The desire of gain, ambition for personal notoriety, and relief from religious or political oppression are the three important stimuli which have led to the discovery and occupancy of new territory. Each of these figured in the discovery and colonization of America. The commercial prompting predominated, since the great end to be achieved was the discovery of a shorter route to the South Sea, which would make the Indian trade more accessible. Whatever causes may have led to founding the Spanish settlements of the South, and later the Puritan settlements of New England, it is evident that the prospect of financial reward was the chief incentive which led to the settlement of that part of the American continent known as Virginia.

     The expedition of Sir Humphrey Gilbert having proved a failure, Sir Walter Raleigh—his half brother—secured the patent renewed to himself, March 26th, 1584, and sailed April 27th from the west

coast of England with two small vessels. He sailed by way of the Canaries, and reached the coast of Florida July 4th, thence northward nine days to 34° N. Latitude, and landed on Roanoke Island* at the mouth of Albemarle Sound. He entered possession in the name and right of the Virgin Queen, and planted the first Virginia colony. They found on the island deer, rabbits, and fowls. The natives brought them melons, walnuts, cucumbers, peas and grapes, together with skins, corals and pearls, which they gladly exchanged for knives, hatchets, and toys. The report of the Indians as to the beauty and wealth of the inland country was so favourable that Raleigh returned to England about the middle of September (1584) to make representation to Queen Elizabeth. She promised whatever assistance might be necessary for promoting and perfecting the Roanoke settlement. A fleet of seven ships and one hundred and eight men was prepared, which set sail June 26th (1585) under command of Sir Richard Grenville. Ralph Lane was sent as Governor, and instructed to make extensive expeditions into the mainland. These were pushed eighty miles southward to the Indian village of Secotan (in the present County of Craven, North Carolina), and 130 miles northward to the Indian village Chesapeake, on the Elizabeth River (near the present site of Norfolk).

     Raleigh arrived in midsummer and found food supplies so abundant that he provided inadequately for the next expedition, in consequence of which the colonists suffered greatly during the winter. This naturally discouraged them, and so great was their want that foul means were employed for securing food and skins from the Indians. Their enmity once aroused, they continued to harass the whites more and more. The following spring and summer failed to bring tidings or relief from England, all of which combined to make the condition more desperate. The promoters of the colony were utterly ignorant of the climatic conditions, and to this its failure is directly attributable. Sir Francis Drake, at the request of the Queen, visited the colony (August 1586) on his return from his successful expedition against the Spaniards† of the South, and so earnest were

their entreaties that he took with him to England every surviving member. This for the time dampened the zeal for colonizing Virginia, but Drake’s cargo of gold set the English merchantmen aflame with enthusiasm for finding the source of such fabulous wealth. History prepares the way. Raleigh fails to find its source in the South while on his Guiana expedition. The trade with the East Indies had been extended, and the revenues of the country increased. The war with Spain had revolutionized and enlarged commercial relations in general and the defeat of the Armada laid the bed-rock foundation for English colonization. The time was ripe for the exploitation of new schemes and enterprises. Accordingly, in 1604, the merchants, of London, Bristol, Exeter, and Plymouth organized two companies, the “London” and “Plymouth,” the business of the first to be the establishment of colonies in Virginia between 34°-38° N. Lat., and of the second the establishment of colonies between 41°-45° N. Lat. The fleet of the London Company, consisting of three vessels, sailed December 20, 1606, under the command of Captain Christopher Newport, and arrived at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, April 26th. They landed on the Cape and built a fort, naming both after Prince Henry. This was only to be used as a camp while selecting a suitable place for the establishment of the colony. The experience of the previous expedition had thoroughly convinced them that the most important essential was the ease and perfection with which the place could be protected from the attacks of the Indians. At the mouth of the largest river which had been sighted from the bay they found an island of sufficient size, connected with the mainland by a small isthmus. On this they landed May 13th, 1607, and planted the first permanent English colony in Virginia, which they named Jamestown. On the 22d of June, Captain Newport sailed for England with a cargo of sassafras and fine wood for wainscoting, the first shipment of Virginia products. Edwin I. Wingfield was appointed president, but was deposed, and succeeded by John Ratcliffe. The location proved very unhealthy, and many died. of malaria. At the end of the first year the supplies were exhausted, and the Indian raids, starvation, and disease had much reduced the disheartened ranks. Captain John Smith was the only man in the colony who could inspire the colonists to perseverance. He was equal to the task when present, but his great desire to find a river flowing into the South Sea kept him almost constantly on exploring expeditions. It is stated that he was at Jamestown but three days in three months during the summer of 1608. In September of this

