1666-1675.
Plot discovered--Miscellaneous Matters--England at war with
the Dutch--The Plague in London--Tobacco--Forts--Cessation of
planting Tobacco for one year--Drummond's Petition rejected--
Baptism of Slaves--Tributary Indians--Batt's Expedition--The
Algonquin Tribes--The Powhatan Confederacy--Convicts sent to
Virginia--Legislative Acts.
THE Northern colonies appear at this time to have been styled the "Dutch
Plantations."[263:A] The persecution of the dissenters, the restrictions
imposed upon commerce by the navigation act, the low price of tobacco,
and high price of imported goods, so inflamed the discontents of the
poor people as to give rise to a plot, which was well-nigh resulting in
tragical effects in 1663. The conspiracy was attributed to certain
Cromwellian soldiers, who had been sent out to Virginia as servants; but
the real grounds and true character of it can now hardly be ascertained.
The plot was discovered only the night before that appointed for its
execution, (the assembly being then in session,) by one of the
conspirators named Birkenhead, a servant to Mr. Smith, of Purton, in
Gloucester County. Poplar Spring, near that place, was the appointed
rendezvous. As soon as the information reached Sir William Berkley, who
was then at his residence, Green Spring, he issued secret orders to a
party of militia, to meet at Poplar Spring, and anticipate the outbreak.
Only a few were taken, of whom four were hanged. Birkenhead was
rewarded[263:B] with his freedom and five thousand pounds of tobacco;
Beverley[263:C] makes the reward two hundred pounds sterling. The
thirteenth of September, the day fixed for the execution of the plot,
was set apart by the assembly as an anniversary thanksgiving. The news
of this affair being transmitted to the king, he sent orders for the
building of a fort at Jamestown; but the Virginians thinking that the
danger had blown over, only erected a battery of some small pieces of
cannon.
The Indian chief of Potomac, and other northern werowances and mangais,
were required to give hostages of their children and others, who were to
be kindly treated and instructed in English, as far as practicable.
Measures were taken to bring Indian murderers to justice, especially the
hostile Doeggs. The chief of Potomac was inhibited from holding any
matchacomico, or council, with any strange tribe, before the delivery of
hostages.
John Bland, a London merchant, and brother of Theodoric Bland, a leading
man in Virginia, received the thanks of the assembly for goods advanced
for the use of the colony. In this year, 1663, a conference was held, by
royal command, at Mr. Aleston's, at Wicocomico, in Virginia, in May, by
commissioners appointed by Governor Berkley, and Charles Calvert,
Governor of Maryland, for the purpose of devising means of improving the
staple of tobacco. The Virginia commissioners were Thomas Ludwell,
secretary, Richard Lee, John Carter, Robert Smith, and Henry Corbin. The
Maryland commissioners were Philip Calvert, Henry Sewall, secretary,
Edward Koydes, and Henry Coursey. They recommended that in the year 1664
no tobacco should be planted after the twentieth day of June.
In 1665 further acts were passed to prevent the depredations of Indians.
If a white should be murdered, the nearest Indian town was held
responsible; the Indian werowances to be in future appointed by the
governor; colonists to go armed to church, court, and other public
meetings; Indians south of the James River, not to cross a line
extending from the head of Blackwater River to the Appomattox Indian
town, (probably where Petersburg now stands,) and thence across to the
Mannakin town.
In the year 1665 Charles the Second, instigated by France, engaged in an
unprovoked war with Holland, the object being mainly to strike a blow at
the Protestant interest.[264:A] During the same year the plague raged in
London, the victims for some time perishing at the rate of ten thousand
weekly. In this fatal year Secretary Bennet, a plausible man, of good
address, but mediocre capacity, was made Lord Arlington. The English
monopolizing laws now reduced the condition of the planters of Virginia
so low, that they proposed to discontinue the planting of tobacco for
one year, so as to enhance the price of it; and an act was passed
preparatory to a "stint or cessation." To render this remedy effectual,
it appeared necessary to obtain the co-operation of the colonies of
Maryland and North Carolina. For some years it was found impracticable
to effect this object, and in the mean time, in order to prevent
Virginia from receiving any supplies, save those sent from England, and
also for defence against the Dutch, the king sent directions that forts
should be built on the rivers, and that ships should lie under them, and
that those places alone should be ports of trade. These instructions
were obeyed for a year; breast-works were erected at places appointed by
the assembly, and the shipping lay at them for a time; but the great
fire and plague occurring in London at this juncture, rendered their
supplies very uncertain, and the fear of the plague being brought over
with the goods imported, prevented the people from living at those
ports, and thus all were again at liberty.[265:A]
The Virginia planters supposed that by lessening the quantity of
tobacco, called a "stint," they would improve the quality and enhance
the price of it. The merchants, to whom the planters were indebted, were
favorable to a stint; but although they would certainly be benefited by
its operation, yet they were apparently not willing to abate any part of
their claims against their debtors. The nett proceeds derived from the
sale of the staple were barely enough to furnish the planters with
clothing. As some remedy for this state of things, the legislature
ordered looms and work-houses to be set in operation at the charge of
each county. Bounties were again offered for encouragement of the
raising of silk, and measures were adopted to foster the culture of flax
and hemp.
