Everything about The Virginia Company totally explained
The
Virginia Company refers collectively to a pair of
English joint stock companies chartered by
James I in
1606 with the purposes of establishing settlements on the coast of
North America. The two companies, called the "Virginia Company of London" (or the
London Company) and the "Virginia Company of Plymouth" (or
Plymouth Company) operated with identical charters but with differing territories. An area of overlapping territory was created. Within the area of overlap, the two companies were not permitted to establish colonies within one hundred miles of each other. The Plymouth Company never fulfilled its charter and its territory that later became New England was then also claimed by France.
The charters of the companies called for a local council for each, but with ultimate authority residing with the King through the Council of Virginia in England.
The Plymouth Company
The Plymouth Company was permitted to establish settlement(s) between the 38th parallel and the 45th parallel (roughly between the upper reaches of the
Chesapeake Bay and the current
U.S.-
Canada border)
On
August 13,
1607, the Plymouth Company established the
Popham Colony along the
Kennebec River in present day
Maine. However, it was abandoned after about 1 year, and the Plymouth Colony became inactive.
With the religious
pilgrims who arrived aboard the
Mayflower, a successor company to the Plymouth Company eventually established a permanent settlement in
Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620 in what is now
New England.
The London Company
By the terms of the charter, the London Company was permitted to establish a colony of 100 miles square between the 34th parallel and the 41st parallel (approximately between
Cape Fear and
Long Island Sound), and also owned a large portion of Atlantic Ocean and inland
Canada.
On
May 14,
1607, the London Company established the
Jamestown Settlement about 40 miles inland along the
James River, a major tributary of the
Chesapeake Bay in present-day
Virginia. The future of the settlement at Jamestown was precarious for its first 5 years. The president of the third Jamestown Council,
Captain John Smith, was both a strong leader and a good
diplomat who was able to form a positive relationship with the
Native Americans.
In 1609, a new charter was granted to the London Company to add the territory of the Plymouth Company. Also in 1609, a much larger
Third Supply mission was organized. Rushed into service without the customary
sea trials, the new purpose-built ship, the
Sea Venture, became
flagship of the fleet of 9 ships, with most of the leaders, food, and supplies aboard. Notable persons aboard the
Sea Venture included the Admiral of the fleet,
George Somers, Vice-Admiral
Christopher Newport, the new governor for the Virginia Colony, Sir
Thomas Gates, future author
William Strachey, and businessman
John Rolfe with his pregnant wife.
The Third Supply convoy encountered a massive storm believed to have been a
hurricane which lasted three days and separated them. The
Sea Venture was leaking sea water through its new caulking, and Admiral George Somers had it driven aground on a reef to avoid sinking, saving 150 men and women, and several dogs, but destroying their ship.
The uninhabited
archipelago was officially named "
The Somers Isles" after Admiral Somers, though was known as Bermuda. From salvaged parts of the
Sea Venture, the survivors built two smaller vessels,
Deliverance and
Patience. 10 months later they continued on to Jamestown, leaving several men behind on the archipelago to establish possession of it. Arriving at Jamestown on May 23, 1610, they found that over 80% of the 600 colonists had perished during what became known as the
"starving time". The Bermuda survivors had anticipated finding a thriving colony at Jamestown and had brought little food or supplies with them. The colonists at Jamestown were saved only the timely arrival of a supply mission headed by
Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, better known as "Lord Delaware", less than 3 weeks later.
In 1612, The London Company's Royal Charter was officially extended to include The Somers Isles as part of the
Virginia Colony in
1612. However, in
1615, the isles passed to a separate company, the
Somers Isles Company, which had been formed by the same shareholders as the London Company.
To the disappointment of its investors, the Virginia Company of London failed to discover
gold or
silver in Virginia. However, the company did establish trade of various types. The biggest trade breakthrough came when colonist John Rolfe introduced several sweeter strains of
tobacco from the Caribbean (rather than the harsh-tasting kind native to Virginia). Rolfe's new tobacco strains led to a strong
export for the London Company and other early English colonies, and helped balance a trade deficit with Spain.
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