year he visited the great Chief Powhatan at Werowocomoco, a village on the north bank of Pamaunke (York) River, for the purpose of delivering presents from the King. In the course of the interview he asked Powhatan about the country beyond the mountains, occupied by the powerful Monacans; and especially as to where salt water could be found in that direction. Powhatan declared with emphasis that there was no salt water beyond the mountains, and drew on the ground a map of that region. We may believe that it was very convincing to Captain Smith, as his further explorations were chiefly confined to the Chesapeake Bay and its shorter tributaries. Smith’s map of Virginia was based upon personal observations and the information supplied by Powhatan. By means of pictures he depicted the game resources, which were to the early settlers one of the important economic resources. While Smith was exploring the Tidewater country most of the Colonists at Jamestown were engaged in gathering “gold dust,” with which the return vessels were loaded; but on their arrival in England it proved to be “fool’s gold,” being nothing more than micaceous earth brought down by the streams from the crystalline rock area of Middle Virginia. The first Colonial attempts at manufacture are set forth in Smith’s address to the Royal Council of Virginia sitting in London, which message was sent by Captain Newport in 1608: “In their absence [the boats] I followed the new begun works of pitch and tar, glass, soap ashes and clap-boards.”*

     In the same message we have a reflection of the character of the colonists of this period: “When you send again [workmen], I entreat you to send but 30 carpenters, husbandmen, gardiners, fishermen, blacksmiths, masons and diggers of trees’ roots, well provided, rather than 1,000 of such as we have . . . . . . These are the causes that have kept us in Virginia from laying such a foundation as ere this might have given much better content and satisfaction; but as yet you must not look for any profitable returns.”†

     The colonists found it difficult and dangerous to get an adequate meat supply from the forests, so Gates sent his admiral, George Summers, to the Bermudas in 1609 to capture hogs, which they had seen in abundance while shipwrecked on one of the islands. During the same year sheep, horses, goats, and poultry were introduced from Europe, and the following year cattle were brought from the West Indies. The extended use of meats made salt a much-needed article, and to meet this demand Sir Thomas Dale, deputy governor of the

colony, detailed a party in 1612 from the Jamestown settlement to go to the Kingdom of Accawmacke (Accomac) to manufacture salt by boiling salt water. This first white settlement on the Eastern Shore was named Dale’s Gift, and, because of the island’s separateness from the other colonies, the Kings of England for many years addressed all of their decrees to the “faithful subjects in ye colonies of Virginia and ye Kingdom of Accawmacke.” . . It was in the same year that John Rolfe (who was married to Pocahontas in 1614) began the cultivation of tobacco. Dale always had a strong faith in the possibilities of the new country. In a letter home in 1610 he said: “Take the four best kingdoms of Europe, and put them all together, and they may no way compare with this country for commodity and goodness of soil.” It was he who abolished the system of industrial communism which had been in vogue since the formation of the colony. Each colonist was now allowed three acres for cultivation, for which he was to pay a yearly rent of 6 bushels of corn. The economic effect was magical; as a result industry and thrift began to prevail among the lawless and thriftless.

