The Virginia Company: When Impossible becomes a way of life.

The urge to go and find a new world was something more than just a curiosity it was an escapism, a run away from persecution, underestimation and predominant violence that took place. People had chance to fight with it, instead, they chose the safest option at that time; they left everything behind.

The sea was rough and unpredictable, however, no one was fearful, they knew, once they prevail, starting a new life will a new era. Exhaustion and disappointment were omnipresent on the ship, the hardship almost unbearable.  

Time passed by … and out of the blue the shout was heard: Land! Land! On the horizon they spotted the land they have been searching for so long … Virginia. It was 26^th of April 1607.

The river the new comers found was named James, to honor and cherish the King of England – James I. The hardship and unknown land made people tired and frighten, by the end of the year (approximately 8 months - 62.11% ) a bit more than half of the newcomers didn’t make the beginning, they died of lots of outside factors, mostly hunger and diseases. However the small group of housing made at that time gave an onset to a new settling in America – English settlement. The village they built was named Jamestown. The beginning was hard, the weather didn’t make it any easier, they made their own crops, yet, they dreamed of something much more bigger than a grain of corn, they dreamed of gold. Despite of difficulties they wanted to expand their territory, they submitted a project which was soon called – the Virginia Company. The Company’s task was to help and establish they colonies all along the Atlantic coast of North America.

Virginia was rich in natural sources and the new comers wanted it all, with no exception. The Virginia Company was to be profitable, pearls, silver were about to be found. Their hope to find gold was futile, Virginia was not Mexico. The gold rush brought a disaster, people started dying one by one, they were almost starved to death, exploited to excess. There was no hope for them. Let's look at facts among 197 healthy men who came to Virginia only 53 survived. Yet the worst was about to come.

The winter was just as usual; harsh and freezing, the newcomers were not prepared to fight it and withstand it, the end 1609 and the beginning of 1610 was marked and remembered as ‘starving time’. The Native Americans didn’t help to make the stay easier, they fought bitter battles; those who stayed alive and wanted to survive had to eat something, so they did, the human meat from the corpses.

London policy over the newcomers was harsh and heartless, they were just a tool to make the economy go up and up, the fate of homeless children who were spotted on the streets of London was doomed, they were taken, loaded to the ships and sent overseas to Virginia to help the colonies grow in power, to sustain what was already built.

The law was equal for everyone, and with no surprise reflected the English one, criminals were always given a choice, if the crime was committed in London, they were offered two things; to go to Virginia or to be hanged; most of them chose the second option.

The XVII century appeared to be a fatal one, it started from overwhelming famine, hunger which stroke almost everyone. