Difference between revisions of "Notes:BC1.AH.Colonial Virginia and Maryland charters and conditions"

Revision as of 17:34, 29 May 2014

This is the first section The material of this article relies much on the 1st volume of Edward Channing's A History of the United States^[1]. Though it is risky to rely on only a few sources, Channing's books are heavily referenced with many excerpts from the cited sources. Hopefully, other editors of this article will add other sources.

The First Virginia Charter

In 1606 James I issued a patent which is generally cited as the first Virginia Charter^[1]. This document is remarkable in several ways. First, it asserts the right of the English king to colonize America between the 34th and 45th parallels - from Cape Fear River to Halifax. These were the southern and northern limits of Virginia - almost the entire eastern seaboard of North America. The Spanish considered Virginia part of the Spanish Indies - which were islands in the Caribbean . James I essentially said - no, we found it, so it's ours.

What is most important about the charter, for our purposes, is its constitutional declarations.

• In it there is a clause which states that the colonists and their posterity "shall have and enjoy all liberties franchises, and immunities within any of our other dominions, to all intents and purposes as if they had been abiding and born within this our realm of England or any other of our said dominions."

• James I had previously declared similar rights in the patents given to Walter Ralegh and later to Bartholomew Gilbert.

In these, James established that English colonies would not be like those of France and Spain - or those of any country's colonists before them.

• English colonists would be considered citizens who enjoyed the protection of English Common Law in the same way as those at home.
• Historian Edward Channing notes that

• Channing states that this is of interest but not highly important since the English king "is under no man, but is under God and the law." This quote is from Henry of Bracton, an English jurist of the 13th century famous for his writings on law, particularly De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae ("On the Laws and Customs of England") who, among other writings argued that a ruler was king only as he obtained and exercised power in a lawful manner - i.e., he placed law above king - which is, of course, what Magna Charta was about.
• And that, "Go where he would, so long as he settled on land claimed by England and acknowledged allegiance to the English crown, the Englishman carried with him as much of the Common Law of England as was applicable to his situation and was not repugnant to his other rights and privileges."^[1]

I.e., an Englishman anywhere in the English empire enjoyed the protection of English Common Law and that even the king was ruled by it.

This is a good start on rule of law.

This first charter lacked the self-rule allowances of subsequent charters, but it had a start as demonstrated by the declaration of English rights mentioned above.

• The charter created a Council for Virginia in England which was over all.
• Each 'colony' or 'company' should manage its affairs in England, and
• these to be appointed by king

• Each plantation had its council in America
• to be appointed as the king determined.

This was interesting, but a bit much when considering that the first colonies had difficulty surviving due to conditions that had nothing to do with the king's charter. But, as Channing points out, they were breaking new ground. Complete royal oversight was later abandoned in favor of giving more control to the investors who in turn invested partial self-government in the colonists. But the first colonists to land in Virginia in were to be governed by "Articles and Instructions for the Government of Virginia" issued by James I. These instructions went so far as to tell the emigrants how they were to determine a proper site for a plantation.

• The charter contained "Articles and Instructions for the Government of Virginia" issued by King James I.

• The supreme council had executive, legislative, and judiciary functions. Its authority was absolute - as was considered necessary due to the high risk nature of the venture.
• The articles contained much legislative matter including how to deal with crime. Punishment for crime was more liberal than in England or of that attained in England for many years.(see pg 166 of Channing Vol 1)^[1]

• An interesting thing to note is that,

• while guaranteed English rights, the colonists seem to have been regarded almost as employees to conduct themselves as directed by councils appointed by the king.

In hind sight - they would have been better served by granting local autonomy as was later demonstrated in Jamestown.

The charter for follow three years later provided a higher degree of self-rule.

The colonists who travelled to America under this charter met with hardship that ended in the death of many of them.

• December 20, 1606, The Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery sailed for the southern part of Virginia.

16 of the 120 died on the voyage.

• They entered Chesapeake Bay on May 6, 1607.

A few went to shore and were attacked by natives - 2 wounded.

• They built a fort on the James River.

• Six months later, less than half of those who reached Virginia were still alive due to malaria, Indian arrows, and hunger.
• There was also much internal strife. In January 1608, of the colonial council appointed by the king one had died of disease, one had been executed, two were waiting execution, leaving only two others alive and at large. The reasons are not apparent.
• One of the council recommended including all surviving members be consulted on governing, but this was considered too democratic and despotic rule was to continue.

• On an important point comparing the results of despotic vs. democratic rule, Channing writes: "In connection with his description of this expedition, Gardiner (History of England, ii, 253) makes the extraordinary statement that such enterprises needed strong government and not representative institutions, a dictum which is in direct opposition to the teaching of American history, as is evident from a comparison of the history of Virginia and Plymouth. In one there was a council with sufficient power to hang the king's subjects; in the other the majority ruled. Or compare new Netherland under the tyranny of the Dutch regime with the neighboring English colony of Connecticut, where the franchise, in those days, was most liberal."

