, or destroying, these unwelcome
and formidable visitors. In execution of this intention, they attacked
the colonists suddenly, while at work, and unsuspicious of their
hostility; but were driven, terrified, into the woods by the fire from
the ship. On the failure of this attempt, a temporary accommodation
was effected.
Newport, though named of the council, had been ordered to return to
England. As the time of his departure approached, the accusers of
Smith, attempting to conceal their jealousy by the affectation of
humanity, proposed that he also should return, instead of being
prosecuted in Virginia; but, with the pride of conscious innocence, he
demanded a trial; and, being honourably acquitted, took his seat in
the council.
About the 15th of June, Newport sailed for England, leaving behind him
one of the barks, and about one hundred colonists. While he remained,
they had partaken of the food allowed the sailors; but after his
departure, they were reduced to the necessity of subsisting on the
distributions from the public stores, which had sustained great damage
during their long passage. These were both scanty, and unwholesome;
the allowance to each man, for a day, being only a pint of worm-eaten
wheat and barley. This wretched food increased the malignity of the
diseases generated by the climate, among men exposed to all its
rigours. Before the month of September, fifty of the company were
buried; among whom was Bartholomew Gosnald, who had planned the
expedition, and had contributed greatly towards its prosecution. Their
distress was increased by internal dissension. The president was
charged with embezzling the best stores of the colony, and with
feasting at his private table, on beef, bread, and _aqua vitæ_, while
famine and death devoured his fellow adventurers. The odium against
him was completed by the detection of an attempt to escape from them
and their calamities, in the bark which had been left by Newport. In
the burst of general indignation which followed the discovery of this
meditated desertion, he was deposed, and Radcliffe chosen to succeed
him.[14]
[Footnote 14: Stith. Smith.]
As misfortune is not unfrequently the parent of moderation and
reflection, this state of misery produced a system of conduct towards
the neighbouring Indians, which, for the moment, disarmed their
resentments, and induced them to bring in such supplies as the country
afforded at that season. It produced another effect of equal
importance. A sense of imminent and common danger called forth those
talents which were fitted to the exigency, and compelled submission to
them. On captain Smith, who had preserved his health unimpaired, his
spirits unbroken, and his judgment unclouded, amidst this general
misery and dejection, all eyes were turned, and in him, all actual
authority was placed by common consent. His example soon gave energy
to others.
He erected such rude fortifications as would resist the sudden attacks
of the savages, and constructed such habitations as, by sheltering the
survivors from the weather, contributed to restore and preserve their
health, while his own accommodation gave place to that of all others.
In the season of gathering corn, he penetrated into the country at the
head of small parties, and by presents and caresses to those who were
well disposed, and by attacking with open force, and defeating those
who were hostile, he obtained abundant supplies.
While thus actively and usefully employed abroad, he was not permitted
to withdraw his attention from the domestic concerns of the colony.
Incapacity for command is seldom accompanied by a willingness to
relinquish power; and it will excite no surprise that the late
president saw, with regret, another placed above him. As unworthy
minds most readily devise unworthy means, he sought, by intriguing
with the factious, and fomenting their discontents, to regain his lost
authority; and when these attempts were disconcerted, he formed a
conspiracy with some of the principal persons in the colony, to escape
in the bark, and thus to desert the country. The vigilance of Smith
detected these machinations, and his vigour defeated them.[15]
[Footnote 15: Stith.]
[Sidenote: Smith is captured by the Indians,]
[Sidenote: is condemned to death,]
[Sidenote: saved by Pocahontas.]
The prospect which now presented itself of preserving the colony in
quiet and plenty, until supplies could be received from England, was
obscured by an event which threatened, at first, the most disastrous
consequences. In attempting to explore Chiccahomini river to its
source, Smith was discovered and attacked by a numerous body of
Indians; and in endeavouring, after a gallant defence, to make his
escape, he sank up to his neck in a swamp, and was obliged to
surrender. The wonder and veneration which he excited by the
exhibition of a mariner's compass, saved him from immediate death. He
was conducted in triumph, through several towns, to the palace of
Powhatan, the most potent king in that part of the country, who doomed
him to be put to death by placing his head upon a stone, and beating
out his brains with a club. At the place of execution, with his head
bowed down to receive the blow, he was rescued from a fate which
appeared to be inevitable, by that enthusiastic and impassioned
humanity which, in every climate, and in every state of society, finds
its home in the female bosom. Pocahontas, the king's favourite
daughter, then about thirteen years of age, whose entreaties for his
life had been ineffectual, rushed between him and the executioner, and
folding his head in her arms, and laying hers upon it, arrested the
fatal blow. Her father was then prevailed upon to spare his life, and
he was sent back to Jamestown.[16]
[Footnote 16: Stith.]
[Sidenote: Returns to Jamestown.]
On arriving at that place, after an absence of seven weeks, he found
the colony reduced to thirty-eight persons, who seemed determined to
abandon a country which appeared to them so unfavourable to human
life. He came just in time to prevent the execution of this design.
Alternately employing persuasion, threats, and even violence, he
induced the majority to relinquish their intention; then turning the
guns of the fort on the bark, on board which were the most determined,
he compelled her to remain, or sink in the river.[17]
[Footnote 17: Stith.]
By a judicious regulation of intercourse with the Indians, over whom
he had gained considerable influence, he restored plenty to the
colony, and preserved it until the arrival of two vessels which had
been dispatched from England under the command of captain Newport,
with a supply of provisions and instruments of husbandry, and with a
reinforcement of one hundred and twenty persons, composed of many
gentlemen, several refiners, gold smiths, and jewellers, and a few
labourers.
The influence of Smith disappeared with the danger which had produced
it, and was succeeded by an improvident relaxation of discipline,
productive of the most pernicious consequences.[18]
[Footnote 18: Ibid.]
[Sidenote: A glittering earth mistaken for gold dust.]
About this time, a shining earth, mistaken by the colonists for gold
dust, was found in a small stream of water near Jamestown. Their
raging thirst for gold was re-excited by this incident. Smith, in his
History of Virginia, describing the frenzy of the moment, says, "there
was no thought, no discourse, no hope, and no work, but to dig gold,
wash gold, refine gold, and load gold. And, notwithstanding captain
Smith's warm and judicious representations how absurd it was to
neglect other things of immediate use and necessity, to load such a
drunken ship with gilded dust, yet was he overruled, and her returns
were made in a parcel of glittering dirt, which is to be found in
various parts of the country, and which they, very sanguinely,
concluded to be gold dust."
{1608}
The two vessels returned laden, one with this dirt, and the other with
cedar. This is the first remittance ever made from America by an
English colony.
