GOVERNOR DALE. 55 council, and thus became head of the government of Jamestown. His rule was an encouragement to the industrious, but a terror to the lazy. Those who tried to live without working soon found that they must also try that harder thing—to live without eating. But the captain's term of office was short, for he met with a fearful accident that made it necessary for him to return to England. He never revisited the colony. After he had gone, the Indians began depredations. They had looked up to Smith as a superior being, and when they wanted rain used to beg him to pray for it for them. Now, they did not hesitate to rob and murder the settlers. Everything went to rack and ruin. Sickness and famine set in. In six months only sixty persons were left out of five hundred. A ship came, bringing more colonists and some supplies; but matters looked so discouraging that it was resolved to abandon the country, and go back to England. Some of the settlers, when they left, were for setting fire to Jamestown, but fortunately that was not done. None shed a tear on going; for, it was said, "none had enjoyed one happy day" there. 51. Lord Delaware; the New Charter; Governor Dale; the Great Reform. The settlers had actually embarked, when they met Lord Delaware coming up the river with a fleet from England. Delaware made the settlers turn back. He came out as governor under a new charter1 which gave him the entire control of the colony. He had the power of ruling by military law, and could hang a man, without a jury to decide his guilt. Lord Delaware soon resigned, and was succeeded by Governor Dale. He was a stern old soldier, determined to preserve order. If a colonist talked against his regulations, the governor had a hole bored through his tongue: that kept him quiet for a while. 1 This second charter (1609) gave the London Company the entire control of the colony. They appointed a governor to act for them. Virginia was declared by this charter to extend 200 miles north of Point Comfort, and the same distance south. Westward it reached to the Pacific, and included all islands within 100 miles of either coast. If a man refused to go to church, he was put on short allowance of victuals, and whipped every day until he repented. He was a But the new governor was not simply a tyrant. person of excellent judgment, and really sought the welfare of the colony. He practically abolished the old system of living out of the public storehouse. To every settler he gave a small piece of land, and allowed him a certain number of days in the year to work on it for himself. From this time a new spirit animated the community. Up to this year the laborer had been discouraged, for, no matter how hard he toiled, he had nothing he could call his own. Now, owing to the governor's wise provision, every man could look with pride on his little garden, and say, " This is mine." That feeling gave him heart; before, he had worked in silence; now, he whistled while he worked. Before, he had not cared much whether he had the right to vote or not; but now that he was a property-holder, he wanted that right. 52. What Tobacco did for Virginia. — In 1612 John Rolfe, the husband of Pocahontas, began the systematic cultivation of tobacco.3 In the course of a few years it came to be the greatest industry in Virginia. At one time even the streets of Jamestown were planted with it. It took the place of money, and clergymen and public officers received their salaries in it. Before this, America had practically nothing to export. With tobacco, commerce began; for Europe would buy all the colonists could raise. King James denounced the use of the plant as "loathsome," "hateful," and "dangerous"; but the English people filled their 1 See Paragraph 46, No. 2 of the Instructions to the Colonists. 2 Later, Governor Dale induced the London Company to grant 50 acres to any settler who would clear and settle on them, and pay a trifling rent to the king. For £12 10s., or less than $63, any one could purchase 100 acres where he pleased. Whoever performed a public service to the Company or Colony was to have a grant not exceeding 2000 acres. 8 See Paragraph 29. 4 The value of the tobacco crop of the United States is now nearly $50,000,000 annually; that of cotton, the cultivation of which was begun about the same time, but not then extended, is now about $270,000,000. pipes just the same, and smoked calmly on. Then His Majesty had to content himself with laying a heavy tax on tobacco, thus making "the vile weed' help support the throne. The outlook of the colony now began to change for the better. The cultivation of tobacco had four important effects: 1. It directly encouraged the settlers to clear the land, and undertake working it on a large scale. 2. It established a regular and highly profitable trade with Europe. 3. It induced emigrants who had some money, and also industrious farmers, to come over to Virginia, and engage in the new industry. 4. It introduced the importation of negro slaves, as the cheapest means of carrying on great plantations. These plantations had a decided influence on the population. They kept it scattered; and as the Virginians did not like to be cooped up in towns, few were built. The tobacco farms were on the banks of the James or other rivers, and vessels could load at them direct for England. Hence there was no need of a port to which to carry the produce. The cultivation of tobacco - especially by unskilled slave labor-exhausted the soil, and so compelled the planters to constantly add new land to their estates, thus pushing the owners farther and farther apart from each other. One result of this separation and of the lack of towns was that neither schools nor printing presses came into existence until very late, and the mass of the people had to get their education from nature, not from books or newspapers. Another result of the want of towns was that men seldom met to discuss public matters. 53. Virginia becomes practically Self-governing; Importation of Wives. — The year 1619 was a memorable one in the history of the colony. That year Sir George Yeardley1 came over from England as governor. Acting under instructions from the London Company, he summoned a general assembly or legislature, to be elected by all the freemen of Virginia. 1 Yeardley (Yeerd❜ly). |