     Until 1616 lumber was the only export of the colonies, and this in small quantities, chiefly in the form of clap-boards. During the year Captain Yeardley began the extensive cultivation of tobacco* which was indigenous to the country, and generally used by the Indians. Yeardley’s predecessor Dale had enacted a law requiring that the cultivation of corn should take precedence over tobacco; but Yeardley set this at defiance, and encouraged the tobacco industry, to the neglect of all others. So great was the demand in England that, in 1619, the King placed a duty of a shilling per pound on tobacco, when the market price was only five shillings. The charter, however, called for exemption beyond 5 per cent., and settlement was effected by a compromise, in which one of the considerations was that the cultivation be forbidden in the Kingdom. In 1621, a monopoly† of the tobacco trade was granted to certain individuals, at whose request a proclamation was issued, limiting the exportation to 55,000 pounds. The close of the year showed the market to be overstocked, and the King advised the colonists to turn their attention more to the cultivation of corn and the raising of stock. To this end the tobacco crop was limited to 100 pounds per man. The introduction of slavery in 1622 fostered the tobacco industry still more, to the almost entire suppression of all others. The situation was critical, and to meet it the Assembly enacted laws authorizing

the following bounties: 2 pounds of tobacco for every pound of flax or hemp ready for the spindle; 3 pounds for every yard of linen cloth a yard wide; 5 pounds for every yard of woollen cloth made in the province; and 10 pounds for every dozen pairs of woollen or worsted stockings. The legislature of 1623 ordered all settlers to plant mulberry trees; and in 1656 an act was passed imposing a fine on every planter who failed to have one mulberry tree to every 10 acres of land in his possession, but the labour surplus was inadequate for the silk industry even if all other conditions had been favourable. Prior to 1609 Smith had established three settlements Jamestown, the seat of the colonial government; Nansemond, about 30 miles below Jamestown; and Powhatan, 6 miles below the James (Powhatan) River Falls. One hundred and twenty men were allotted to each, and the industrial operations radiated from these centres. We may feel sure that the early promoters were strongly imbued with the modern “boom” idea from the number of cities which were founded only in name—James City, Elizabeth City, Charles City, City of Henricus (Henricopolis). The agricultural development decreed the conquering of the wilderness, and the names of the imaginary cities survived as the names of counties, the City of Henricus* being changed to Henrico. A reference to the map will show that each of these counties had a water fronton at least two sides. In fact, streams constitute the political boundaries of the counties of Tidewater Virginia to an extent not to be found in any other province in the world.

     By 1624 the colony extended from the mouth of the James River to the James River Falls, with plantations on both sides, and covered most of the peninsula between the James and York Rivers (the latter known as Charles River until 1642). Almost every plantation could be directly reached by boat. Although Captain John Smith left Virginia in 1614 not to return, he predetermined the sections most favourably situated for successful occupancy by his methodic study and careful observations made during his frequent river expeditions. His economic deductions were largely based upon what he saw. The condition of the Indians gave the most reliable evidence as to the resources immediately available. He found the tribes of the Lower Potomac† and Rappahannock comfortable and surprisingly peaceable. The tribes were also far more numerous, being 34

tribes north of the Rappahannock, and only 9 on the south side.* The superior oyster fisheries of the rivers and the neighbouring Chesapeake Bay waters made possible the friendly social relations by making easy the struggle for existence. Port Royal (Caroline County) was the terminus of the oyster beds. Fishing was not good above that point, and the stony land precluded cultivation with the wooden and stone implements, as a result of which we have no record of an Indian tribe residing permanently in the region. The tribes met with in the neighbourhood of . Fredericksburg (Spottsylvania County) and Falmouth (Stafford County) were representatives of the implacable warriors of the stony interior region; which affords a striking proof of how much of the treachery and barbarity of primitive peoples is pressed upon them by the severity of the conflict for existence, in which only the strongest, shrewdest, and most daring can survive.

     The Indians of the “Northern. Neck” Country being friendly, their presence presented an additional inducement to English settlers, by reason of the profits to be realized from their trade. It was in this region that the next English settlements were founded.

     If tobacco was “king” in the James River country, the oyster may be aptly designated as queen in the “Northern Neck.”