The effects of this fatal delusion were soon felt, and the colony
again began to suffer that distress, from scarcity of food, which had
before brought it, more than once, to the brink of ruin.
[Sidenote: Smith explores the Chesapeake.]
The researches of the English settlers had not yet extended beyond the
country adjacent to James river. Smith had formed the bold design of
exploring the great bay of Chesapeake, examining the mighty rivers
which empty into it, opening an intercourse with the nations
inhabiting their borders, and acquiring a knowledge of the state of
their cultivation and population. Accompanied by Doctor Russel, he
engaged in this hardy enterprise in an open boat of about three tons
burthen, and with a crew of thirteen men. On the 2d of June, he
descended the river in company with the last of Newport's two vessels,
and, parting with her at the capes, began his survey at cape Charles.
With great fatigue and danger, he examined every river, inlet, and
bay, on both sides of the Chesapeake, as far as the mouth of the
Rappahannock. His provisions being exhausted, he returned, and arrived
at Jamestown on the 21st of July. He found the colony in the utmost
confusion and disorder. All those who came last with Newport were
sick; the danger of famine was imminent; and the clamour against the
president was loud, and universal. The seasonable arrival of Smith
restrained their fury. The accounts he gave of his discoveries, and
the hope he entertained that the waters of the Chesapeake communicated
with the south sea,[19] extended their views and revived their
spirits. They contented themselves with deposing their president, and,
having in vain urged Smith to accept that office, elected his friend
Mr. Scrivener as vice president.
[Footnote 19: This error might very possibly be produced by
the Indians representing the great western lakes as seas.]
After employing three days in making arrangements for obtaining
regular supplies, and for the government of the colony, Smith again
sailed with twelve men, to complete his researches into the countries
on the Chesapeake.
From this voyage he returned on the seventh of September; having
advanced as far as the river Susquehannah, and visited all the
countries on both shores of the bay. He entered most of the large
creeks, sailed up many of the great rivers to their falls, and made
accurate observations on the extensive territories through which he
passed, and on the various tribes inhabiting them, with whom he,
alternately, fought, negotiated, and traded. In every situation, he
displayed judgment, courage, and that presence of mind which is
essential to the character of a commander; and never failed, finally,
to inspire the savages he encountered, with the most exalted opinion
of himself and of his nation.
When we consider that he sailed above three thousand miles in an open
boat; when we contemplate the dangers and the hardships he
encountered; when we reflect on the valuable additions he made to the
stock of knowledge respecting America; we shall not hesitate to say
that few voyages of discovery, undertaken at any time, reflect more
honour on those engaged in them. "So full and exact," says Dr.
Robertson, "are his accounts of that large portion of the American
continent comprehended in the two provinces of Virginia and Maryland,
that after the progress of information and research for a century and
a half, his map exhibits no inaccurate view of both countries, and is
the original, on which all subsequent delineations and descriptions
have been formed."[20]
[Footnote 20: Dr. Robertson must allude to the country below
the falls of the great rivers.]
[Illustration: Ruins of the Old Brick Church Built at Jamestown in
1639
_Settled by the English in 1607, on the banks of the James River about
32 miles from its mouth, it was at Jamestown that the first
legislative assembly in America was held in 1619, and here in the same
year slavery was first introduced into the original thirteen colonies.
The site of the settlement, which was originally a peninsula, but is
now an island, is owned by the Association for the Preservation of
Virginia Antiquities. Besides the ruins of the church shown here those
of the fort and of two or three houses built more than a hundred years
before the Declaration of Independence was signed are still
standing._]
[Sidenote: Is chosen president.]
On his return from this expedition, Smith was chosen president of the
council; and, yielding to the general wish, accepted the office. Soon
after, Newport arrived with an additional supply of settlers, among
whom were the two first females who adventured to the present colony;
but he came without provisions.
The judicious administration of the president, however, supplied the
wants of the colonists, and restrained the turbulent. Encouraged by
his example, and coerced by his authority, a spirit of industry and
subordination was created among them, which was the parent of plenty
and of peace.[21]
[Footnote 21: Robertson. Chalmer.]
{1609}
[Sidenote: New Charter.]
The company in England, though disappointed in the hope of discovering
a passage to the Pacific, and of finding mines of the precious metals,
still indulged in golden dreams of future wealth. To increase their
funds, as well as their influence and reputation, by the acquisition
of additional numbers, to explain and enlarge their powers and
privileges, and to ensure a colonial government conforming to their
own views and wishes, the company petitioned for a new charter, which
was granted on the 23d of May. Some of the first nobility and gentry
of the country, and most of the companies of London, with a numerous
body of merchants and tradesmen, were added to the former adventurers,
and they were all incorporated, by the name of "The treasurer and
company of adventurers of the city of London, for the first colony in
Virginia." To them were granted, in absolute property, the lands
extending from Cape or Point Comfort, along the sea coast, two hundred
miles to the northward, and from the same point, along the sea coast,
two hundred miles to the southward, and up into the land, throughout,
from sea to sea, west and north-west; and also all the islands lying
within one hundred miles of the coast of both seas of the precinct
aforesaid: to be holden as of the manor of East Greenwich, in free and
common soccage, and paying, in lieu of all services, one-fifth of the
gold and silver that should be found. The corporation was authorised
to convey, under its common seal, particular portions of these lands
to subjects or denizens, on such conditions as might promote the
intentions of the grant. The powers of the president and council in
Virginia were abrogated, and a new council in England was established,
with power to the company to fill all vacancies therein by election.
This council was empowered to appoint and remove all officers for the
colony, and to make all ordinances for its government, not contrary to
the laws of England; and to rule the colonists according to such
ordinances. License was given to transport to Virginia, all persons
willing to go thither, and to export merchandise free from customs for
seven years. There was also granted, for twenty-one years, freedom
from all subsidies in Virginia, and from all impositions on
importations and exportations from or to any of the King's dominions,
"except only the five pounds in the hundred due for customs." The
colonists were declared to be entitled to the rights of natural
subjects. The governor was empowered to establish martial law in case
of rebellion or mutiny; and, to prevent the superstitions of the
Church of Rome from taking root in the plantation, it was declared
that none should pass into Virginia, but such as shall have first
taken the oath of supremacy.[22]
[Footnote 22: Charter.]
[Sidenote: Third voyage of Newport.]
The company, being thus enlarged, and enabled to take more effective
measures for the settlement of the country, soon fitted out nine
ships, with five hundred emigrants. Lord Delawar was constituted
governor and captain-general for life; and several other offices were
created. The direction of the expedition was again given to Newport;
to whom, and Sir Thomas Gates, and Sir George Somers, powers were
severally granted to supersede the existing administration, and to
govern the colony until the arrival of Lord Delawar. With singular
indiscretion, the council omitted to establish precedence among these
gentlemen; who, being totally unable to settle this important point
among themselves, agreed to embark on board the same vessel, and to be
companions during the voyage. They were parted from the rest of the
fleet in a storm, and driven on Bermudas; having on board one hundred
and fifty men, a great portion of the provisions destined for the
colony, and the new commission and instructions of the council. The
residue of the squadron arrived safely in Virginia.