Gardiner was a fine historian - writing in the 1880s - but he put greater trust in the rule of the elite class than in the choices made by a broader electorate as democracy would provide. One of his errors was his inability to gauge the character of the colonists. It was a different kind of person who would leave a relatively comfortable homeland for wilderness and hardship. But his fundamental error was philosophical. Perhaps he is to be forgiven when one try's to take on his perspective as an educated member of the upper class. America was born out of a unique American perspective - which we get to in other articles. But we digress.

• Of these first 197 colonists who sailed for Virginia from England, in November, 1606, 53 were alive in April 1608.

This was typical of the first groups to sail to America and an important thing to understand and remember. Primarily men, but also women and children; these were the first heroes of American history.

The Charter of 1609

This was the 2nd Virginia charter. It went a step further in the granting of self-rule. In the charter of 1606 (the first Virginia charter), the common stockholders had no say in how the company was to be run. In this charter, the king placed government of the corporation and its plantations in their hands. This did not yet mean, however, having a local representative legislature. But that was soon to come.

New people came forward ready to continue the effort to colonize America. Some of these were motivated by politics (expanding the sphere of the English empire), some by missionary zeal, and some by a desire for material gain and to improve their current condition.

The failure of the 1st Virginia Charter was attributed to the fact that common stockholders had no say in its governance or direction. This was changed in the 2nd Virginia Charter as mentioned above.

The 2nd charter was given to a group of partners who set to work to raise money and recruit emigrants.

• They printed pamphlets which were designed to sell investors and emigrants on the venture and were, whether or not by intent, deceptive in the way it described the prospects.

• In the current language, 'planter' referred to anyone who emigrated to America and 'adventurer' referred to a stockholder who remained in England.

• Each adventurer received one common share in return for 12 pounds ten shillings.
• Each planter, male or female, over the age of 10 received one common share.
• Each planter, no matter their rank or station in England, was promised meat, drink, clothing, a house, orchard, garden and 100 acres for himself and each family member. (sign me up!)

• 200,000 pounds were raised and 500 emigrants were recruited from every English class.

• 500 sailed for the James River in 9 vessels on June 2, 1609. About 100 were women and children.

• 32 died of disease during the voyage.
• One vessel sank in a hurricane and another was driven into the Bermudas.
• 7 vessels reached the James River (the eighth did arrive later)

Upon their arrival, these emigrants were undeceived of the conditions that they were to encounter in their new home.

The English people that had survived from the previous attempt to colonize were dispersed and hungry, some living with the Indians.

• For all - newcomers and previous survivors - life was grim to the point of being hard to read about. Without recounting the details and all the causes, a year after this second sailing, 900 had actually landed in Virginia and 150 were still there.

These were tough people and survivors and became the nucleus of what was ultimately a successful colony.

• In 1619, 1650 people had sailed from England for Virginia. 300 had returned to England and there were 350 English living in Virginia. So 1000 had died en route or in Virginia.

As mentioned above, the company established by the 1609 charter was to govern the plantations rather than the king, but it was still a despotic rule in that the company wrote the governing regulations without taking the planters or their representatives into counsel. The code created by the company had the title "Articles, Laws and Orders, Divine, Politique, and Martial for the government of Virginia". The title is a good statement of the scope of these regulations.

• There was no religious tolerance. Only those who had taken the "Oath of Supremacy" could go to Virginia - which was de facto establishment of the Church of England and excluded Roman Catholics. There was a list of religious offences for which one could be flogged or sent to service in the galleys for six months. Some repeated offences could result in a death sentence. But, apparently, carrying out a death penalty was quite rare.

It should be remembered that this mirrored practice in England and it was, in practice, much more lenient than in England.

• Whatever the settlers produced went into a common stock and they were clothed and fed alike from it. They were, in effect, employees of the company. And the company was run like a commune.

• For that reason, much of the code addressed offenses to keep people as honest as possible in this regard with severe punishments. But it can be imagined how effective that must have been. Malingering was a punishable offence, but how could a requirement for everyone to work to his best ability be enforced? In fact, this approach had to, later, be abandoned with people given a right to keep what they produced. Not until then did the colony start to prosper.

• Perhaps the savior of the Virginia colony was tobacco. It grew well in Virginia, but did not sell in England until it was learned how to cure tobacco for the English market. Then it became a profitable crop.

An Early Turning Point

In some ways, English Americans, before 1763, received a higher degree of self rule than those in England. In some ways they lead more liberal lives.

In Civicwiki articles, 'liberal', as an adjective, means endowed with liberty. As a noun it means a person whose political philosophy is one that holds liberty as fundamental to life.

There have been many turning points throughout history that turned a society toward or away from liberal life. In CW, we are interested in American society and liberty.

In May 1619, Sir Edwin Sandys was chosen treasurer of the Virginia Company.

• Sandys was Archbishop of York and the leading reformer of the time in Parliament.

• Sandys and his fellow reformers were liberal radicals.

