Various events in the latter years of the sixteenth century did much
to shape the future destiny of the English nation. With the
destruction of the Spanish Armada in 1588, England rose from a minor
position in world affairs to one of major importance. One of the
first changes was reflected in her attitude towards trade and
commerce. England was no longer penned up on her "tight little isle,"
and her ships could sail the high seas in comparative safety.
Expansion of her foreign trade seemed the only answer to her
ambitions, but foreign trade required a two way transfer of products.
In order to sell goods, it was necessary to buy in exchange. World
commerce had already become well stabilized among friendly nations
making it difficult for outside businessmen to share in these
established commitments. So England was soon to direct her attentions
toward America.
It was with eyes focused on future trade that the businessmen who
composed the London Company contributed the huge sums that were
required to finance the settlement at Jamestown, Virginia.
Agriculture was not of prime importance. At that time England was
self-sufficient so far as the production of grains and livestock was
concerned. Ordinary farm products would not pay the cost of
transportation across the ocean. Of course, it was expected that the
colonists would eventually produce their own food stuffs; however,
until that stage of development occurred it was expected that the
London Company would supply the needs of the colony direct from
England.
The men of the first expedition were not farmers and took little
interest in farming. A good many came, hoping to share in riches,
that their imagination had created. Fantastic tales about the
Americas had been circulated in Europe during the century following
their discovery. The most authentic of these foreign travel journals
had been translated into English and published around the turn of the
sixteenth century. Reports also of rich prizes, laden with gold,
captured on the Spanish Main by English privateers, had inflamed the
English mind. If the Spaniards could find such vast treasures in
America, why should not the English do the same?
Then too, as the first colony of Virginia lay between 34 and 41
degrees north-latitude, the same approximately as Italy and Spain, it
was expected that the much desired warm weather products enjoyed by
the Mediterranean people, such as oranges, lemons, sugar, and spices
could be produced equally as well in America. Jamestown eventually
contributed great financial benefits to the Mother Country from
agricultural accomplishments. These benefits could not in 1607 be
visualized. To understand the vicissitudes which beset the colonists
in the early years of the settlement, one should be familiar with the
agricultural practices of both the Old World and the New, for it was
by combining the farming wisdom of both sides of the Atlantic into a
new agriculture, that the colony became firmly established.