"A great part of the new company," says Mr. Stith, "consisted of
unruly sparks, packed off by their friends to escape worse destinies
at home. And the rest were chiefly made up of poor gentlemen, broken
tradesmen, rakes and libertines, footmen, and such others as were much
fitter to spoil and ruin a Commonwealth, than to help to raise or
maintain one. This lewd company, therefore, were led by their
seditious captains into many mischiefs and extravagancies. They
assumed to themselves the power of disposing of the government, and
conferred it sometimes on one, and sometimes on another. To-day the
old commission must rule, to-morrow the new, and next day neither. So
that all was anarchy and distraction."
The judgment of Smith was not long suspended. With the promptness and
decision which belong to vigorous minds, he determined that his own
authority was not legally revoked until the arrival of the new
commission, and therefore resolved to continue its exercise. Incapable
of holding the reins of government with a feeble hand, he exhibited,
on this emergency, that energy and good sense which never deserted him
when the occasion required them. After imprisoning the chief promoters
of sedition, and thereby restoring regularity and obedience, he, for
the double purpose of extending the colony, and of preventing the
mischiefs to be apprehended from so many turbulent spirits collected
in Jamestown, detached one hundred men to the falls of James river,
under the command of West, and the same number to Nansemond, under
that of Martin. These persons conducted their settlements with so
little judgment, that they soon converted all the neighbouring Indians
into enemies. After losing several parties, they found themselves in
absolute need of the support and direction of Smith. These were
readily afforded, until a melancholy accident deprived the colony of
the aid of a man whose talents had, more than once, rescued it from
that desperate condition into which folly and vice had plunged it.
Returning from a visit to the detachment stationed at the falls of
James river, his powder bag took fire, while he was sleeping in the
boat, and, in the explosion, he was so severely wounded as to be
confined to his bed. Being unable to obtain the aid of a surgeon in
the colony, he embarked for England about the beginning of October.
[Sidenote: Smith returns to England.]
[Sidenote: State of the colony.]
At his departure, the colony consisted of about five hundred
inhabitants. They were furnished with three ships, seven boats,
commodities ready for trade, ten weeks' provision in the public
stores, six mares and a horse, a large stock of hogs and poultry, some
sheep and goats, utensils for agriculture, nets for fishing, one
hundred trained and expert soldiers well acquainted with the Indians,
their language and habitations, twenty-four pieces of ordnance, and
three hundred muskets, with a sufficient quantity of arms and
ammunition.[23]
[Footnote 23: Stith.]
The fair prospects of the colony were soon blasted by a course of
folly and crime, of riot and insubordination.
Numerous pretenders advanced their claims to the supreme command. The
choice at length fell upon captain Percy, who derived much
consideration from his virtues, as well as from his illustrious
family; but his talents, at no time equal to this new and difficult
station, were rendered still less competent to the task, by a long
course of ill health. Being generally confined by sickness to his bed,
he was incapable of maintaining his authority; and total confusion
ensued, with its accustomed baneful consequences.
The Indians, no longer awed by the genius and vigour of Smith,
attacked the colony on all sides. West and Martin, after losing their
boats and nearly half their men, were driven into Jamestown. The stock
of provisions was lavishly wasted; and famine added its desolating
scourge to their other calamities. After devouring the skins of their
horses, and the Indians they had killed, the survivors fed on those of
their companions who had sunk under such accumulated misery. The
recollection of these tremendous sufferings was long retained, and,
for many years, this period was distinguished by the name of THE
STARVING TIME.[24]
[Footnote 24: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith. Beverly.]
{1610}
In six months, the colony was reduced, by these distresses, to sixty
persons, who could not have survived ten days longer, when they were
relieved from this state of despair by the arrival of Sir Thomas
Gates, Sir George Somers, and Captain Newport, from Bermuda.
[Sidenote: They abandon the country.]
The determination to abandon the country was immediately taken, and
the wretched remnant of the colony embarked on board the vessels, and
sailed for England. "None dropped a tear," says Mr. Chalmer, "because
none had enjoyed one day of happiness."
[Sidenote: Stopped by Lord Delawar.]
Fortunately, they met Lord Delawar, who prevailed on them to return;
and, on the 10th of June, resettled them at Jamestown.
{1611}
By mildness of temper, attention to business, and judicious exercise
of authority, this nobleman restored order and contentment to the
colony, and again impressed the Indians with respect for the English
name. Unfortunately, ill health obliged him to resign the government
which he placed in the hands of Mr. Percy, and sailed for the West
Indies, leaving in the colony about two hundred persons in possession
of the blessings of health, plenty, and peace.
[Sidenote: Sir Thomas Dale.]
On the 10th of May, Sir Thomas Dale, who had been appointed to the
government, arrived with a fresh supply of men and provisions, and
found the colony relapsing into a state of anarchy, idleness, and
want. It required all the authority of the new governor to maintain
public order, and to compel the idle and the dissolute to labour. Some
conspiracies having been detected, he proclaimed martial law, which
was immediately put in execution. This severity was then deemed
necessary, and is supposed to have saved the settlement.[25]
[Footnote 25: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith. Beverly.]
In the beginning of August, Sir Thomas Gates, who had been appointed
to succeed Sir Thomas Dale, arrived with six ships, and a considerable
supply of men and provisions. After receiving this addition to its
numbers, the colony again extended itself up James river; and several
new settlements were made.
{1612}
[Sidenote: New Charter.]
Extravagant accounts of the fertility of Bermuda having reached
England, the company became desirous of obtaining it as a place from
which Virginia might be supplied with provisions. Application was
therefore made to the crown for a new patent, to comprehend this
island; and, in March, a charter was issued, granting to the treasurer
and company all the islands situate in the ocean within three hundred
leagues of the coast of Virginia. By this charter, the corporation was
essentially new modelled. It was ordained that four general courts of
the adventurers should be holden annually, for the determination of
affairs of importance, and weekly meetings were directed, for the
transaction of common business. To promote the effectual settlement of
the plantation, license was given to open lotteries in any part of
England.[26]
[Footnote 26: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith. Beverly.]
These lotteries, which were the first ever drawn in England, brought
twenty-nine thousand pounds into the treasury of the company. When
they were discontinued, in 1620, on the complaint of the House of
Commons, they were declared to have "supplied the real food by which
Virginia had been nourished."
[Sidenote: Captain Argal seizes Pocahontas.]
About this time an event took place which was followed by important
consequences to the colony. Provisions in Jamestown continuing to be
scarce, and supplies from the neighbouring Indians, with whom the
English were often at war, being necessarily uncertain, captain Argal,
with two vessels, was sent round to the Potowmac for a cargo of corn.
While obtaining the cargo, he understood that Pocahontas, who had
remained steadfast in her attachment to the English, had absented
herself from the home of her father, and lay concealed in the
neighbourhood. By bribing some of those in whom she confided Argal
prevailed on her to come on board his vessel, where she was detained
respectfully, and brought to Jamestown. He was induced to take this
step by the hope that the possession of Pocahontas would give the
English an ascendancy over her father, who was known to dote on her.
In this, however, he was disappointed. Powhatan offered corn and
friendship, if they would first restore his daughter, but, with a
loftiness of spirit which claims respect, rejected every proposition
for conciliation which should not be preceded by that act of
reparation.
During her detention at Jamestown, she made an impression on the heart
of Mr. Rolf, a young gentleman of estimation in the colony, who
succeeded in gaining her affections. They were married with the
consent of Powhatan, who was entirely reconciled to the English by
that event, and continued, ever after, to be their sincere friend.
This connexion led also to a treaty with the Chiccahominies, a brave
and daring tribe, who submitted themselves to the English, and became
their tributaries.[27]
[Footnote 27: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith. Beverly.]
{1613}
About the same time, an important change took place in the internal
arrangements of the colony.
[Sidenote: Separate property in lands.]
Heretofore no separate property in lands had been acquired, and no
individual had laboured for himself. The lands had been held, cleared,
and cultivated in common, and their produce carried into a common
granary, from which it was distributed to all. This system was to be
ascribed, in some measure, to the unwise injunction contained in the
royal instructions, directing the colonists to trade together for five
years in one common stock. Its effect was such as ought to have been
foreseen. Industry, deprived of its due reward, exclusive property in
the produce of its toil, felt no sufficient stimulus to exertion, and
the public supplies were generally inadequate to the public
necessities. To remove this cause of perpetual scarcity, Sir Thomas
Dale divided a considerable portion of land into lots of three acres,
and granted one of them, in full property, to each individual.
Although the colonists were still required to devote a large portion
of labour to the public, a sudden change was made in their appearance
and habits. Industry, impelled by the certainty of recompense,
advanced with rapid strides; and the inhabitants were no longer in
fear of wanting bread, either for themselves, or for the emigrants
from England.[28]
[Footnote 28: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith. Beverly.]
{1614}
Early in the following year, Sir Thomas Gates returned to England,
leaving the government again with Sir Thomas Dale. This gentleman
detached captain Argal on an enterprise of which no immediate notice
was taken, but which was afterwards recollected with indignation.
The French, who had directed their course to the more northern parts
of the continent, had been among the first adventurers to North
America. Their voyages of discovery are of a very early date, and
their attempts to establish a colony were among the first which were
made. After several abortive efforts, a permanent settlement was made
in Canada, in the year 1604, and the foundation of Quebec was laid in
the year 1608. In November 1603, Henry IV. appointed De Mont
lieutenant-general of that part of the territory which he claimed,
lying in North America, between the 40th and 46th degrees of north
latitude, then called Acadié, with power to colonise and to rule it;
and he soon afterwards granted to the same gentleman and his
associates, an exclusive right to the commerce of peltry in Acadié and
the gulf of St. Lawrence. In consequence of these grants, a settlement
was formed in the subsequent year, on that coast, near the river St.
Croix; and in 1605, Port Royal was built on a more northern part of
the bay of Fundy.
The colony, receiving not much support from France, was feeble and
unprosperous, but retained quiet possession of the country. In a time
of profound peace, the expedition of Argal was directed against it. He
found it totally unprepared for defence. The inhabitants, who had
assiduously and successfully cultivated the friendship of the Indians,
were scattered abroad in the woods, engaged in their several pursuits;
and a ship and bark just arrived from France, laden with articles
necessary for the use of the colony, were surprised in port, and their
cargoes taken to Jamestown. After the departure of Argal, the French
resumed their former station.
The pretext for this predatory expedition was, that the French, by
settling in Acadié, had invaded the rights of the English, acquired by
the first discovery of the continent.
Argal also paid a visit to New York, then in possession of the Dutch;
which country he claimed under the pretext that captain Hudson was an
Englishman, and could not transfer the benefit of his discoveries from
his sovereign. He demanded possession of the place; and the Dutch
governor, being unable to resist, "peaceably submitted both himself
and his colony to the King of England, and the governor of Virginia
under him," and consented to pay a tribute. Argal then continued his
voyage to Jamestown. But another governor soon afterwards arriving
from Amsterdam with better means of asserting the title of his nation,
the payment of the tribute was refused, and the place put in a state
of defence.[29]
[Footnote 29: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith.]
[Sidenote: Fifty acres of land laid off for each settler.]
The advantages resulting to the colony from allowing each individual
to labour, in part for himself, having soon become apparent, the
system of working in common to fill the public stores, seems to have
been totally relinquished; and, not long afterwards, fifty acres of
land, promised by the rules of the company to each emigrant, were
surveyed and delivered to those having the title.
{1615}
[Sidenote: Tobacco.]
About the same time, tobacco was first cultivated in Virginia.
This plant, although detested by the King, who even wrote a pamphlet
against it, which he styled a _counter blast_; although
discountenanced by the leading members of parliament, and even by the
company, who issued edicts against its cultivation; although extremely
unpleasant to persons not accustomed to it, and disagreeable in its
effects, surmounted all opposition, and has, by an unaccountable
caprice, been brought into general use, and become one of the most
considerable staples of America.[30]
[Footnote 30: Robertson.]
{1616}
[Sidenote: Yeardly.]
In the spring of the following year, Sir Thomas Dale sailed for
England, leaving the government in the hands of Mr. George Yeardly,
who, after a lax administration of one year, was succeeded by captain
Argal.
{1617}
[Sidenote: Argal.]
Argal was a man of talents and energy, but selfish, haughty, and
tyrannical. He continued martial law during a season of peace; and a
Mr. Brewster, who was tried under this arbitrary system, for
contemptuous words spoken of the governor, was sentenced to suffer
death. He obtained with difficulty an appeal to the treasurer and
company in England, by whom the sentence was reversed.[31]
[Footnote 31: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith.]
[Sidenote: Mr. Yeardly.]
