United States -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
Nevertheless, these disturbances did not interfere with the prosperity
of the settlers. Large fortunes were accumulated in a year or two by
scores of planters;[15] and soon in the place of the old log-cabins
arose framed buildings better than many in England. Lands were laid
out for a free school at Charles City (now City Point) and for a
university and college at Henrico (Dutch Gap). Monthly courts were
held in every settlement, and there were large crops of corn and great
numbers of cattle, swine, and poultry. A contemporary writer states
that "the plenty of those times, unlike the old days of death and
confusion, was such that every man gave free entertainment to friends
and strangers."[16]
This prosperity is marred by a story of heart-rending sickness and
suffering. An extraordinary mortality due to imported epidemics, and
diseases of the climate for which in these days we have found a remedy
in quinine, slew the new-comers by hundreds. One thousand people were
in Virginia at Easter, 1619, and to this number three thousand five
hundred and seventy more were added during the next three years,[17]
yet only one thousand two hundred and forty were resident in the
colony on Good Friday, March 22, 1622, a day when the horrors of an
Indian massacre reduced the number to eight hundred and
ninety-four.[18]
Since 1614, when Pocahontas married John Rolfe, peace with the Indians
continued uninterruptedly, except for a short time in 1617, when there
was an outbreak of the Chickahominies, speedily suppressed by Deputy
Governor Yardley. In April, 1618, Powhatan died,[19] and the chief
power was wielded by a brother, Opechancanough, at whose instance the
savages, at "the taking up of Powhatan's bones" in 1621, formed a plot
for exterminating the English. Of this danger Yardley received some
information, and he promptly fortified the plantations, but
Opechancanough professed friendship. Under Sir Francis Wyatt for some
months everything went on quietly; but about the middle of March,
1622, a noted Indian chief, called Nemmattanow, or Jack o' the
Feather, slew a white man and was slain in retaliation. Wyatt was
alarmed, but Opechancanough assured him that "he held the peace so
firme that the sky should fall ere he dissolved it," so that the
settlers again "fed the Indians at their tables and lodged them in
their bedchambers."[20]
Then like lightning from a clear sky fell the massacre upon the
unsuspecting settlers. The blow was terrible to the colonists: the
Indians, besides killing many of the inhabitants, burned many houses
and destroyed a great quantity of stock. At first the settlers were
panic-stricken, but rage succeeded fear. They divided into squads, and
carried fire and sword into the Indian villages along the James and
the York. In a little while the success of the English was so complete
that they were able to give their time wholly to their crops and to
rebuilding their houses.[21]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account