Three Documents: The Virginia Charters Introduction: The motivation for settlers to travel to the Americas was not the intranational and international rivalries revolving around choice of religion and all-around “we’re better than you” mentality, but instead the goal for each to increase their own personal wealth. The colonists were part of the Virginia Company, which was divided into two smaller companies: London Company and Plymouth Company. The founding of Virginia marked the beginning of a second round of colonization attempts from England, as the first round of attempts in the 1570s and 1580s failed miserably. Rather than grant conquistadors the permission to claim land for them, as well as give them large sums of money for funding, the English used jointstock companies to lead settlers to the New World with the hope of profiting from this arrangement. Source One: The Charter of 1606, the first charter of Virginia, issued by the King James I of England to the Virginia Company. Purpose: The author, King James I of England, was the ruler of the English monarchy at the time the Charter was written. The Charter issued land rights to colonists that went to the Americas, called the Virginia Company, for the purpose of spreading Christianity, creating plantations, and mining for precious metals. The land rights were to the coastal region commonly called Virginia at the time, which is from modern day Canada to South Carolina. Argument: This is a formal, signed document in the form of a letter. The audience is the whole of the Virginia Company and the council members assigned to the London and Plymouth Companies. Presuppositions: During the 17th century, Europeans believed it to be normal behavior to take whatever land they came by,... ... middle of paper ... ...colonization effort. Argument: This is a formal, signed document in the form of a letter, from King James I. The audience is the whole of the Virginia Company and the council members assigned to the London and Plymouth Companies. Presuppositions: King James I assumed that the land the Native Americans possessed would be easily handed over, and given to a king they did not know or respect; and that, not only could they take this land, but they had every right to do that and enslave the natives on their plantations. Today, this would not have been allowed, and laws against trespassing, as well as state and nation border security, would prevent even an attempt at it. Epistemology: My knowledge of this document comes from reading this document. It also comes from reading the textbook assigned to my History class, as well as my professor’s lectures and class discussions.
The first of many documents to address these contradictions is Document 3, focusing on James Otis. In Otis’ perspective, he noticed that the colonists based their authoritative rights on the belief that all human beings were born with natural rights. Otis states reasons as to why there is no reason for Africans
More than half of American goods produced for export went to Great Britain, and acts were in effect that gave England more control over colonial exports (Navigation Acts and White Pines Acts are two examples). However, the West Indies played a vital role in preserving American credit in Europe, illustrating that Americans had developed economic differences that distinguished them from the British. They were able to trade with other places throughout the world, not just England. Without the source of income from the West Indies, colonists wouldn’t have been able to pay for manufactured items they purchased in the mother country. An expanding coastal and overland trade also brought colonists of different backgrounds into more frequent contact. Ships that sailed between New England and South Carolina, and between Virginia and Pennsylvania, provided dispersed Americans with a means to exchange ideas and experiences on a more regular basis, which represents both a social and economic difference from the British. Thus, the Americans of the eighteenth century tried to create a society that mirrored the English society they had known. In doing so, they were exposed to a world of ideas, leading them to develop some of their own. These ideas allowed for the development of social and economic differences, which distinguished them from the British and allowed them to develop an “American” cultural
In King James I’s The First Charter of Virginia; April 10, 1606, he wrote “And they shall and may begin their said first Plantation and Habitation, at any Place upon the said-Coast of Virginia or America, where they shall think fit and convenient” “And shall and may inhabit and remain there.” He guaranteed the soon-to-be
Throughout the history of mankind, numerous events such as the Crusades, have occurred in the name of religion and religious freedom. Sadly, motivation for the early settlers coming to America wasn’t strictly about finding religious freedom. It was actually deeply rooted in the desire for economic growth and new trade opportunities. The New world presented itself as an opportunity for many to gain higher social economic status and growth in their business ventures. A number of known historical facts, including: hunger for new trade, poverty of many English inhabitants, and the rivalry between Spain and England, contributed and fostered the foundation and settling of the American Colonies.
Before 1700, Great Britain had limited interest in American colonization. Virginia was the first territory in America to be claimed by the British. In the 1550’s, the island of Newfoundland was chartered as a colony. Sir Walter Raleigh founded the first settlement on Roanoke Island. He claimed in the queen’s honor the majority of North America, and named this region after Queen Elizabeth, “The Virgin Queen.” The queen considered the Roanoke colony largely a failure and refused to invest more into the colony. King James I, the successor to Queen Elizabeth, established two companies in in Virginia in 1607, each with large claims to the eastern coast. The Virginia Companies as they were called, were limited to the Atlantic coast and extended inland for 100 miles. “The Virginia Company of London was granted a southern tract from Cape Fear to Long Island Sound… The Virginia Company of Plymouth was granted a northern tract extending from Assateague Island to Passamaquoddy Bay, Maine”
In the 17th Century, over 700,000 people traversed the Atlantic to reach the English colonies located in North America as well as the Caribbean. England in particular sent out various groups to the eastern coast of North America to two regions of Chesapeake and New England. Even though the two would, later on, be bonded into one nation in the 1700s, it was apparent that the two had separate and unique identities from the start. These differences can be explained by one major factor - the motivation or reason why the settlers traversed into the New World.