While martial law was, according to Stith, the common law of the land,
the governor seems to have been the sole legislator. His general
edicts mark the severity of his rule. He ordered that merchandise
should be sold at an advance of twenty-five _per centum_, and tobacco
taken in payment at the rate of three shillings per pound, under the
penalty of three years' servitude to the company; that no person
should traffic privately with the Indians, or teach them the use of
fire arms, under pain of death; that no person should hunt deer or
hogs without the governor's permission; that no man should shoot,
unless in his own necessary defence, until a new supply of ammunition
should arrive, on pain of a year's personal service; that none should
go on board the ships at Jamestown, without the governor's leave; that
every person should go to church on Sundays and holidays, under the
penalty of slavery during the following week for the first offence,
during a month for the second, and during a year and a day for the
third. The rigour of this administration necessarily exciting much
discontent, the complaints of the Virginians at length made their way
to the company. Lord Delawar being dead, Mr. Yeardly was appointed
captain-general, with instructions to examine the wrongs of the
colonists, and to redress them.[32]
[Footnote 32: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith.]
{1619}
The new governor arrived in April, and soon after, to the
inexpressible joy of the inhabitants, declared his determination to
convoke a colonial assembly.
This is an important era in the history of Virginia. Heretofore, all
legislative authority had been exercised, either by the corporation in
England, or by their officers in the colony. The people had no voice,
either personally, or by their representatives, in the government of
themselves; and their most important concerns were managed by persons
often unacquainted with their situation, and always possessing
interests different from theirs. They now felicitated themselves on
having really the privileges of Englishmen.
[Sidenote: First colonial assembly.]
This first assembly met at Jamestown on the 19th of June. The colony
being not then divided into counties, the members were elected by the
different boroughs, amounting at that time to seven. From this
circumstance the popular branch of the legislature received the
appellation of the house of burgesses, which it retained until all
connexion with England was dissolved.
The assembly, composed of the governor, the council, and burgesses,
met together in one apartment, and there discussed the various matters
which came before them. The laws then enacted, which, it is believed,
are no longer extant, were transmitted to England for the approbation
of the treasurer and company.[33]
[Footnote 33: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith.]
[Sidenote: First arrival of females,]
{1620}
Although the emigrations from England continued to be considerable,
few females had crossed the Atlantic. Men without wives could not
consider their residence in the country as permanent, and must intend
after amassing some wealth, to return to their native land. To remove
this impediment to the population of the colony, ninety girls, of
humble fortune and spotless character, were transported by the company
to Virginia; and in the subsequent year, they were followed by sixty
of the same description. They were received by the young planters as a
blessing which substituted domestic happiness for the cheerless gloom
of solitude; and the face of the country was essentially changed.[34]
The prospect of becoming parents was accompanied with the anxieties
for the welfare of their children; and the education of youth soon
became an object of attention. The necessity of seminaries of learning
was felt, and several steps were taken towards founding the college,
afterwards established by William and Mary.
[Footnote 34: Mr. Stith says the price for a wife was at
first, one hundred, and afterwards, one hundred and fifty
pounds of tobacco; and a debt so contracted was made of
higher dignity than any other.]
[Sidenote: and of convicts.]
About the same time the company received orders from the King to
convey to Virginia one hundred idle and dissolute persons, then in
custody of the knight marshal. These were the first convicts
transported to America. The policy which dictated this measure was
soon perceived to be not less wise than it was humane. Men who, in
Europe, were the pests of the body politic, made an acceptable
addition to the stock of labour in the colony; and, in a new world,
where the temptations to crime seldom presented themselves, many of
them became useful members of society.
{1621}
[Sidenote: African slaves.]
Heretofore the commerce of Virginia had been engrossed by the
corporation. In the year 1620, this distressing and unprofitable
monopoly was given up, and the trade was open to all. The free
competition produced by this change of system was of essential
advantage to the colony, but was the immediate cause of introducing a
species of population which has had vast influence on the past, and
may affect the future destinies of America, to an extent which human
wisdom can neither foresee nor control. A Dutch vessel, availing
itself of this commercial liberty, brought into James river twenty
Africans, who were immediately purchased as slaves.[35]
[Footnote 35: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith.]
[Sidenote: Two councils established.]
In July, the company passed an ordinance establishing a frame of
government for the colony. This instrument provided that there should
be two supreme councils in Virginia, the one to be called the Council
of State, to be appointed and displaced by the treasurer and company,
and to assist the governor with advice on executive subjects; the
other to be denominated the General Assembly, and to consist of the
governor, the council of state, and burgesses; to be chosen for the
present, by the inhabitants of every town, hundred, or settlement, in
the colony, two for each. The assembly was empowered to enact general
laws for the government of the colony, reserving a negative to the
governor. Its acts were not to be in force until confirmed by the
general court in England, and the ratification returned under its
seal. On the other hand, no order of the general court was to bind the
colony until assented to by the assembly.
{1622}
A controversy concerning the importation of tobacco into the European
dominions of the crown, which had for some time existed between the
King and the company, was, at length, adjusted.
The King had demanded high duties on that article, while he permitted
its importation from the dominions of Spain, and also restrained its
direct exportation from Virginia, to the warehouses of the company in
Holland, to which expedient his exactions had driven them. It was at
length agreed that they should enjoy the sole right of importing that
commodity into the kingdom, for which they should pay a duty of nine
pence per pound, in lieu of all charges, and that the whole production
of the colony should be brought to England.
[Sidenote: County courts.]
The industry, population, and produce of the colony, were now greatly
increased. At peace with the Indians, they had extended their
settlements to the Rappahannock and to the Potowmac. This change of
circumstances having rendered it inconvenient to bring all causes to
Jamestown before the governor and council, who had heretofore
exercised all judicial power in the country, inferior courts were
established, to sit in convenient places, in order to render justice
more cheap and accessible to the people. Thus originated the county
courts of Virginia.
[Sidenote: Indian conspiracy to massacre all the whites.]
In this year the cup of prosperity, which the colonists had begun to
taste, was dashed from their lips by an event which shook the colony
to its foundation. In 1618, Powhatan died, and was succeeded, in his
dominions and in his influence over all the neighbouring tribes, by
Opechancanough, a bold and cunning chief, as remarkable for his
jealousy and hatred of the new settlers, as for his qualifications to
execute the designs suggested by his resentments. He renewed, however,
the stipulations of Powhatan; and, for a considerable time, the
general peace remained undisturbed. The colonists, unsuspicious of
danger, observed neither the Indians nor their machinations. Engaged
entirely in the pursuits of agriculture, they neglected their military
exercises, and every useful precaution. Meanwhile, the Indians, being
often employed as hunters, were furnished with fire arms, and taught
to use them. They were admitted, at all times, freely into the
habitations of the English, as harmless visitants, were fed at their
tables, and lodged in their chambers. During this state of friendly
intercourse, the plan of a general massacre, which should involve man,
woman, and child, in indiscriminate slaughter, was formed with cold
and unrelenting deliberation. The tribes in the neighbourhood of the
English, except those on the eastern shore of the Chesapeak, who were
not trusted with the plan, were successively gained over; and,
notwithstanding the perpetual intercourse between them and the white
people, the most impenetrable secrecy was observed. So deep and dark
was their dissimulation, that they were accustomed to borrow boats
from the English to cross the river, in order to concert and mature
their execrable designs.
