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[Illustration: U. S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, March 3, 1849]
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Stewart L. Udall, _Secretary_
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Conrad L. Wirth, _Director_
_HISTORICAL HANDBOOK NUMBER TWO_
This publication is one of a series of handbooks describing the
historical and archeological areas in the National Park System
administered by the National Park Service of the United States
Department of the Interior. It is printed by the Government Printing
Office and may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents,
Washington 25, D. C. Price 25 cents.
Jamestown, Virginia
THE TOWNSITE AND ITS STORY
_By Charles E. Hatch, Jr._
[Illustration: _The Seal of “His Majesties Council of Virginia”_]
The National Park Service
cooperating with
The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE HISTORICAL HANDBOOK SERIES NO. 2
Washington, D. C., 1949 (Revised 1957)
This publication relates to Jamestown Island, Va. A portion of
Jamestown Island is included in Colonial National Historical Park and
is administered by the National Park Service of the United States
Department of the Interior. Jamestown National Historic Site, the
other portion of the island, is administered by the Association for
the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. A cooperative agreement
between the Association and the Department of the Interior has been in
effect since 1940 providing for a unified program of development for
the whole Jamestown Island area.
[Illustration: NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR]
_Contents_
_Page_
THE STORY OF JAMESTOWN 2
COLONIAL NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK 36
COLONIAL PARKWAY 36
THE STUDY OF JAMESTOWN 36
THE DEVELOPMENT OF JAMESTOWN 40
GUIDE TO THE AREA 42
HOW TO REACH JAMESTOWN 53
ABOUT YOUR VISIT 53
ADMINISTRATION 53
SUGGESTED READINGS 54
[Illustration: _The Memorial Cross at Cape Henry which marks the
approximate site of the first landing of the Jamestown colonists on
American soil, April 26, 1607._]
[Illustration: Sir Walter Raleigh.]
_Jamestown is the site of the first permanent English settlement in
America {1607}, the point at which the first representative legislative
assembly convened {1619} to set a pattern for self-government in
America, the locale of stirring events in Bacon’s Rebellion {1676-77},
and the capital of the Colony of Virginia for 92 years {1607-99}._
The first permanent settlement in America by the English at Jamestown
was a visible manifestation of the determination of that nation to
establish itself in the New World. The overthrow of Spanish seapower
during the reign of Queen Elizabeth paved the way for English
colonization ventures. Enterprising Britons had already established
their influence in India, the Near East, and Russia. Sir Walter Raleigh
had made several unsuccessful attempts to establish an enduring
settlement along the Carolina coast at Roanoke Island, events now
commemorated by Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, and Sir Humphrey
Gilbert had tried, to no avail, to make a settlement in Newfoundland.
It remained for the Virginia Company of London, under its charter of
April 10, 1606, to found the first permanent English settlement in
America. This joint stock company, a commercial organization, from its
inception assumed a national character. It was instrumental, under its
charter provisions, in guaranteeing to the settlers in the New World the
rights, freedoms, and privileges enjoyed by Englishmen at home and the
enjoyment of their customary manner of living which they adapted to
their new environment with the passage of years.
Jamestown was the site of the first settlement that grew into the Colony
of Virginia and gave heart to those men who settled the colonies that
came later. The first Virginians landed in May 1607, built houses and a
fort, planted crops, and began the struggle for the conquest of a vast
primitive land. They brought with them their church and respect for God,
maintained trial by jury and their rights as freemen, and soon were
developing representative government. All of these things are a part of
the story of Jamestown.
In the words of James Bryce, British Ambassador to the United States at
the time of the Jamestown Tercentenary, the settlement of “Jamestown was
one of the great events in the history of the world—an event to be
compared for its momentous consequences with the overthrow of the
Persian Empire by Alexander; with the destruction of Carthage by Rome;
with the conquest of Gaul by Clovis; with the taking of Constantinople
by the Turks—one might almost say with the discovery of America by
Columbus.” Here was born the great English-speaking nation beyond the
seas, of which Gilbert and Raleigh had dreamed; and here was the cradle
of our Republican institutions and liberties.
_The Story of Jamestown_
On May 13, 1607, three small English ships approached Jamestown Island
in Virginia—the _Susan Constant_ of 100 tons commanded by Capt.
Christopher Newport and carrying 71 persons; the _Godspeed_ of 40 tons
commanded by Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold and carrying 52 persons; and the
_Discovery_, a pinnace, of 20 tons under Capt. John Ratcliffe, carrying
21 persons. During the day (as George Percy, one of the party on board,
relates) they maneuvered the ships so close to the shore that they were
“moored to the Trees in six fathom [of] water.” The next day, May 14, he
continues, “we landed all our men, which were set to worke about the
fortification, others some to watch and ward as it was convenient.”
Thus, the first permanent English settlement in America was begun on the
shores of the James River, in Virginia, about 20 years after the
ill-fated attempts to establish a colony on Roanoke Island and 13 years
before the Pilgrims made their historic landing at Plymouth, in New
England.
THE ENGLISH BACKGROUND.
The settlement at Jamestown, in 1607, was another step, albeit a most
significant step, in England’s quest for a place in the vast New World
first indicated by Columbus in his discovery of 1492 and made known to
Europe through his and other expeditions. King Henry VII of England
early sought to establish a claim in North America and sponsored the now
famous voyage of John and Sebastian Cabot in 1497. The Cabots touched
points along the Atlantic coast, and their discoveries were ever
afterward pointed to with pride by Englishmen discussing their rights in
the New World. As William Strachey wrote, in 1612, “... our voyages
hither for a while might seeme to lye slumbering, yet our tytle could
not thereby out sleepe ytself...”. Despite this, England was occupied at
home and in Europe and did not press this advantage. Spain took the lead
in colonial settlement and held it for decades. How many Englishmen set
foot on the North American continent in the first three-quarters of the
16th century may never be known. They were no strangers in the fishing
waters off Newfoundland, and in this region there appear to have been
landings and temporary settlements. Even so, serious attempts at
colonization did not begin until the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and then
it was pushed vigorously by men of the mark of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Sir
Walter Raleigh, and their associates.
