Change in domestic policy.

Marriage of Pocahontas.

A great want.

sober, industrious men, and their arrival gave great joy to the four hundred colonists at Jamestown. Gates assumed the functions of governor, and Dale went up the river to plant new settlements at the mouth of the Appomattox and near the Falls.1

25. A wise change in the domestic policy was now made. Hitherto the land had been worked in common, and the product of labor was deposited in public storehouses, for the good of the community. The industrious created food for the indolent, and an incentive to effort was wanting. It was found in the assignment of a few acres of land to each man, to be cultivated for his own private benefit. This regulation gave a powerful impulse to industry. Larger assignments were made, and soon the community system was abandoned, and industry on private account created an ample supply of food for all.2 26. The London Company obtained a third charter in 1612 [March 22] by which the control of the king was annulled. The Supreme Council was abolished and the whole company, sitting as a democratic assembly, elected the officers and ordained the laws, for the colony. Yet no political privilege was granted to the settlers. They had no voice in the choice of rulers and the enactment of laws. But they were contented; and at the beginning of 1613 there were a thousand Englishmen in Virginia.

27. At about this time an event occurred which proved of permanent benefit to the settlement. Powhatan had continued to manifest hostile feelings ever since the departure of Smith. Under pretense of extorting advantageous terms of peace from the Indian king, Captain Argall (a sort of buccaneer),* at the head of a foraging party, stole Pocahontas, and carried her on board his vessel. There a mutual attachment grew up between the maiden and John Rolfe, a young Englishman of good family. He instructed her in letters and religion; and, with the consent of Powhatan, she received the rite of Christian baptism, and became the wife of Rolfe in April, 1613. This union brought peace, and Powhatan was ever afterward the friend of the English.

28. The settlement now prospered remarkably, yet the elements of a permanent state were wanting. There were no families in Virginia, and all the settlers indulged in anticipations of returning to England. Gates went home in March, 1614, leaving the administration of government with Sir Thomas Dale, who ruled with wisdom and energy for about two years, and then departed, after appointing George Yeardley deputy-governor. During Yeardley's administration, the culture of the tobacco plant was promoted, and so

1. Near the present City Point and Richmond.

2. A similar result was seen in the operations of the Plymouth colony. See verse 5, page 92. 3. Verse 7, page 9.

4. Note 9, page 44. 5. This plant, yet very extensively cultivated in Virginia and adjoining States, was first discovered by Sir Francis Drake, near Tabaco, in Yucatan: hence its name. Drake and Raleigh first introduced it into England. King James conceived a great hatred of it, and wrote a treatise against its use. He forbade its cultivation in England, but could not prevent its importation from Virginia. It became a very profitable article of commerce, and the streets of Jamestown were planted with it. Other agricultural productions QUESTIONS.-25. What change took place in the domestic policy of the settlement? 6. What was the character of the third charter obtained by the London Company? What was the condition and number of the settlers in 1613? 27. What event favorable to the settlers now occurred? 28. What element of a permanent State was yet wanting? What kind of industry was encouraged by Governor Yeardley, and what was the result?

Dawn of Republicanism.

First Representative Assembly in America.

rapidly did it gain in favor, that it soon became not only the principal article of export, but the currency of the colony.'

2

3

29. Argall the buccaneer, was appointed deputy-governor in 1617. He was a despot in feelings and practice, and soon disgusted the people. He was succeeded by Yeardley, who was appointed governor in 1619; and now dawned the natal morning of Virginia as a Republican State. Yeardley abolished martial law, released the planters from feudal service to the colony, and established representative government. The settlement was divided into eleven boroughs, and two representatives, called burgesses, were chosen by the people for each. These, with the governor and council, constituted the colonial government. The burgesses were allowed to debate all matters pertaining to the good of the colony, but their enactments were not legal until sanctioned by the company in England.

30. On the 28th of June, 1619, the first representative assembly ever convened in America, met at Jamestown. Then and there, the foundations of the VIRGINIA Commonwealth were laid. The people now began to regard Virginia as their home, and "fell to building houses and planting corn." Within two years afterward, one hundred and fifty reputable young women were sent over to become wives to the planters. The tribes of gold-seekers and "gentlemen" were extinct, for "it was not the will of God that the new State should be formed of such material; that such men should be the fathers of a progeny born on the American soil, who were one day to assert American liberty by their eloquence, and defend it by their valor.”

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116

SECTION II.

NEW-YORK. [1609-1623.]