The 22d of March was designated as the day on which all the English
settlements were to be attacked. The better to disguise their
intentions, and to ensure success, they brought, in the preceding
evening, deer, turkies, and fish, as presents; and, even on the
morning of the massacre, came freely among the whites, behaving in
their usual friendly manner, until the very instant which had been
appointed for the commencement of the scene of carnage. The fatal hour
being arrived, they fell at once on every settlement, and murdered
without distinction of age or sex. So sudden was the execution of
their plan, that few perceived the weapons, or the approach of the
blow, which terminated their existence. Thus, in one hour, and almost
in the same instant, fell three hundred and forty-seven men, women and
children; most of them by their own plantation tools.
The massacre would have been still more complete, had not information
been given, the preceding night, to a Mr. Pace, by an Indian
domesticated in his house, and treated as a son, who, being pressed to
murder his benefactor, disclosed the plot to him. He immediately
carried the intelligence to Jamestown, and the alarm was given to some
of the nearest settlements, which were thereby saved. At some other
places, too, where the circumstances of the attack enabled the English
to seize their arms, the assailants were repulsed.
[Sidenote: General war.]
This horrible massacre was succeeded by a vindictive and exterminating
war, in which the wiles of the Indians were successfully retaliated on
themselves. During this disastrous period, many public works were
abandoned; the college institution was deserted; the settlements were
reduced from eighty to eight; and famine superadded its afflicting
scourge to the accumulated distresses of the colony.[36]
[Footnote 36: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith.]
As soon as intelligence of these calamitous events reached England, a
contribution was made by the adventurers for the relief of the
sufferers; arms from the tower were delivered to the treasurer and
company; and several vessels were dispatched with those articles which
might best alleviate such complicated distress.
[Sidenote: Dissension and dissolution of the company.]
But the dissolution of the company was rapidly approaching. That
corporation contained many men of the first rank and talents in the
nation, who in their assemblies, were in habits of discussing the
measures of the crown with the accustomed freedom of a popular body.
Two violent factions, which assumed the regular appearance of court
and country parties, divided the company, and struggled for the
ascendancy. James endeavoured to give the preponderance to the court
party, but his endeavours were unsuccessful; and his failure disposed
him to listen to complaints against a corporation, whose deliberations
he found himself unable to control. To their mismanagement he ascribed
the slow progress made by the colony, and the heavy losses that had
been sustained.[37]
[Footnote 37: _Ibid._]
{1623}
{1624}
[Sidenote: Colony taken into the hands of the King.]
After hearing both the corporation and their accusers, the privy
council determined to issue a commission, appointing persons to be
named by the crown, to inquire into the affairs of Virginia from the
earliest settlement of the province, and to report thereon to the
government. This commission seized the charters, books, and papers of
the company; and all letters and packets brought from the colony were
ordered to be laid unopened before the privy council. Their report
attributed the misfortunes of the colony to the corporation in
England; and James, at no time a friend to popular assemblies,
communicated to them his resolution to revoke the old charter and
grant a new one, which should respect private property, but place
power in fewer hands. The requisition that they should assent to this
proposition, and surrender their charter, was accompanied with the
information that the King was determined, in default of submission, to
take such proceedings for recalling their letters patent as might be
just. The company, however, resolutely determined to defend its
rights; whereupon a writ of _quo warranto_ was instituted in the court
of King's Bench, which was decided according to the wishes of the
monarch. The company was dissolved, and all its powers were revested
in the crown.
Above one hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling had been expended
in planting the colony; and more than nine thousand persons had been
sent from England to people it. Yet, at the dissolution of the
company, the annual imports from Virginia did not exceed twenty
thousand pounds in value, and the population of the country was
reduced to about eighteen hundred persons.
While these things were transacting in England, the war against the
Indians was prosecuted in the colony, with vigour and success. The
neighbouring hostile tribes were nearly exterminated, and were driven
entirely from the rivers, so that the settlements were extended in
safety.
In February, the general assembly was once more convened. The several
orders which had been previously made by the governor and council,
were enacted into laws; and form the oldest legislative rules of
action now remaining on record. Among them are various regulations
respecting the church of England. But the act best representing the
condition of the colonists, is a solemn declaration, "that the
governor should not impose any taxes on the colony, otherwise than by
the authority of the general assembly; and that he should not withdraw
the inhabitants from their private labour to any service of his own."
At this session, too, the privilege of exemption from arrest, while
the assembly was sitting, was extended to the burgesses. Several other
measures were adopted for the correction of abuses; and the laws of
that session, generally, are marked with that good sense and
patriotism, which are to be expected from men perfectly understanding
their own situation, and legislating for themselves.
From this assembly, the royal commissioners endeavoured, in vain, to
procure an address to the King, professing "their willingness to
submit themselves to his princely pleasure, in revoking the ancient
patents;" but a petition was agreed to and transmitted, acknowledging
their satisfaction at his having taken the plantation into his more
especial care, beseeching him to continue the then form of government,
to confirm to Virginia and the Somers isles, the sole importation of
tobacco, and soliciting that, if the promised aid of soldiers should
be granted them, the governor and assembly might have a voice in
directing their operations.
Virginia having thus become a royal government, the King issued a
special commission, appointing a governor and twelve councillors, to
whom the entire direction of the affairs of the province was
committed. No assembly was mentioned, nor was it intended to permit
the continuance of that body, for, to the popular shape of the late
system, James attributed the disasters of the colony. But some
attention to their interests, was mingled with this subversion of
political liberty. Yielding to the petitions of the English parliament
and of the colonists, he issued a proclamation prohibiting the growth
of tobacco in the kingdom, and the importation of it into England or
Ireland, except from Virginia, or the Somers isles, and in vessels
belonging to his subjects. His death prevented the completion of a
legislative code for the colony, which he had commenced, and which he
flattered himself, would remedy all the ills that had been
experienced.
[Sidenote: Charles I.]
[Sidenote: Arbitrary measures of the crown.]
