Grant to De Monts, 1603. History Leaf lets, No. 16. American The French in Acadia. Parkman's Pioneers, 245-257. 1604-14. Parkman's Pioneers, 245; *Win Illustrative Material. Mrs. Austin's Standish of Standish and other stories; Hawthorne's Grandfather's Chair; Mrs. Child's Hobomok; Mrs. Cheney's Peep at the Pilgrims; Motley's Merry Mount; M. E. Wilkins's Adventures of Ann; Dix's Soldier Rigdale; Longfellow's Miles Standish; Whittier's Cassandra Southwick and other poems; Bynner's Penelope's Suitors; Drake's New England Legends; * Lowell's Among My Books (“New England Two Centuries Ago"); Irving's Knickerbocker History; Paulding's Dutchman's Fireside and other stories; Stedman's Peter Stuyvesant's New Year's Call; Kennedy's Rob of the Bowl; Cooke's Stories of the Old Dominion; Eggleston's Pocahontas and Powhatan; Caruthers's Cavaliers of Virginia. COLONIZATION, 1600-1660 35. The French in Acadia and Canada. The French were the first to take advantage of the growing weakness of the Spanish monarchy, for Ralegh was no longer in a position to carry out his far-reaching plans. The sudden activity of France, however, was more especially due to the desire of her great ruler, Henry IV, to establish a French colonial empire. In 1603 he granted a commission to Sieur de Monts, appointing him Lieutenant General of Acadia, with authority to colonize lands "extending from the fortieth to the forty-sixth degree," or from Philadelphia to Halifax. In 1604 De Monts led a band of colonists to the Bay of Fundy and settled on an island in the mouth of the St. Croix River. The site was not a good one, and the colony was moved to the eastern side of the bay. Champlain's A remarkable figure among these colonists was Champlain, explorations, a great explorer, a good draughtsman, a graceful writer, and an excellent observer. Instead of remaining quietly on the shores of the Bay of Fundy, he voyaged along the coast as far west and south as Plymouth harbor; he called it Port St. Louis, and made a map of it which is of value at the present time. A few years later, he founded the town of Quebec (1608), and discovered Lake Champlain (1609) and Lake Huron (1615). The French settlements were seized by the English between 1609 and 1629, but they were restored to France by the Treaty of St. Germain in 1632. sor's Cartier; Higginson's Explorers, 269-278. 1603] The Virginia Company 51 The French colonies grew very slowly; at the end of the Treaty of St. century (1699) there were not one thousand French settlers Germain, living south of the St. Lawrence River. 36. Revival of English Enter 1632. American lets, No. 16, p. 10. voyage, 1602. Winsor's America, prise. The last part of the sixteenth century was a time of great social unrest in England. Large numbers of persons were obliged to seek their livelihoods in new and untried directions. All eyes were turned to foreign lands, where the daring voyages of Drake and his companions had revealed to Englishmen the achievements of the Portuguese, the Spaniards, and the Dutch. Three voyages made Gosnold's to the New England coast attracted attention to that part of the continent and led to a great scheme of colonization. The first of these voyages was that of Bartholomew Gosnold. III, 172; Leaving England in March, 1602, he reached the New Higginson's Explorers, England coast, built a trading house on one of the Elizabeth 203-213. Islands, filled his vessel's hold with a valuable cargo, and returned safely to England before the end of the following July. His goods were at once seized by Ralegh. In 1603 Martin Pring visited Plymouth harbor, which he named. Whitson Bay; he too returned with a valuable cargo. The Weymouth's voyage which attracted most attention, however, was that voyage, 1605. of George Weymouth to the coast of Maine in 1605. He America, returned home with the most encouraging accounts of a III, 174; climate well suited to nutmegs and tropical plants, -he Higginson's Explorers, was there in the summer, and he also reported that the signs of gold were abundant. 37. The Virginia Company, 1606.- Meantime Ralegh had fallen under the displeasure of the new king, James I. His property was seized and Virginia was taken from him. In 1606 James granted the first Virginia charter. In this Winsor's 213-221. Limits of 1606. Hins- document Virginia was defined as extending from the thirtyfourth to the forty-fifth degree of north latitude; or from the Cape Fear River to the Bay of Fundy. The members of the corporation formed under this charter resided in or near London, and also in the southwestern part of England in Leaflets, No. the vicinity of Plymouth in Devonshire. The company was divided into two subcompanies corresponding to this geographical division among its members: to the Londoners 72; Ameri can History 