     In the establishment of an industrial system much depends upon the forces and conditions which give rise to the initiative. The acquirement of food and clothing constitutes the first essential. This obtained, the most profitable commodity, or means of exchange, is next to receive attention. The Virginia colonists had to meet the first by hunting, fishing, the cultivation of corn, raising of livestock, and bartering with the Indians. All of the conditions precluded a surplus of food stuffs, so that these are ruled out at this stage as possible commodities for exchange. But even if they had been possible, the demand would have been so limited as to make the production unprofitable. They must produce a surplus of that for which there is a pressing demand in England to realize profitable results. What were the leading English imports? Iron and steel from Spain; copper from Sweden; wine, salt and canvas from France; silks and velvets from Italy; spices from Asia; and naval supplies, such as tar, pitch, cordage, masts and yards, from Russia and Poland. The search of the colonists for gold and copper had been futile; in 1620, iron mines were opened at the James River Falls, but abandoned because inferior; the grape was neither adapted to the climate nor soil; great difficulty was experienced in supplying the

domestic demand for salt; the silk industry was then, and has ever been impracticable, because of non-adaptability of climate and lack of labour supply; and the great cost of transporting timbers made it impossible to compete with closer markets. Virginia’s only hope, therefore, was to create a new demand, of which a surplus could be produced, for the purchase of the numerous supplies necessary to every country in the establishing stage. Fortune crowned the crisis in the introduction of tobacco. It is for this reason that tobacco has been called “king.”

     It seems timely here to inquire into the economic foundations of Virginia society, which has always been a type of Southern society, and why it so radically differed from that of New England. The social status of any differentiated society or community is fixed by the elemental habits and characteristics of the individuals comprising the group; and by the environment—the objective forces brought to bear on the subjective individual. Of these forces, the geographic conditions and the economic relations are by far the most important. Let us first inquire into the nature of the individuals. The early Virginia colonists were essentially of the English gentry on the one hand, and of the free and bond servant classes on the other, with a few who could lay claim to the nobility. This condition existed because the enterprise was primarily commercial, and, in consequence, appealed to the moneyed interests; which in turn required labour for carrying out its purposes. The promoters had neither political nor ecclesiastical grievance, and were not bound by the stress of poverty, so they adhered to their old habits, manners, tastes and styles of living, in so far as the new conditions permitted. The same strict adherence to the Church of England, and largely to the Crown, was also maintained for more than half a century. The plantation owners prospered, and increased in influence in the political arena to a position which they had found impossible in the mother country. The whole tendency was toward the establishment of large holdings. The extreme eastern coast was malarial, while further inland the climate was healthful, the soil fertile, and an abundance of game, which feature alone was very inviting to the English gentleman. England pushed slave labour into the colony as rapidly as it could be utilized. The dissolution of the Company in 1624 augmented the tendency to large estates, as its policy had been restraining in a measure, by making the landowners of two kinds the planter, who held grants of land proportionate to his contribution of money and emigrants, and the small holder, who received an allotment as remuneration for working on the Company

land during a certain period. On the dissolution no change was made in the tenure, except that the free emigrant had to go out at his own expense, and bound in an agreement to bring the land under cultivation within a certain period or forfeit the right of ownership. Under this regime the yeomanry class did not progress, for the reason that they lacked administrative ability; and having grown accustomed to routine labour and dependence, became easily discouraged under the pressure of poverty, responsibility, and the stronger external hand of the landed aristocracy. Becoming poorer, they became free servants.

     The increased prosperity of the planter prompted to a life of ease and independence. In most cases he was not even placed under the necessity of finding a market, or of concerning himself as to the ways and means of securing supplies, since foreign vessels loaded with a variety of merchandise came up to the plantation wharves to exchange their goods for, tobacco. So satisfactory were the returns of soil tillage that the manufacturing enterprises were not prosecuted assiduously, except for those which could be done at home, by way of utilizing the surplus labour. The attitude of the representative planter is vouched for in the words of Thomas Jefferson “Such is our attachment to agriculture, and such our preference for foreign manufactures that, be it wise or unwise, our people will certainly return to the raising of raw materials, and exchange them for finer manufactures than they are able to execute themselves. The political economists of Europe have established it as a principle that every state should endeavor to manufacture for itself, and this principle, like many others, we transfer to America without calculating the difference of circumstance which should produce a difference of result.”*