{1625}
Charles I. adopted, in its full extent, the colonial system of his
father. He committed to Sir George Yeardly, whom he appointed governor
of Virginia, and to his council, the whole legislative and executive
powers of the colony, with instructions to conform exactly to orders
which should be received from him. They were empowered to make laws
and to execute them; to impose taxes, and to enforce the payment of
them; to seize the property of the late company; and to apply it to
the public use; and to transport the colonists to England, to be
punished there for crimes committed in Virginia. To complete this
hateful system, the crown exacted a monopoly of the tobacco trade, and
appointed agents, to whose management that article was entirely
committed.[38]
[Footnote 38: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith.]
{1629}
[Sidenote: Sir John Harvey.]
{1636}
The full pressure of these arbitrary regulations was not felt till Sir
John Harvey, on the Sir John death of Sir George Yeardly, was
appointed governor of Virginia. The mind of this gentleman is
represented by the historians of the day, as having been of a
structure to make even tyranny more odious. Rapacious, haughty, and
unfeeling, he exercised his powers in the most offensive manner.
Respect for his commission, suppressed opposition to his authority for
several years. Roused, at length, almost to madness by oppression, the
Virginians, in a fit of popular rage, seized their governor, and sent
him a prisoner to England, accompanied by two deputies charged with
the duty of representing their grievances, and his misconduct.
{1637}
Charles deemed it necessary to discountenance this summary and violent
proceeding, so entirely incompatible with that implicit obedience
which he had ever exacted from his subjects. The deputies of the
colony were sternly received; no inquiry appears to have been made
into the conduct of Harvey; and, early in the succeeding year, he was
sent back to Virginia, invested with all his former powers.[39]
[Footnote 39: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith.]
The time, however, approached, when a new system of administration was
to be adopted. The discontents of the nation, and his own wants,
obliged Charles to determine on convening a parliament. He was
probably unwilling to increase the ill temper resulting from his
maladministration at home, by bringing before the representatives of
the people, complaints of the despotism which had been exercised in
America.
[Sidenote: Sir William Berkeley.]
[Sidenote: Provincial assembly restored.]
To this change of circumstances may be ascribed the appointment of Sir
William Berkeley to succeed Harvey as governor of Virginia. In almost
every respect, this gentleman was unlike his predecessor. Highly
respectable for his rank and abilities, he was still more
distinguished by his integrity, by the mildness of his temper, and by
the gentleness of his manners. To complete the satisfaction of the
colonists, he was empowered and directed to summon the burgesses of
all the plantations, to meet the governor and council in the general
assembly, and thereby to restore to the people their share in the
government. These changes had such an effect in Virginia that, when
afterward informed of a petition presented in the name of the assembly
to parliament, "praying for the restoration of the ancient patents,
and corporation government," the general assembly not only transmitted
an explicit disavowal of it, but sent an address to the King,
expressing their high sense of his favour towards them, and earnestly
desiring to continue under his immediate protection. During the civil
war, as well as after the establishment of the commonwealth, they
continued firm in their attachment to the royal family.
{1650}
The House of Commons, however, having succeeded in the establishment
of its power over England, was not disposed to permit its authority to
be questioned in Virginia. An ordinance was passed, declaring that, as
the colonies were settled at the cost and by the people of England,
"they are and ought to be subordinate to, and dependent on, that
nation; and subject to such law and regulations as are or shall be
made by parliament. That in Virginia and other places, the powers of
government had been usurped by persons who had set themselves up in
opposition to the commonwealth, who were therefore denounced as rebels
and traitors; and all foreign vessels were forbidden to enter the
ports of any of the English settlements in America." As the men who
then governed were not in the habit of making empty declarations, the
council of state was empowered to send a fleet to enforce obedience to
parliament.[40]
[Footnote 40: Robertson. Chalmer.]
{1651}
Sir George Ayscue was accordingly detached with a powerful squadron,
and was instructed to endeavour, by gentle means, to bring the
colonists to obedience; but, if these failed, to use force, and to
give freedom to such servants and slaves of those who should resist,
as would serve in the troops under his command. After reducing
Barbadoes, and the other islands to submission, the squadron entered
the Chesapeak. Berkeley, having hired a few Dutch ships which were
then trading to Virginia, made a gallant resistance; but, unable long
to maintain so unequal a contest, he yielded to superior force, having
first stipulated for a general amnesty. He then withdrew to a retired
situation where, beloved and respected by the people, he resided as a
private man, until a counter revolution called him, once more, to
preside over the colony.[41]
[Footnote 41: Robertson. Chalmer.]
After the revocation of the charter, it became more easy to obtain
large grants of land. This circumstance, notwithstanding the tyranny
of the provincial government, promoted emigration, and considerably
increased the population of the colony. At the commencement of the
civil war, Virginia was supposed to contain about twenty thousand
souls.[42]
[Footnote 42: Idem.]
[Sidenote: Charles II. proclaimed in Virginia.]
While the ordinance of 1650, forbidding all trade between the colonies
and foreign nations, was dispensed with in favour of republican New
England, it was rigorously enforced against the loyal colony of
Virginia. These restrictions were the more burdensome, because England
did not then furnish a sufficient market for all the produce, nor a
supply for all the wants of the colonies. This severity was not
calculated to detach the affections of the people from the royal
family. Their discontents were cherished, too, by the great number of
cavaliers who had fled to Virginia after the total defeat of their
party in England. Taking advantage of an interregnum occasioned by the
sudden death of governor Matthews, the people resolved to throw off
their forced allegiance to the commonwealth, and called on Sir William
Berkeley to resume the government. He required only their solemn
promise to venture their lives and fortunes with him in support of
their King. This being readily given, Charles II. was proclaimed in
Virginia, before intelligence had been received of the death of
Cromwell. His restoration was soon afterwards effected in England; and
this rash measure not only escaped chastisement, but became a
meritorious service of which Virginia long boasted, and which was not
entirely forgotten by the Prince.[43]
[Footnote 43: Robertson. Chalmer.]
At the restoration, the colony contained about thirty thousand
persons.
One of the causes which, during the government of Harvey, had
disquieted Virginia, was the diminution of territory occasioned by
grants of great tracts of country lying within the limits of the
colony. The most remarkable of these was the grant of Maryland to Lord
Baltimore.
[Sidenote: Maryland.]
In June 1632, Charles I. granted to that nobleman for ever, "that
region bounded by a line drawn from Watkin's Point on Chesapeak bay,
to the ocean on the east; thence, to that part of the estuary of
Delaware on the north, which lieth under the 40th degree, where New
England is terminated; thence, in a right line, by the degree
aforesaid, to the meridian of the fountain of the Potowmac; thence,
following its course, by the farther bank to its confluence." The
territory described in this grant was denominated Maryland, and was
separated entirely from Virginia. The proprietor was empowered, with
the assent of the freemen, or their delegates, whom he was required to
assemble for that purpose, to make all laws for the government of the
new colony, not inconsistent with the laws of England. Privileges, in
other respects analogous to those given to the other colonies, were
comprised in this charter; and it is remarkable that it contains no
clause obliging the proprietary to submit the laws which might be
enacted to the King, for his approbation or dissent; nor any
reservation of the right of the crown to interfere in the government
of the province.[44]
[Footnote 44: Chalmer. Robertson.]