16, p. 3. First settle- Maine, 1607. Ontar ATLANTIC OCEAN the king gave the sole right to colonize the territory between thirty-four and thirty-eight degrees of north latitude, or between the Cape Fear and Potomac rivers; to the Plymouth men he gave a similar right to plant colonies between forty-one and forty-five degrees of north latitude or between the Hudson River and the Bay of Fundy. The intervening region, stretching from the thirtyeighth to the forty-first degree of north latitude, was left open to whichever of the two companies should first colonize it; but it was provided that neither company could plant a colony within one hundred miles of a settlement already made by the other. This singular arrangement was devised, to use the words of the charter, "for the more speedy accomplishment of their said intended plantation;" but the provision led to nothing of the kind. 34 Virginia, 1606 -35 38. The Popham Colony, 1607. - Sir John Popham, Chief Justice of England, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, and the Gilberts were the leading members of the Plymouth Company, or subcompany, to be more accurate. On May 31, 1607, a fleet under George Popham, brother of the Chief Justice, plorers, 222- and Ralegh Gilbert sailed for the coast of what is now the state of Maine. They landed at the mouth of the Kenne America, III, 175: Higgin son's Ex 225. 1607] The Jamestown Colony 53 bec, built a fort, and explored the country. They found no gold; the natives proved unfriendly; and the winter was severe beyond anything they had ever conceived. They seized the first opportunity to abandon the enterprise and returned home in the following spring (1608). 39. The Jamestown Colony, 1607. — The London Com- The London pany had promptly made preparations to colonize the Company. southern portion of Virginia. Its treasurer or chief executive officer was an energetic business man, Sir Thomas Virginia, 1607. Win sor's America, III, 127– Smith; among its leading members were Sir Thomas Gates Founding of and Lord de la Warr. The first colonists left the Thames in midwinter, 1606-7; in the following spring they reached the capes of the Chesapeake, which they named for the two sons of King James, - Cape Henry and Cape Charles. They began their settlement on the southernmost of the rivers which flow into the bay, calling it the James River, while to their village they gave the name of Jamestown. Their trials and adventures, and the heroism displayed by 231-265. 137; *Hart's Contemporaries, I, Nos. 62, 63; Higginson's Explorers, Relation in American lets, No. 27. the members of this little band, can be best understood by a perusal of the quaint account of the most capable man Smith's True amongst them, Captain John Smith. His True Relation, which was printed in 1608, may be read with confidence, if History Leaf- one bears in mind the conceit of its author. The site of the settlement proved to be a poor one; of the one hundred and five original settlers, fifty were dead within six months. The company expected immediate profit; this led to ceaseless explorations for gold, to the neglect of agriculture. Furthermore, the colony was on a military basis, — each man's labor was for the common benefit, and each man was fed out of a common store. There was no spur to laborious exertion, and discipline, which alone could take the place of self-interest, was almost entirely lacking. Starvation and disease more than once threatened to break up the settlement. New charter, 1609. this charter. Hinsdale's Old North American 40. The Virginia Charters of 1609 and 1612. — In 1609 the king granted a new charter to the London group of the original Virginia Company; the new corporation was given more authority over its colonists, and the limits of its territory were defined, though vaguely. These were now to be two hundred miles from Point Comfort (the Old Point Limits under Comfort of the present day) in either direction along the coast, "and all that space and circuit of land, lying from the seacoast of the precinct aforesaid, up into the land west, 73-78; throughout from sea to sea, west and northwest." The interpretation of this latter provision gave much trouble in later days which line should be run westward and which northwestward? If the northern line were run westward and the southern line northwestward, Virginia would be triangular in shape (a). As the northern limit and the western direction were first mentioned in the respective clauses of the charter, it might easily be argued that this was the intention of the king; but on the other side it could be urged that in case the lines were drawn in this way Virginia would not extend from "sea to sea," as the charter expressly provided. To accomplish that object, the History Leaflets, No. 16, P. 5. |