Sir Humphrey lost his life in 1583 when returning from his attempted
settlement of St. John’s Port, Newfoundland. Sir Walter Raleigh
diligently sought to establish the English flag to the south. He sent
out two colonial expeditions to found a settlement on Roanoke Island in
present eastern North Carolina. Both failed in their over-all purpose.
It was the expedition of 1587 (the last) which set sail for the
Chesapeake Bay country and landed on Roanoke Island that has come down
to us as the “Lost Colony”—the settlement that saw the birth of Virginia
Dare and that left the baffling inscription suggesting that the members
of the colony moved, willingly or unwillingly, to be with the Croatan
Indians who lived not far from Roanoke. The early men at Jamestown knew
of their countrymen who were lost in America and were under orders to
seek them. This they did, but their search went unrewarded.
By 1600, England was readying herself for a concerted drive to establish
colonies in the New World. The way had been prepared by the far-sighted
Queen Elizabeth and her supporters. Within England there had been
growth; capital had accumulated; industry was taking root; commercial
organization was beginning; and Englishmen were ready for new
adventures. Outwardly, England had grown through its naval successes and
had developed a keen hostility to Spain. Individual Englishmen, each
depending on his own circumstances, were seeking more profitable
employment, personal freedom (particularly religious liberty), land
ownership, personal advancement, adventure, and just plain change. A new
England was in the making and the British Empire was about to rise in
the West and in the Orient as well. With the accession of James I to the
English throne, peace was made with Spain, a peace that was maintained
although it was an uneasy one—from time to time little more than an
armed truce. Yet, because of it, English capital came out of hiding and
sought profitable investment. Business development increased and joint
stock companies began to organize for overseas settlement.
Colonization was expensive, however, and required the pooled resources
of many men. Advertising, which reached a peak early in the 17th
century, was put to work in a manner that would do credit to the present
day. Its use in commerce and government is by no means of recent date.
Spokesmen—speakers, writers, poets, pamphleteers, playwrights, and
preachers—solicited all England to take part in these new endeavors
which, in their words, gave every assurance of profitable return.
The exploits of men such as Raleigh and Gilbert, Martin Frobisher,
Michael Lok, John Davis, Thomas Cavendish, Sir Francis Drake, and Sir
John Hawkins had already made England conscious of the potentialities of
the New World and of the need to seek a part of it. Others followed
these earlier leaders. In 1602 Raleigh sent yet another ship under
Samuel Mace to seek the lost settlers of Roanoke, and in the same year a
vessel went out under Bartholomew Gosnold who attempted a settlement on
Elizabeth’s Island in present Massachusetts. Gosnold and another in this
party, Gabriel Archer, were to become prominent later in the Jamestown
settlement. In 1603, Martin Pring made a voyage along the northern part
of Virginia. In 1605, came the expedition under George Weymouth to the
Kennebec River on the New England coast. He spent some weeks here and
returned to England carrying with him several Indian natives from that
region.
On April 10, 1606, the first Virginia charter received the great seal of
England. This document recognized two groups and two spheres of
influence that would fall between the thirty-fourth and forty-fifth
parallels of north latitude along the American coast. One was interested
in North Virginia and was granted to Thomas Hanham, Raleigh Gilbert,
William Parker, George Popham, and others of and for Plymouth and other
English places. This group was first in the field with exploration,
dispatching a ship in August 1606 under Henry Challons. In May 1607,
they sent a colony to the mouth of the Kennebec in Maine, but, in the
spring of 1608, after a severe winter, the settlement was given up.
The second group, organized under the charter of 1606, was that
interested in south Virginia. This patent went to Sir Thomas Gates, Sir
George Somers, Richard Hakluyt, Edward Maria Wingfield, and others of
and for the city of London. The treasurer of the group was Sir Thomas
Smith, one of the most capable businessmen of the day. Richard Hakluyt,
the foremost authority on travel, foreign regions, and colonization in
general, assembled helpful data and had a large part in the preparation
of instructions and orders for those to be sent out as colonists. It was
this group and their associates that organized, financed, and directed
the expedition that reached Jamestown on May 13, 1607, and saw to it
that supplies came through and reinforcements were procured in the lean
years of the settlement.
The immediate and long-range reasons for the settlement were many and,
perhaps, thoroughly mixed. Profit and exploitation of the country were
expected, for, after all, this was a business enterprise and they were
necessary for long-range activity. A permanent settlement was the
objective. Support, financial and popular, came from a cross section of
English life. It seems obvious from accounts and papers of the period
that it was generally thought that Virginia was being settled for the
glory of God, for the honor of the King, for the welfare of England, and
for the advancement of the Company and its individual members. In
England and in Virginia they expected and did carry the word of God to
the natives, although not with the same verve as the Spanish. They
expected to develop natural resources, to free the mother country from
dependence on European states, to strengthen their navy, and to increase
national wealth and power. They expected to be a thorn in the side of
the Spanish Empire; in fact, they hoped one day to challenge and
overshadow that empire. They sought to find the answer to agricultural
unemployment at home. They sought many things, not the least of them
being gold, silver, and land. As the men stepped ashore on Jamestown
Island, perhaps each had a slightly different view of why he was there,
yet some one or a combination of these motives was probably the reason.