A London joint-stock company of merchants and adventurers, or
speculators, established the first permanent English colony in
America, on the coast of Virginia, in 1607, at a place which they
called Jamestown, in honor of the King. (See map facing p. 222.) The
colony was wholly under the control of the Crown.
The religion was to be that of the Church of England. Most of those
who went out were described as "gentlemen," that is, persons not
brought up to manual labor. Fortunately the eneergy and determined
courage of Captain John Smith, who was the real soul of the
enterprise, saved it from miserable failure.
Negro slavery, which in those days touched no man's conscience, was
introduced, and by its means great quantities of tobacco were raised
for export. The settlement grew in population and wealth, and at the
end of twelve years (1619) it had secured the privilege of making its
own local laws, thus becoming practically a self-governing community.