| |
| 2. Virginia |
| 1584 |
| |
| Sir Walter Raleigh, under patent, sent out Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlow to establish a colony. They landed on Roanoke Island and named the country Virginia. Supply ships were sent out in 1586 but they found the colony deserted, the colonists having been taken back to England by Drake. | 1 |
| |
| 1587 |
| |
| Another party of colonists was sent out, under Governor John White. Upon his return in 1591, White found only ruins of the colony. | 2 |
| |
| 1602–6 |
| |
| A number of voyages were made to America, the most important having been that of George Weymouth in 1604. Weymouth visited the New England coast, and his favorable report did much to stimulate the desire to establish further colonies. | 3 |
| |
| 1606, April |
| |
| A group of London men was given a charter to organize the London Company, with the object of colonizing the region between 34° and 41° north latitude. Another group, composed of Plymouth, Bristol, and Exeter men, was chartered as the Plymouth Company, to operate between 38° and 45° north latitude. The London Company at once sent out (Dec. 1606) three ships with 120 colonists, under command of Captain Christopher Newport. | 4 |
| |
| 1607, May |
| |
| FOUNDING OF JAMESTOWN COLONY at the mouth of the James River. The colony was held together largely through the efforts of Captain John Smith. Of 120 Englishmen who founded the colony, only 35 survived by year's end. Over the next decade, between half and two-thirds of all newcomers died within a year of settlement. | 5 |
| |
| 1609 |
| |
| The London Company was enlarged and given a new charter that vested the government in a council with power to appoint its own officers. | 6 |
| |
| 1610 |
| |
| Divine, Moral, and Martial Laws enacted. Prescribed military-like discipline for workers and imposed the death sentence for “slander” against the company. | 7 |
| |
| 1610–11 |
| |
| The Virginia Company had sent 1,200 indentured servants to Jamestown but fewer than half remained. | 8 |
| |
| 1610, May |
| |
| Captain Newport arrived with 400 more colonists and with Lord Delaware, the new governor. Delaware left again in 1611 but remained governor until his death in 1619. Sir Thomas Dale was left in command of the colony and ruled with an iron hand. | 9 |
| |
| 1612 |
| |
| Beginning of the cultivation of tobacco, which was to play a vital part in the economic and social life of the colony. | 10 |
| |
| 1612 |
| |
| Third charter of the London Company. The Bermuda Islands were included in its jurisdiction. | 11 |
| |
| |
