The First Seventeen Years: Virginia 1607-1624 — John Shaqi
The First Seventeen Years: Virginia 1607-1624Hatch, Charles E., Jr.
History
The First Seventeen Years: Virginia 1607-1624
Hatch, Charles E., Jr.
Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
Circumstances seemed to prevent the annual meeting of the Assembly even
though this was initially intended. Possibly, although it is not clear,
the Assembly met in March, 1620. There was a session after the arrival
of Governor Wyatt in October, 1621 although little is known of its
actions. The next session of record was in the late winter of 1624 and
of this some papers have survived. At the time the dissolution of the
Company seemed to be sensed and the Burgesses acted carefully. Much of
the session was devoted to answering questions relative to the state of
the Colony. The Assembly went on record, too, denouncing the so-called
autocratic government that existed in Virginia prior to 1619. There was,
however, refusal to associate its name with an attack on the Company and
it would not send its papers to England by the investigating
commissioners. Instead they were sent by a representative of the
Assembly's choice. The status of the General Assembly under the King,
when Virginia became a royal colony, was, for sometime, undefined and
even its continuation was, perhaps, doubtful. It did, nonetheless,
survive to become a chief instrument of government.
In the social field the Company had recognized that homes, children and
family life make for stability and now steps were taken to do something
about it. To this end, in November 1619, a program was launched to
increase the emigration of women to Virginia. Many had already come to
contribute greatly to the Colony's welfare, the first two in 1608; and
family life was already very much a reality. The male percentage of the
population was, however, still much too high.
The first of the "maids" sent in this new program reached Virginia in
late May and early June, 1620 seemingly to the benefit of both "maids"
and eligible bachelors. In 1621 it was reported that in December the
_Warwick_ arrived with "an extraordinary choice lot [of] thirty-eight
maids for wives."
Earlier, in August 1619, there had been another event, this an unplanned
one, when a group of negroes were brought to the Colony out of the West
Indies and sold from the ship which brought them for "victualls." This
created little attention at the time. Evidently these newcomers found
themselves bound for a time as servants rather than as slaves. The
matter of mass negro slavery with its profitableness in the tobacco
economy was, as yet, decades away. This event of 1619, however, may
properly be noted as the first move in this direction.
Immigration to the Colony continued to increase including even a number
of English youths, and measures were taken to meet the religious and
educational needs of the settlers. This was the period that saw the
attempt to establish a college at Henrico.
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