This is the first example of the dismemberment of a colony, and the
creation of another within its original limits, by the mere act of the
crown.
{1633}
The first migration into the new colony consisted of about two hundred
gentlemen with their adherents, chiefly Roman Catholics, who sailed
from England under Calvert, the brother of the proprietor, in
November, and, early in the following year, landed in Maryland, near
the mouth of the Potowmac. Their first effort was to conciliate the
good will of the natives, whose town they purchased, and called St.
Mary's. This measure was as wise as it was just. By obtaining the
peaceable possession of land already prepared for cultivation, the
Marylanders were enabled to raise their food immediately; and this
circumstance, together with their neighbourhood to Virginia, where the
necessaries of life were then raised in abundance, secured them from
famine and its concomitant diseases;--afflictions which had swept away
such numbers of the first settlers of North America.
The inhabitants of Virginia presented a petition against the grant to
Lord Baltimore, which was heard before the privy council in July,
1633. The decision was in favour of the continuance of the patent;
leaving to the petitioners their remedy at law. To prevent farther
differences, free commerce was permitted between the colonies; and
they were enjoined to receive no fugitives from each other; to do no
act which might bring on a war with the natives; and on all occasions
to assist each other as became fellow subjects of the same state.
{1635}
[Sidenote: Assembly of all the freemen.]
{1638}
[Sidenote: William Clayborne.]
In February 1635, the first assembly of Maryland was convened. It
appears to have been composed of the whole body of the freemen. Their
acts were, most probably, not approved by the proprietor, who
transmitted, in turn, for their consideration, a code of laws prepared
by himself. This code was laid before the assembly who rejected it
without hesitation, and prepared a body of regulations adapted to
their situation. Among these was an act of attainder against William
Clayborne, who was charged with felony and sedition, with having
exercised the powers of government within the province without
authority, and with having excited the Indians to make war on the
colony.[45]
[Footnote 45: Chalmer.]
As early as the year 1631, Charles had granted a license to William
Clayborne, one of the council and secretary of state of Virginia, "to
traffic in those parts of America for which there is already no patent
granted for sole trade." To enforce this license, Harvey, then
governor of Virginia, had granted his commission also, containing the
same powers. Under this license and commission, Clayborne made a small
settlement in the isle of Kent, near Annapolis, which he continued to
claim; and refused to submit to the jurisdiction of Maryland. Not
content with infusing his own turbulent spirit into the inhabitants of
Kent island, he scattered jealousies among the natives, and persuaded
them that "the new comers" were Spaniards, and enemies of the
Virginians. Having been indicted, and found guilty of murder, piracy,
and sedition, he fled from justice; whereupon his estate was seized
and confiscated. Clayborne loudly denounced these proceedings as
oppressive, and complained of them to his sovereign. At the same time,
he prayed for a confirmation of his former license to trade, and for a
grant of other lands adjoining the isle of Kent, with power to govern
them. The lords commissioners of the colonies, to whom this subject
was referred, determined that the lands in question belonged to Lord
Baltimore; and that no plantation, or trade with the Indians, within
the limits of his patent, ought to be allowed, without his permission.
The other complaints made by Clayborne were not deemed proper for the
interference of government.
{1639}
Hitherto, the legislature had been composed of the whole body of the
freemen. But the increase of population, and the extension of
settlements, having rendered the exercise of the sovereign power by
the people themselves intolerably burdensome, an act was passed, in
1639, "for establishing the House of Assembly." This act declared that
those elected should be called burgesses, and should supply the place
of the freemen who chose them, as do the representatives in the
Parliament of England. These burgesses, with others called by special
writ, together with the governor and secretary, were to constitute the
General Assembly; but the two branches of the legislature were to sit
in the same chamber. In 1650, this last regulation was changed; and an
act was passed declaring that those called by special writ should form
the upper house, while those chosen by the hundreds should compose the
lower house; and that bills assented to by both branches of the
legislature and by the governor, should be deemed the laws of the
province.
{1641}
Perfect harmony prevailed between the proprietor and the people; and
Maryland, attentive to its own affairs, remained in a state of
increasing prosperity until the civil war broke out in England. This
government, like that of Virginia, was attached to the royal cause;
but Clayborne, who took part with the Parliament, found means to
intrigue among the people, and to raise an insurrection in the
province. Calvert, the governor, was obliged to fly to Virginia for
protection; and the insurgents seized the reins of government. After
the suppression of this revolt, and the restoration of tranquillity,
an act of general pardon and oblivion was passed, from the benefits of
which only a few leading individuals were excepted; but this, like
most other insurrections, produced additional burdens on the people
which did not so soon pass away. A duty, for seven years, of ten
shillings on every hundred weight of tobacco exported in Dutch
bottoms, was granted to the proprietor; the one-half of which was
appropriated to satisfy claims produced by the recovery and defence of
the province.[46]
[Footnote 46: Chalmer.]
{1651}
This state of repose was disturbed by the superintending care of
Parliament. In September 1651, commissioners were appointed "for
reducing and governing the colonies within the bay of Chesapeak."
Among them was Clayborne, the evil genius of Maryland. As the
proprietor had acknowledged and submitted to the authority of
Parliament, he was permitted to govern the colony in the name of "the
keepers of the liberties of England;" but could not long retain the
possession of actual authority. The distractions of England, having
found their way into Maryland, divided the colonists; and the
commissioners supported with their countenance, the faction opposed to
the established government. The contentions generated by this state of
things, at length broke out in a civil war, which terminated in the
defeat of the governor and the Roman Catholics. A new assembly was
convened, which, being entirely under the influence of the victorious
party, passed an act declaring that none who professed the popish
religion could be protected in the province by the laws; that such as
profess faith in God by Jesus Christ, although dissenting from the
doctrine and discipline publicly held forth, should not be restrained
from the exercise of their religion, provided such liberty was not
extended to popery, or prelacy, or to such as, under the profession of
Christ, practise licentiousness. Other laws in the same spirit were
enacted; and a persecution was commenced against the Quakers, as well
as against those guilty of popery, and prelacy.
A scene of revolutionary turbulence ensued, in the course of which a
resolution was passed declaring the upper house to be useless, which
continued in force until the restoration. Philip Calvert was then
appointed governor by Lord Baltimore, and the ancient order of things
was restored. The colony, notwithstanding these commotions, continued
to flourish; and, at the restoration, its population was estimated at
twelve thousand souls.