In the year 1666, while London was desolated by fire and depopulated by
the plague, war added her horrors. A government imbecile and corrupt, a
court frivolous and debauched, darkened the shadows of the gloomy
picture. The English colonies shared in the miseries of the mother
country. It is remarkable that a book published in England many years
before contained a prediction that the year 1666 would be the very
climax of public disaster.[266:A] It was not unreasonable to conclude,
that the wickedness of men had been directly avenged by a visitation of
Heaven. Evelyn[266:B] says: "These judgments we highly deserved for our
prodigious ingratitude, burning lusts, dissolute court, profane and
abominable lives."
The assembly met in September, 1664, by prorogation from the preceding
September--a compendious mode of dispensing with the popular election.
However, in act vi., the assembly, declaring that the principal end of
their coming together was to provide for the people's safety, and to
redress their grievances, ordered that in future due notice of the
convening of the burgesses should be given to the people by publication
in the parish churches, so that they may then make known their
grievances. The act for a "cessation" passed in June, 1666, commanded
that no tobacco should be planted between the 1st of February, 1667, and
the 1st of February, 1668.[266:C] The governor of Carolina at this time,
and the first governor of that province, was William Drummond, a native
of Scotland.
Similar acts were passed by Maryland and Carolina, but the latter
province, owing to trouble with the Indians, not having given formal
notice by the day agreed upon, Maryland availed herself of the
informality to decline enforcing the cessation. Thus, as has been before
mentioned, action was long delayed. Virginia, nevertheless, adhering to
the scheme, again, at the session of October of the same year, confirmed
her former act, and by dint of negotiation it was finally consummated.
The County of Stafford is mentioned in this year for the first time,
and it was now represented by a burgess, Colonel Henry Mees.
The petition of William Drum, probably a misprint for Drummond,
concerning a grant of land in what was commonly called "the governor's
land," in the main reserve, was rejected, the house being of opinion
that such grants appertained only to the governor and council. The
assembly asserted their right to assess the levy without the
interposition of the governor and council; and Sir William Berkley
assented to this decision; the sincerity of the terms in which he
expressed his willing acquiescence may well be doubted.
The Dutch about this time appear to have surprised several vessels,
laden with tobacco, in the James River; and it was determined to erect
several forts: one on James River, one on Nansemond River, one on York
River at Tindall's Point, (now Gloucester Point,) one on the
Rappahannock at Corotoman, and one on the Potomac at Yeohocomico.
It was declared that baptism did not exempt slaves from bondage. As the
reducing of negroes to slavery was justified on the ground that they
were heathens, so the opinion prevailed among some that when they ceased
to be heathens they were, by the very fact, released from slavery.
In 1668, peace being restored, vessels were relieved from the necessity
of anchoring under the forts. The war with the Dutch, unjustly commenced
by the English, ended very disgracefully to them. A day of humiliation
was appointed, and all persons were required to attend the parish
churches, "with fasting and prayers, to implore God's mercy, and
deprecate the evils justly impending over us."
It was ordered that work-houses should be built in each county, for the
instruction of poor children in spinning, weaving, and other useful
occupations and trades. An act was passed for the "suppressing and
restraint of the exhorbitant number of ordinaries and tippling houses."
The Indians were required to bring in one hundred and forty-five wolves'
heads annually, the reward for each head being one hundred pounds of
tobacco and cask. To prevent fraud, the ears were cut off from the heads
of the wolves.[268:A]
The elective franchise was restricted, in 1670, to freeholders and
housekeepers.
Sir William Berkley sent out a company of fourteen English and as many
Indians, under Captain Henry Batt, to explore the country to the west.
Setting out from the Appomattox River, in seven days they reached the
foot of the mountains. The first ridge was not found very high or steep,
but after crossing that they encountered others that seemed to touch the
clouds, and so steep that in a day's march they could not advance more
than three miles. They came upon extensive valleys of luxuriant verdure,
abounding with turkeys, deer, elk, and buffalo, gentle and, as yet,
undisturbed by the fear of man. Grapes were seen of the size of plums.
After crossing the mountains they discovered a charming level country,
and a rivulet that flowed westward. Following this for some days, they
reached old fields and cabins recently occupied by the natives; in these
Batt left toys. Not far from the cabins, at some marshes, the Indian
guides halted and refused to go any farther, saying that not far off
dwelt a powerful tribe, that never suffered strangers, who discovered
their towns, to escape. Batt was therefore reluctantly compelled to
return. Upon receiving his report, Sir William Berkley resolved to make
an exploration himself, but his intention was frustrated by the troubles
that shortly after fell upon the country.[269:A] Beverley alone gives an
account of Batt's explorations, leaving the date of it uncertain between
1666 and 1676. Burk dates it in 1667.
The Algonquin tribes are said to have been included within lines
extending from Cape Hatteras to the head of the Mississippi, and thence
eastward to the coast north of Newfoundland, and thence along the
Atlantic shore to the cape first mentioned.[269:B] The bulk of the
Indians within this triangle spoke various dialects of the same generic
language.
The thirty tribes of Indians comprised within the Powhatan confederacy,
south of the Potomac, at the time of the landing at Jamestown, are
conjecturally estimated at about eight thousand souls, being one to the
square mile.[269:C] The population of the mountain country was probably
sparser than that of the country east of the mountains. The number of
square miles in Virginia at the present day is upwards of sixty-five
thousand. The number of warriors belonging to the tribes tributary to
Virginia in 1669, as has been before mentioned, was seven hundred and
twenty-five, and their proportion to the entire population being
reckoned as three to ten, their aggregate number was about twenty-four
hundred. Thus in about sixty years the diminution of their numbers
amounted to about five thousand six hundred; of these, part had perished
from disease, exposure, famine, and war; the rest were driven back into
the wilderness.
In the year 1670 complaints were made to the general court by members of
the council and others, being gentlemen, of the counties of York,
Gloucester, and Middlesex, representing their apprehensions of danger
from the great number of felons, and other desperate villains, sent
hither from the prisons of England. Masters of vessels were prohibited
from landing any such convicts or jail-birds. In 1671 Captain Bristow
and Captain Walker were required to give security in the sum of one
million pounds of tobacco and cask, that Mr. Nevett should send out the
Newgate-birds within two months. Mr. Jefferson[270:A] has made the
following remark: "The malefactors sent to America were not sufficient
in number to merit enumeration as one class out of three which peopled
America. It was at a late period of their history that the practice
began. I have no book by me which enables me to point out the date of
its commencement; but I do not think the whole number sent would amount
to two thousand." And he supposed that they and their descendants did
not, in 1786, exceed four thousand, "which is little more than
one-thousandth part of the whole inhabitants." Mr. Jefferson appears to
have been mistaken in his opinion, that malefactors were not sent over
until a late period in the annals of Virginia; and he probably
underrated the number of their descendants.
The acts prohibiting the exportation of wool, hides, and iron, were
repealed, and every one was "permitted to make the best he can of his
own commodity." The preamble to the act for the naturalization of
foreigners declares, that "nothing can tend more to the advancement of a
new plantation, either to its defence or prosperity, nor nothing more
add to the glory of a prince, than being a gracious master of many
subjects; nor any better way to produce those effects than the inviting
of people of other nations to reside among us by communication of
privileges."[270:B]
In 1672 the assembly provided for the defence of the country by
rebuilding and repairing of forts. Repeated and vigorous laws were
enacted providing for the apprehension of runaways; rewards were offered
the Indians for apprehending them. A negro slave was valued at four
thousand five hundred pounds of tobacco; an Indian slave at three
thousand pounds of tobacco.
FOOTNOTES:
[263:A] Hening, ii. 188.
[263:B] Ibid., ii. 204.
[263:C] Beverley, B. i. 61.
[264:A] Evelyn's Diary, i. 391.
[265:A] Beverley, B. i. 63.
[266:A] Pepys' Diary, ii.
[266:B] Diary, ii. 17.
[266:C] The commissioners appointed to treat with Maryland and Carolina
on this subject were, of the council, Thomas Ludwell, Esq., secretary of
Virginia, Major-General Robert Smith, and Major-General Richard Bennet;
and of the burgesses, Robert Wynne, speaker, Colonel Nich. Spencer,
Captain Daniel Parke, Captain Joseph Bridger, Captain Peter Jennings,
and Mr. Thomas Ballard.
[268:A] The tributary Indians of Virginia at this period were, in
Bowmen, or Hunters.
Nansemond County 45
Surrey County { Powchay-icks 30
{ Weyenoakes 15
{ Men Heyricks 50
Charles City County { Nottoways, two towns 90
{ Appamattox 50
Henrico County { Manachees 30
{ Powhites 10
{ Pamunkeys 50
{ Chickahominies 60
New Kent County { Mattaponeys 20
{ Rappahannocks 30
{ Totas-Chees 40
Gloucester Chiskoyackes 15
{ Portobaccoes 60
Rappahanock { Nanzcattico }
{ Mattehatique } 50
Northumberland Co. Wickacomico 70
Westmoreland County Appomattox 10
---
Total 725
[269:A] Beverley, B. i. 64.
[269:B] P. W. Leland, in Hist. Mag., iii. 41.
[269:C] Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, 97; Hening, ii. 274.
[270:A] Writings of Jefferson, i. 405.
[270:B] Hening, ii. 289.