As colonial America started to settle in, towns and counties were developing and causing conflict. The early colonial American settlers that “the bulk of the emigrants came voluntarily, and more often than not they were the most “vivid people” of England, those with energy and courage to make a new start in life” (Hawke, 1). To Hawke’s point that the early colonist faced hardships, was when they encountered the Native Americans. This was one of the reasons why colonial Americans were encountering new ways of life, that what they were taught and knew about Europe had to be disregard...
Both the colony of Massachusetts and Virginia were founded by companies looking to make money off the New World, but the founding of Massachusetts was motivated more by religious goals and family dynamics. Erin Bonuso, author of “Colliding Cultures”,
During the late 16th century and into the 17th century, European nations rapidly colonized the newly discovered Americas. England in particular sent out numerous groups to the eastern coast of North America to two regions. These two regions were known as the Chesapeake and the New England areas. Later, in the late 1700's, these two areas would bond to become one nation. Yet from the very beginnings, both had very separate and unique identities. These differences, though very numerous, spurred from one major factor: the very reason the settlers came to the New World. This affected the colonies in literally every way, including economically, socially, and politically.
In the sixteenth century, England was one of the most powerful countries in the world. England was also in dire need of money at this time. In an effort to alleviate the country’s financial burdens, King Henry VIII decided to seize land owned by the Catholic Church. Henry then sold the already inhabited land to investors, and its residents were forced out. These people and their descendants would eventually become some of the fortune-seeking colonists that would settle America during England’s try at Imperialism.
First of all, the author used little quotes and evidence to prove his point. He did manage to prove that England was lazy and that there was a lack of information, otherwise the other did little to prove his point in the way of evidence. Not only that but the other only used Jamestown as evidence even when referring to the whole of Virginia. The author never mentioned Plymouth colony once as evidence despite the fact that the Plymouth colony thrived without slaves, which the author says was the cause for the survival of Virginia. Furthermore, the author failed to cite the charter for Virginia. The King owned the charter for Virginia and leased it out to other companies as opposed to the charters for other colonies where they were owned by a specific company, group of people, or person, such as Pennsylvania or Rhode Island. This is stated at the beginning of the charter where it says, ‘King James’ … ‘to make Habitation, Plantation, and to deduce a colony of sundry of our People into that part of America commonly called VIRGINIA, and other parts and Territories in America, either appertaining unto us, or which are not now actually possessed by any Christian Prince or People, situate, lying, and being all along the Sea Coasts, between four and thirty Degrees of Northerly Latitude from the Equinoctial Line, and five and forty Degrees of the same Latitude, and in the main Land between the same four and thirty and five and forty Degrees, and the Islands "hereunto adjacent, or within one hundred Miles of the Coast thereof;’ This paragraph in the charter sets out what land the charter encompasses and who owns it, namely King James. This means that the money to fund the expeditions came from a public source, and thus, had a blank check. This blank check mentality is not mentioned at all. The Author failed to make a convincing case for his
In “From Notes on the State of Virginia,” Thomas Jefferson includes some proposed alterations to the Virginia Laws and discusses some differences between blacks and whites. First, he describes one of the proposed revisions regarding slavery: All slaves born after the enactment of the alteration will be freed; they will live with their parents till a certain age, then be nurtured at public disbursement and sent out of state to form their own colonies such that intermarrying and conflicts can be avoided between blacks and whites. Next, Jefferson indicates some physical differences between blacks and whites, including skin color, hair, amount of exudates secreted by kidneys and glands, level of transpiration, structure in the pulmonary organ, amount of sleep, and calmness when facing dangers. As he notes, these differences point out that blacks are inferior to whites in terms of their bodies. In addition, Jefferson also asserts that the blacks’ reasoning and imagination are much inferior to the whites’ after he observes some of the art work and writings from the blacks. As a result, based on his observation, he draws a conclusion that whites are superior to blacks in terms of both body and mind. However, Jefferson’s use of hasty generalization, begging the question, and insulting language in his analysis is a huge flaw which ruins the credibility of his argument and offenses his readers.
On the 26th day of April, 1607, three small ships - Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery - passed between Cape Charles and Cape Henry into the Chesapeake Bay for the purpose of founding a permanent colony in the land called Virginia. Captain Christopher Newport and the other voyagers took seventeen days to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of that region for such an undertaking(Carrier, 7).
In the 17th century, England was late when it came to the colonization of the new world. Which went through many changes before it was able to test the waters, forming the first settlements in the mid-Atlantic, Virginia. Under the guise of a noble mission given to them by King James I, the Virginia Company funded the first Colonies in Virginia. Years later, after perfecting their skills at surviving this new land, colonies in the south, Carolina were formed. These two regions both had their share of challenges, but they overcame them in different ways. Each had a method of doing things by force or from trial and error. The world in 1606 was very different than the world of today, but this is a story based on the
When the first American settlement on Roanoke Island was established in 1585 it’s primary force, Sir Walter Raleigh, had no idea that this “New World” would evolve into one of the most powerful voices in the modern world. But before it developed it would have to shaped by it’s founders from the Western world. Two of the largest voices in America’s early development are John Smith, who with a group of English merchants, hoped to get rich in this new land, and William Bradford, a puritan farmer who was one of the most influential men involved with the Mayflower compact. In their two pieces they both convey America as a place to escape but fail to reach many other similar conclusions on what America was like at this time.