1. On his return to England [Nov. 1609], Henry Hudson forwarded to his employers in Amsterdam,' a brilliant account of his discoveries in America. Jealous of the maritime enterprise and growing power of the Dutch, the British king would not allow Hudson to go to Holland, fearing that he might be employed in making further discoveries, or in planting settlements in America. This narrow and selfish policy of James was of no avail, for the ocean pathway to new and fertile regions, once opened, could easily be traversed by inferior navigators.

were neglected, and while cargoes of tobacco were preparing for England, the necessaries of life were wanting. The money value of tobacco was about 66 cents a pound. 1. Note 5, page 55. 2. Note 9, page 44. 3. Verse 19, page 53. 4. Yeardley found the people possessed with an intense desire for that freedom which the English constitntion gave to every subject of the realm, and it was impossible to reconcile that feeling with the exercise of the arbitrary power which had hitherto prevailed. He, therefore, framed a plan for a popular assembly as similar to the English Parliament as circumstances would allow.

5. Verse 3, page 82.

QUESTIONS.-29. What was the character of Argall? What did Yeardley do for the benefit of the settlers! 30. What important events occurred in Virginia in 1619? What other important events occurred soon afterward? What appeared to be the designs of Providence? 1. What did Hudson do? What did King James do?

Dutch traders in America.

Founding of New Netherland.

2. In 1610, some wealthy merchants of Amsterdam, directors of the Dutch East India Company,' sent a ship from the Texel, laden with merchandise, to traffic for furs and peltries with the Indians upon the Mauritius, as the present Hudson river was then called. Hudson's ship (the Half-Moon3) was also sent hither the same year on a like errand, and others soon followed. Among other commanders came Adrian Block, the first navigator of the dangerous strait in the East river called Hell-Gate. Block's vessel was accidentally burned in the Autumn of 1613, when he and his companions erected some rude huts for shelter, near the site of Bowling Green, in New York. These huts formed the germ of our great commercial metropolis. During the winter they constructed a vessel from timber upon Manhattan Island, and early in the spring sailed along the coast to Nahant.

3. Dutch trading vessels now frequently ascended the Mauritius, and a brisk trade was opened with the Indian tribes, almost two hundred miles from the ocean. The traders built a fort and storehouse upon a little island just below Albany [1614], which they called Fort Nassau; and nine years later, Fort Orange was erected on the site of Albany.

4. In the autumn of 1614 [October 11], a special charter was granted to a company of Amsterdam merchants, giving them the monopoly of trade in the New World, from the latitude of Cape May to that of Nova Scotia, for three years. The territory was named NEW NETHERLAND in the charter, which title it held until it became an English province in 1664. Notwithstanding it was included in the grant of James to the Plymouth Company, the Dutch were not disturbed in their traffic.

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5. The trade in furs and peltries became very lucrative, and the company made an unsuccessful application for a renewal of their charter. More extensive operations were in contemplation; and in 1621 [June 3], the States General of Holland' incorporated the Dutch West India Company, and invested it with almost regal powers, for planting settlements in America from Cape Horn to Newfoundland; and in Africa, between the Cape of Good Hope and the Tropic of Cancer. The special object of its enterprise was New Netherland, and especially the region of the Mauritius. The company was not completely organized until the spring of 1623, when it commenced operations with vigor.

LAND.

6. The first effort put forth by the company was to SEAL OF NEW NETHERplant a permanent colony, and thus establish a plausible pretext for territorial jurisdiction, for now the English had built rude cabins on the shores of Massachusetts Bay. In April [1623] thirty families, chiefly

1. Note 4, page 45.

4. Verse 12, page 115.

2. So named from Prince Maurice, of Nassau.

6. See Brodhead's History of the State of New York: Appendix E.

7. Note 6, page 45.

3. Verse 31, page 45. 5. Verse 7, page 49.

8. Verse 13, page 63.

QUESTIONS.-2. What occurred on Manhattan island? 3. What did the Dutch traders now do? 4. How was a new territory formed, and what was its name? What is said of the quiet enjoyed by the Dutch? 5. What did the government of Holland do?

Explorations of the New England coast.

Captain Smith in New England.

Walloons (French Protestants who had fled to Holland), arrived, under the charge of Cornelius Jacobsen May, who was sent to reside in New Netherland, as first director, or governor. Eight of the families went up Hudson's river, and settled at Albany; the remainder chose their place of abode across the channel of the East river, and settled upon lands now covered by the eastern portion of Brooklyn.' Then were planted the fruitful seeds of a Dutch colony-then were laid the foundations of the future commonwealth of NEW YORK. The territory was erected into a province, and the armorial distinction of a count was granted.3

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1. The PLYMOUTH COMPANY' dispatched an agent to examine North Virginia, soon after obtaining their charter [August 22, 1606]. His vessel was captured by a Spanish cruiser. Another, commanded by Martin Pring, was sent, and reached America. Pring confirmed the accounts of Gosnold and others, concerning the beauty and fertility of the New England region. The following year [1607] George Popham came, with one hundred immigrants, and landing at the mouth of the Sagadahoc or Kennebeck [August 21], they erected a small stockade, a storehouse, and a few huts. All but forty-five returned to England in the vessels; these remained, and named their settlement St. George. A terrible winter ensued. Fire consumed their storehouse and some of their provisions; and the keen frosts and deep snows locked the waters and the forests against the fisherman and hunter. Famine menaced them, but relief came before any were made victims. Of all the company, only Popham, their president, died. Lacking courage to brave the perils of the wilderness, the settlement was abandoned, and the immigrants went back to England [1608] at the very time when the Frenchmen, who were to build Quebec,' were upon the ocean. Traffic with the Indian tribes was continued, but settlements were not again attempted for several years.

