Collection of Acts and Ordinances of General Use.
F. R., The First Republic in America, Alexander Brown.
Gen., The Genesis of the United States, Alexander Brown.
Force, Tracts and Other Papers Relating to the Colonies in North America, Peter Force.
Nar. of Va., Narratives of Early Virginia, Lyon G. Tyler.
Va. Car., Virginia Carolorum, E. D. Neill.
Hen., The Statutes at Large, W. W. Hening.
Proceedings of Va. Co., Proceedings of the Virginia Company of London.
Cradle of Rep., The Cradle of the Republic, Lyon G. Tyler.
Bruce, Inst. Hist., Institutional History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century, P. A. Bruce.
Bruce, EC. Hist., Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century, P. A. Bruce.
Miller, The Legislature of the Province of Virginia, E. I. Miller.
P. R. O., British Public Record Office.
Stith, History of Virginia, William Stith.
Osg., American Colonies in the Seventeenth Century, H. L. Osgood.
Neill, Va. Co., History of the Virginia Company of London, E. D. Neill.
Fiske, Old Va., Old Virginia and her Neighbors, John Fiske.
Burk, History of Virginia, John Burk.
Va. Hist. Reg., Virginia Historical Register.
Beverley, History of Virginia, Robert Beverley.
Va. Mag., Virginia Magazine of History and Biography.
Wise, The Early History of the Eastern Shore of Virginia, J. C. Wise.
Southern Lit. Mess., Southern Literary Messenger.
Campbell, History of Virginia, Charles Campbell.
McD., McDonald Papers, Virginia State Library.
Jour. H. of B., Journals of the House of Burgesses. Manuscript copies in the Virginia State Library.
Justice in Virginia, Justice in Colonial Virginia, O. P. Chitwood.
Sains., Sainsbury Papers, Virginia State Library.
Mass. S. IV., Massachusetts Historical Collections, Series IV.
T. M., The Beginning, Progress and Conclusion of Bacon's Rebellion.
W. & M. Q., William and Mary Quarterly.
Inds' Pros., Indians' Proceedings.
Bac's Pros., Bacon's Proceedings.
Ing's Pros., Ingram's Proceedings.
Cotton, Our Late Troubles in Virginia, Mrs. A. Cotton.
Va. Vet., Virginia Vetusta, E. D. Neill.

CHAPTER I

The Founding of Virginia

In December, 1606, three little vessels—the Sarah Constant, the Discovery and the Goodspeed—set sail from England under Captain Christopher Newport, for the distant shores of Virginia.[1] After a long and dangerous voyage across the Atlantic the fleet, on the sixth of May, 1607, entered the Chesapeake Bay.[2] The adventurers spent several days exploring this great body of water, landing parties to investigate the nature of the shores, and to visit the Indian tribes that inhabited them. They were delighted with the "faire meddowes, ... full of flowers of divers kinds and colours", and with the "goodly tall trees" of the forests with "Fresh-waters running" between, but they had instructions not to settle near the coast, lest they should fall victims to the Spaniards.[3] So they entered the broad mouth of a river which they called the James, and made their way cautiously up into the country. On the twenty-third of May they found a peninsula in the river, which afforded a convenient landing place and was easy to defend, both from the Indians and the Spaniards. This place they called Jamestown. Landing their men, they set immediately to work building houses and erecting fortifications. Thus did the English begin their first permanent settlement in the New World.

The bold band of adventurers that came thus hopefully into this beautiful and smiling country little realized that before them lay only dangers and misfortunes. Could they have foreseen the terrible obstacles to founding a colony in this land, they would have hesitated before entering upon the enterprise.

Four things conspired to bring misfortune and disaster upon Virginia. The form of government prescribed by the King and the Company was unsuited to the infant settlement, and its defects kept the colonists for many months in turmoil and disorder. The Indians proved a constant source of danger, for they were tireless in cutting off stragglers, ambushing small parties and in destroying the crops of the white men. Famines came at frequent intervals to weaken the colonists and add to their misfortunes. But by far the most terrible scourge was the "sicknesse" that swept over Virginia year after year, leaving in its wake horrible suffering and devastation.

The charter that James I granted to the London Company served as a constitution for Virginia, for it prescribed the form of government and made regulations that none could disregard. It provided for a Council, resident in England, to which was assigned the management of the colony and the supervision of its government.[4] This body was appointed by the King and was strictly answerable to him through the Privy Council for its every act.[5] The immediate government of the colony was entrusted to a local Council, selected by the Council in England, and responsible to it. The Virginia Council exercised extraordinary powers, assuming all administrative, legislative and judicial functions, and being in no way restrained by the wishes or demands of their fellow colonists.[6] Although they were restricted by the charter and by the instructions of the Council in England, the isolation of the settlement and the turbulent spirit of the adventurers made them reckless in enforcing their own will upon the colonists. More than once they were guilty of unpardonable harshness and cruelty.

The charter did not provide for the appointment of a Governor. The nominal leadership of the colony was entrusted to a President, chosen by the local Council from among its members. This officer had no duty distinct from that of the Councillors, other than to preside at their meetings and to cast a double or deciding vote in case of deadlock.[7] He was to serve but one year and if at any time his administration proved unsatisfactory to his colleagues, they could, by a majority vote, depose him. In like manner, any Councillor that had become obnoxious could be expelled without specific charges and without trial.