     I have not heard the opinion expressed, but I believe that slavery exerted a characteristic influence on Virginia society as marked as was its influence on the industrial system. It should be remembered that up to this time the great majority of those who had set the pace of a social system so individualistic as to stand out for generations as characteristic of the typical Virginian were slave owners and slave workers, and not slave traders. Most of the slaves of this larger class felt themselves not only a constituent part of the plantation, but an indispensable part; and so they were under the existing regime. This accorded to the servant a feeling of self-importance,

which found its counterpart in the personality of the master. The rich of every age are very much the same in being caterers to the recognition of the Court, the nobility, and the rich; and we may as truly add, to the humble, joyous—and in some cases worshipful—recognition of those who serve them. The latter existed in the person of the “old-fashioned darkey,” as he can never be again. The plantation equipped with a full retinue of servants and slaves felt that it was a sufficiency unto itself, which, to an extent incalculable, fostered the clannish tendency toward seclusion, and intensified the ultra-individualism of the cavalier type.

     Prior to 1688 Virginia adhered strictly to the Church of England, even to legislating against the Puritans, Quakers, and Separatists; and contested vigorously the position of the Presbyterians within her border. But while this ecclesiastical attitude had been maintained, and its power exercised, the idea of civil liberty was gaining strength in many parts. This had been brought about in part by oppressive taxation, and the indirect connection of the House of Burgesses with the Crown; but in an important sense through the influence of that prosperous, free, easy, isolated, independent life. As the civil attitude changed, the loyalty to the Established Church began to weaken. In 1696 a law was passed fixing the salary of every clergyman at 16,000 pounds of tobacco. The price so fluctuated that this made the salary quite variable. In some parishes only “Orinoco” could be raised, which was inferior to “sweet-scented.” The books of that time bear frequent reference to a promotion from an “Orinoco parish” to a “sweet-scented parish.” Where tobacco was not grown the Established Church was without representation, and it was “in the tobaccoless wilderness voices were heard of the Baptists, Quakers and less definable dissenters, who were directing the pioneer ax to the root of the established tree that protected the throne.”*

     The House of Burgesses passed an Act in 1755 enabling debtors to pay their tobacco obligations in money at the rate of 16s. 8d. per hundred pounds. The price of tobacco rose by reason of the drought, and many clergymen demanded payment in tobacco. A number of suits were instituted during the succeeding years, the final one being the appeal of Rev. John Camm to England in 1767. This case was heard before Colonel John Henry, the father of Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry had always been loyal to the Church and the Throne, but he grew so indignant over the controversies

that he flamed out in such an arraignment of the clergy as to break the authority of the Established Church, and thus became the darling of the Dissenters, the herald of the people’s rights. As a result he was ardently supported when the Stamp Act agitation arose.*

     The mountainous portion of the State was destined to produce a different type of society. We have seen how distinctly different were the characteristics of the Indians of the western part of the State (Monacans) and the eastern tribes. During the first century of Colonial history no attempt was made toward settlements in the mountains. They were not adapted to the use of slave labour, were frequented by the most treacherous Indians, and so remote from market and void of transportation facilities as to be wholly impracticable for occupation.

     The competition of slaves was very irritating to the free labourers of the East, and it was difficult to obtain small holdings, so dominant and domineering was the influence of the large owners. As a result, the bravest, strongest and most resolute of the free labourers forced their way westward and joined the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians† who were coming in large numbers to the Valley as well as to the Piedmont frontier. These were the mountaineers of the eighteenth century, but must not be confused with that class known as “poor whites,” either according to present or past acceptance of that term. It is true many of them were poor in possessions, but rich in valour, and came from the great middle class who had tired of landlord oppression in England, and slavery competition in eastern Virginia. The indolent, thriftless, lower class followed in their wake, but at a safe distance—far enough removed from the old settlements to eke out a bare existence by hunting and little work. On the mountains they remained in preference to subduing the great forests of the fertile intervening valleys, and there they are for the most part to be found to-day. In the middle of the eighteenth century the life of western Virginia compared with that of Tidewater as does the ranch life of the Rocky Mountains and the Plains with modern New England society life. From the first it was a life-and-death struggle, in which the weaklings were sure to go down. No man could stand alone, and so by ties of mutual sympathy and protection

