JAMESTOWN
Jamestown was the first settlement of Virginia Colony, in 1607; England's first permanent settlement
The name Virginia was applied to the entire territory to be claimed by England along the Atlantic coast of North America. It was bounded by France to the north and Spain to the south and covered nearly 800 miles between the 34th and 54th parallel.
James I granted a charter in 1606; the stockholders were divided into two subcompanies: the London Company and the Plymouth Company.
The London Company sent an expedition to establish a settlement in the Virginia Colony in December 1606. The expedition included three ships which departed Blackwall with 105 men and boys and 39 crew members (no women).
By April 6, 1607, Godspeed, Susan Constant, and Discovery arrived in Puerto Rico. By the end of April the expedition reached the southern edge of the mouth of what is now known as the Chesapeake Bay. One of the original passengers had died, so 104 settlers arrived at their chosen spot of settlement in Virginia.
The Cape Henry Memorial commemorates the first landfall at Cape Henry in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where the settlers landed on April 26, 1607, when they explored the area, named the cape, and set up a cross before proceeding up the James River. (Both the River and the settlement were named in honor of King James I.)
Chaplain Robert Hunt made the following declaration:
We do hereby dedicate this Land, and ourselves, to reach the People within these shores with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to raise up Godly generations after us, and with these generations take the Kingdom of God to all the earth. May this Covenant of Dedication remain to all generations, as long as this earth remains. May all who see this Cross, remember what we have done here, and may those who come here to inhabit join us in this Covenant and in this most noble work that the Holy Scriptures may be fulfilled.
* Map of Virginia (1606-1608) from The Story of American Democracy, Political and Industrial, 1922.
JAMESTOWN TIMELINE
From charter granted to Virginia Company (1606) to designation as capital of the Royal Colony (1624)
- 1606 - King James I of England grants a charter to the Virginia Company; settlers were to search for gold and silver as well as a water route across North America to the Pacific Ocean
- 1606 - The Susan Constant, the Discovery, and the Godspeed leave England; Christopher Newport was selected captain given his fame for capturing Spanish ships and his knowledge of the Atlantic Ocean. Passengers included both gentlemen and workers and ranged from 27 to 56 years old with an average age of 40 (not including the four teenagers)
- 1606/1607 - The ships arrive in the Canary Islands to buy food
- February 1607 - Edward Brookes dies in the West Indies, likely of heatstroke
- April 1607 - The ships arrive in Chesapeake Bay
- Late April 1607 - Newport and his men were greeted by five members of the Kecoughtan tribe who led the smaller group of settlers to their village where the settlers shared corn bread, watched a dance, and gave away glass beads
- May 1607 - The colonists decide to build the settlement; said settlement is attacked by Paspahegh warriors who claimed the peninsula as part of their hunting territory; one by was killed and twelve others wounded - the attack ended only when sailors fired cannons from the ship and frightened the attackers
- June 1607 - Colonists finish building a fort with needed fortifications; they built the fort in a triangle shape with a half-moon platform for cannons at each corner
- June 1607 - Christopher Newport sails back to England
- Late Summer 1607 - Nearly half of colonists die from fevers and illness; the rivers and creeks were brackish and malaria was transmitted by mosquitoes who found breeding grounds in the area's marshes
- Late Summer 1607 - John Smith begins trading for corn with the Algonquin tribes
- December 1607 - John Smith is captured and taken to meet Powhatan; his life is spared due to the actions of Powhatan's daughter, Pocahontas
- January 1608 - John Smith returns to Jamestown
- January 1608 - Christopher Newport returns from England with supplies and new settlers
- January 1608 - A fire destroys most of Jamestown
- April 1608 - Christopher Newport sails back to England
- April 1608 - A second supply ship brings forty new settlers to Jamestown
- June 1608 - James Smith leaves Jamestown to explore the Chesapeake Bay
- September 1608 - John Smith elected President of Jamestown Council
- October 1608 - Christopher Newport arrives in Jamestown with new settlers, including two women
- June 1609 - The Sea Venture, Falcon, Diamond, Swallow, Unity, Blessing, Lion, and two smaller ships leave England; one of the passengers on the Sea Venture is Stephen Hopkins who is later a passenger on the Mayflower
- July 24, 1609 - The fleet is struck by a tempest and wrecks in Bermuda
- August 1609 - 450 new settlers arrive in Jamestown (not from Bermuda ships)
- September 1609 - John Smith leaves for England
- Winter 1609/1610 - Many colonists die during the "Starving Time"
- May 10, 1610 - Ships leave Bermuda for Jamestown; at their arrival on May 24, 1610 they find only 60 colonists alive
- June 7, 1610 - Surviving settlers plan to abandon colony but meet a ship with news that three new shiploads and provisions are on their way to Jamestown; fortunately they had not burned the town (as had been threatened) when leaving
- 1613/1614 - Tobacco farms are established when smoking became the rage in London after Virginia tobacco's 1612 introduction, saving the colony financially
- April 1614 - John Rolfe marries Pocahontas, sparking a truce between Powhatan and the settlers
- 1618 - King Powhatan dies
- 1619 - More than 20 Africans are brought to Jamestown to meet tobacco labor demands
- 1624 - Virginia becomes a royal colony with Jamestown as its capital
Image of the Susan Constant from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/831617887420267842/