He had had a large influence on, as well as some direct input into, a book, The Ecclesiastical Polity, written by his tutor at Oxford, Richard Hooker. This book was quoted by John Locke in his second Essay on Government, which in turn greatly influenced American history.

Hooker spoke much of the 'natural equality of man' and a resultant 'golden rule' attitude.

• Sandys is reported to have proclaimed in Parliament "No successive king, but first elected. Election double of person and care; but both come in by consent of people, and with reciprocal conditions between king and people."

With this statement he denies the divine right of kings and asserts the supremacy of the people.

Sandys proposed (unsuccessfully) that persons accused of crime should be permitted to employ counsel in their defense.

He sought (again unsuccessfully) to rid England of relics of feudalism - wardships, feudal tenures, and purveyance.

He sought to overthrow monopolies (granted by the king) and for the introduction of free trade.

He was mostly unsuccessful due to the king's prerogative and the royal will.

• Through several turns of events, Sandys found himself in charge of the Virginia Company.

• Sandys and friends liberalized the granting of land to individuals and groups - part of which was to give survivors of earlier efforts larger quantities of land.
• Perhaps more importantly, they gave these landholders self-rule and made them independent of the Virginia Company officers in England
• Sandys also sought to secure a monopoly of the tobacco market of England (which may have been counter to Sandys' earlier opposition to monopolies, depending on how it was sought).
• Sandys sought also to have the whole trade of the colony - providing supplies in ships that would return with all of the tobacco export.

• So Sandys' plan was to grant freedom of government and religion and also to secure the English tobacco trade.

• The idea of self rule was put into practice - and it was allowed a fairly large span of control, but it was, in some sense, still despotic in that it was not a set of laws carefully crafted with fundamental human rights in mind. It the establishment of a legitimate church and the detailed regulation of moral and social behavior and of trade to be within the realm of legislative power.

• On July 30th, 1919 the first assembly of elected burgesses - 22 people from 11 locations - met in Jamestown.
• This assembly adopted new laws which drew heavily on their English background in regard to religion and social behavior. They established the Church of England and outlawed idleness, gambling, drunkenness, and 'excess in apparel'.

• The assembly directed the production of agricultural products.

• Tobacco was the most profitable, but its production was limited to stimulate the production of silk, flax, and grapes, as well as sufficient food for the colonists.

• The assembly also sat as a court of law. Sentences tended to be short and severe. For example, conviction might obtain a 4 day sentence - spent standing in a pillory with ears nailed to a board and being publically whipped each day - and then paying a fine.

The Role of Religion

It was a religious age. The clergy was considered to be on the same level as the military and the more important professions such as medical, legal, political. In some ways they were considered before those others.

• Colonies in America were not a haven for religious tolerance or freedom of religious conscience for quite a while.

• In Virginia, the Church of England was the official church through the first few charters.

• In the first charter, one was not allowed to emigrate to America without embracing the Church of England by taking the "Oath of Succession".
• When the Virginia colonists were granted self legislative rule through a representative assembly in 1619 by the Virginia Company (established by the second charter) , its first set of laws established the Church of England as the only permitted church, and they required attendance. Each absence from both morning and afternoon Sunday services produced a 3 shilling fine which went to the church.

Condition of Virginia

Alexander Brown's First Republic^[2] states that:

• 1606-1625 5649 emigrants left England for Virginia

1095 colonists were living in Virginia in 1625

• In a 12 month period in 1619 to 1620 1200 sailed for Virginia.

Of these 1000 died en route or in the colony by April 1920.

• In a 12 month period in 1622 to 1623, 347 died in the Indian massacre and 1000 died en route to Virginia or in the colony

These words are from Channing's Vol 1 (pg 205)^[1]

"During the years 1618 to 1624, Sandys, . . . made great and successful efforts to send over colonists and supplies; in three years' time no fewer than 3570 emigrants crossed the Atlantic to Virginia. As there were six hundred . . living in the colony at the beginning of this period, the total number . . . to be accounted for is 4170. In March 1622, before the Indian massacre, there were living in Virginia twelve hundred English colonists, showing that in three years nearly three thousand persons had perished from disease and starvation. The "massacre" cost the lives of three hundred and forty-seven more. Instead of carefully searching out the causes of the disasters, the company continued to pour setters into the colony; but in 1624, when a careful enumeration was made, there were only 1232 colonists alive, including in this number twenty three negro slaves."

Reports from members of Sandys' own family who traveled to Virginia painted a grim picture of the conditions of life in Virginia in those days.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Channing, Edward. A History of The United States Volume I The Planting of a Nation in the New World 1000 - 1660. London: MacMillan & Co., Ltd. 1909. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Channing_I" defined multiple times with different content
2. ↑ Brown, Alexander. The First Republic in America: An Account of the Origin of this Nation, Written from the Records Then (1624) Concealed by the Council, Rather Than from the Histories then Licensed by the Crown. Boston and New York. Houghton, Mifflin and Company. 1898