they were united in hearty, unselfish fellowship. As a class they were clannish, and more or less superstitious; loyal in their friendships and inexorable in their hates, but brave, just, generous, and industrious. It was these iron-nerved, steel-sinewed stalwarts who formed a line of mountain outposts between the older settlements of the coast and the treacherous Indian tribes of the west. Not only did they drive the savages beyond the mountains but followed them into the plains, and broke for all time the powerful confederacy. It was also these who, in that memorable battle of King’s Mountain, turned the tide of the Revolution. They represent to-day a reserve force in the nation whose vitalizing lines are found to connect with all the throbbing centres of educational, commercial, and political activity.

     For the sake of comparison, let us question briefly why the social and industrial life of New England was so different from that of Virginia.

     In 1614 Captain John Smith made a trading expedition to that territory, at which time he changed the name from North Virginia to New England. Although his sojourn was ostensibly for purposes of trade, on his return to England he left Captain Thomas Hunt in charge of one vessel, presumably to establish a footing, looking toward a permanent settlement; but Hunt enticed 27 Indians on board and sailed with them to Malaga, where he sold them to the Spanish at 20 pounds per head. This so enraged the Indians that they resented every effort toward colonization with great vigour and extreme ferocity. If there is anything which will put a people on their mettle “to do or die,” it is an experience of exile for religious convictions; so the Puritans, many of whom had taken. refuge in Holland before the intolerable attitude of Queen Elizabeth, were best prepared to drive the wedge. It was a congregation of Independents or Brownists, the strictest sect of the Puritans, that landed from the Mayflower December 11th, 1620, and others followed in rapid succession. The first colonists were as a rule poor, not having had the opportunity to accumulate, and the wealthier and more tractable Dissenters remained in England until the venture was tested. Those who came sought freedom above everything else, and expected to pay the price in unrelenting toil. The conditions placed upon them a strong community of interest, which had been growing since the foundation of Protestantism. They were thoughtful, sober, and economical. Being parties to a common cause and participants in a common lot, they became naturally characterized by

unanimity and equipoise. Life to them had been a severe drill in meeting the emergency, which developed the genius of invention, and prepared them in all respects for distinction along the lines which were pursued later so successfully.

     The soil was not fertile and slave labour proved unprofitable. The South needed labourers and purchased them. English vessels were monopolizing southern traffic, so New England naturally decided to build ships and participate in the profits. As carriers, the opportunity of brokerage presented itself, and they shared in the profits of sale and distribution. New trading enterprises were contagious, and the business expanded with the traffic. The Revolution came, the conclusion of which ruled England out as neither a desirable competitor in transportation nor in the traffic of slaves and merchandise. New England stood ready to enter upon her new era of prosperity. It is true that the moral reaction against slave ownership had already become strong, but an earnest plea was made for the trade to tide her over the financial stress. This granted, her profits grew into a large surplus. Since the importation of slaves could continue no longer than 1808, the traders of New England were naturally on the lookout for investment opportunities, for the finding of which their extensive transportation and trade relations offered the best opportunity. They studied the methods by which England was growing rich. The manufacture of clothing constituted one of her most profitable industries, and Whitney’s discovery of the cotton-gin, which revolutionized the production of cotton in the South, was New England’s opportunity for the establishment of the American textile industry on even a more profitable basis than the English system. The manufacturing interests prospered, and the shipping interests suffered no loss, as the South became a large exporter of cotton. We conclude from this brief review that, just as the South from the very beginning of her history naturally developed along agricultural lines, so New England, finding herself at a disadvantage in the cultivation of the soil, naturally turned her attention to manufacture, trade and commerce.