by Emily Ross
Hey history lovers! Welcome to our "Why Wars Happened," weekly history blog where we dive deep into the causes behind historical conflicts to understand what led to war in history.
In today's episode, we’re focusing on the rollercoaster that was the founding of the Virginia colony – a key player in the lead-up to the American Revolution.
Ok. Now the goods.
Let's take a look at why the other passengers chained John Smith to the floor of a small room aboard the ship to Virginia.
Contents
King James I: Desperate Times, Desperate Measures
Where we left off last time, King James I was in a financial mess. Sitting on a debt of about 312 million in today's dollars, he was frantic for a way to pay it off. Most of this debt came from his predecessor, Queen Elizabeth, and he wasn't getting any help from Parliament, which he had shut down. So, here he was - the king of England and Scotland, dead broke and needing a plan.
Enter the Virginia colony. The idea was simple: send colonists over to the “New World” to find valuable resources like gold, iron, and wood. These treasures would be shipped back to England and sold for profit. King James would get a share of this money, which conveniently bypassed the tax-collecting Parliament. Sounds like a win-win, right?
Meet the Virginia Company
To make this grand scheme work, King James needed some folks willing to fund and organize the expedition. That's where the Virginia Company came in. Think about the song The Virginia Company from the Pocahontas movie for a second. Yes, it was somewhat like that. A bunch of men in London gathered funds from investors to pay for ships, crews, and supplies. They set up a business model where investors would profit from any goods the colonists sent back. Simply put, if you had the money, why not give it a shot?
And people did invest. With money in hand, The Virginia Company assembled captains, crews, and three ships full of colonists, ready for the great journey. But it wasn’t that straightforward.
The Legal Stuff: Charters, Councils, and Kings
Another key requirement was the need for a charter from the king, a document that gave the colony the full backing of England. This wasn’t just a trip; it was an official expansion of English land. More importantly, this charter stated that every English colonist would keep their English civil rights, just as if they were on English soil. This point would become a significant sticking point in the American Revolution later on.
However, the governance model was complicated. The king set up a council in England to oversee the colony. This council was his buffer to avoid dealing with day-to-day matters. And, if that wasn’t enough bureaucracy, there was another council to be established in Virginia for immediate issues. But both councils reported back to England, where the king had the final say in everything.
Council Drama
Now, here’s where things get juicy. The men chosen for the council in Virginia and its president were picked by the council in England and were kept secret in a locked box until after the colonists reached Virginia to avoid conflicts on the journey. But even these precautions didn’t prevent drama.
Gossip soon spread that John Smith, one of the prominent adventurers on the voyage, planned to overthrow the council and make himself the ruler. Accusations flew, and he was imprisoned, chained below deck for 13 weeks. The only light in this grim situation came from a 10-year-old boy who was both his caretaker and confidant.
Arrival and Aftermath
When they finally reached Virginia, Smith was tried and found innocent. This bitter clash set the tone for future tensions in the colony, where governance was an ongoing struggle, often rife with power plays and drama.
So, there you have it. The Virginia colony was a chaotic mix of ambition, greed, bureaucracy, and intrigue – all before they even set foot on American soil.
That’s all for today’s post! Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out on our next episode where we unravel more of John Smith’s adventures and the further tumultuous developments of the Virginia colony’s council.
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