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2. The interior of the country, now called NEW ENGLAND, was an unknown land, until Captain John Smith, with the mind of a philosopher and the cour

1. The first white child born in New Netherland was Sarah Rapelje, daughter of one of the Walloon settlers. Her birth occurred on the 7th of June, 1625. She has a number of descendants on Long Island. 2. Verse 1, page 111

3. Several hundred years ago there were large districts of country in England and on the continent, governed by earls, who were subject to the crown, however. These districts were called counties, and the name is still retained, even in the United States, and indicates certain judicial and other jurisdiction. New Netherland was constituted a county of Holland, having all the individual privileges appertaining to an earldom, or separate government. The armorial distinction of an earl, or count, was a kind of cap, called coronet, seen over the shield in the engraved representation, page 57, of the seal of New Netherland. The figure of a beaver, on the shield, is emblematic of the Hudson river regions, where they abounded, and of one of the grand objects of settlement here, the trade in furs. 4. Verse 7, page 49. 7. Verse 10, page 38. 8. The celebrated Lord Bacon and others fitted out an expedition to Newfoundland in 1610, but it was unsuccessful.

5. Verse 28, page 44.

6. Note 2, page 49.

QUESTIONS.-6. What did the Dutch West India Company do? What emigrants went to New Netherland, and where did they settle? 1. What did the Plymouth Company attempt? What circumstances attended their first efforts at settlement?

New England named.

A new company.

Its material unfavorable.

age of a hero, came in 1614, and explored not only the coasts, but the rivers which penetrated the wilderness. With only eight men, Smith examined the region beyond Cape Cod and the Penobscot, constructed a map of the country, and after an absence of less than seven months, he returned to England, and laid a report before Prince Charles, the heir-apparent to the throne. The delighted prince confirmed the title which Smith had given to the territory delineated on the map, and it was named NEW ENGLAND. Crime, as usual, dimmed the luster of the discovery. Hunt, commander of one of the vessels of the expedition, kidnapped twenty-seven of the Indians, with Squanto,1 their chief, took them to Spain, and sold some of them into slavery." And now, at various points from Florida to Newfoundland, men-stealers of different nations, had planted the seeds of hatred and distrust, whose fruits, in after years, were wars and complicated troubles.

3

3. The following year the Plymonth Company employed Smith to make further explorations in America, and to plant a colony. He sailed on the 4th of July, 1615, but his vessel was captured by a French pirate, and himself and crew were taken to France. Smith escaped to England in an open boat, and aroused the sluggish energies of the Plymouth Company and others, who planned vast schemes of colonization, and made him admiral for life. Eager for gains, some of the members, joining with others, applied for a new charter. The king, after much delay, granted one on the 3d of November, 1620, to forty of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the realm, who assumed the corporate title of THE COUNCIL OF PLYMOUTH, and superseded the original PLYMOUTH COMPANY. The vast domain of more than a million of square miles, lying between the 40th and 48th degree of north latitude, and westward to the South Sea, was conveyed to them, as absolute owners of the soil. It was the finest portion of the continent, and now embraces the most flourishing States and Territories of our confederacy.

4. This vast monopoly was unpropitious, in all its elements, to the founding of an empire. It was composed of speculators and mercenary adventurers, and these were not permitted to people this land. The same year when that monopoly was formed [1620], a company of devout men and women in Holland, who had been driven from England by persecution, came to the wilderness of the New World to erect a tabernacle, where they might worship the Great God in honest simplicity and freedom, and to plant in the wilderness the foundation of a commonwealth, based upon truth and justice. Who were they? Let History answer.

5. Because the Pope of Rome would not sanction one of the most flagrant of his social crimes, Henry the Eighth of England defied the authority of the

1. Verse 2, page 90.

2. When some benevolent friars heard of Hunt's intentions, they took all the Indians not yet sold, to instruct them as missionaries. Among them was Squanto. 3. Verse 20, page 33; also note 4, page 36; verse 8, page 37. 4. Verse 7, page 49. 5. Verse 17, page 32. QUESTIONS.-2. What did Captain Smith accomplish in 1614? How came our eastern States to be called New England? What outrage did one of Smith's commanders perpetrate? 3. What did Smith attempt, and what befell him? What change in the Plymouth Company was effected? 4. What was the charac ter of the new Company? What other people came to America?