Jamestown

Jamestown  is generally considered to be the oldest successful English settlement in America. It was founded on May 14, 1607 as a business venture of the Virginia Company in London. The intent in establishing the James Town colony appears to have been a combination of two interests. The first was from the King of England, King James I, who issued the first charter to the Virginia Company. He was interested in discovering gold, finding a new water route to the Orient, and promoting the Anglican religion among the native people. The second interest was in commercial development of the new world by exporting goods from America. This was funded by private investors in the form of stocks issued by the Virginia Company to attract private investors.

Initially, the Virginia Company was solely responsible for the welfare and government of the colony, providing government leadership and supplies from England.

When you walk among the ruins at the original Jamestown site, or even the interpretative center, it's difficult to imagine that whoever was actually responsible for putting this expedition together was serious about its success. Certainly, no one knew the difficulty that was involved in establishing a stronghold in a primitive world. The original group consisted of 104 men and boys, but 29 of those men were listed as “gentlemen” on the ship's roster. There were also 6 leaders, 1 preacher, 1 drummer, among others. Considering that 103 people actually arrived in the new world (one passenger's body turned up in the Caribbean), it would appear that there were only about 62 men out of the original compliment that were available to work! Based on written journals from John Smith, about half of the colonists were gentlemen, and therefore not suited for work in the wilderness. When John Smith was elected “president” of the governing council, he immediately initiated a “no work, no food” policy, which proved to be unpopular among the non-working gentlemen in the group. In fairness to the Virginia Company, it was never envisioned that the colony would be self sufficient. Rather, it was thought that the colony would receive regular supply shipments from England in exchange for exported goods, and food would be traded for with the locals.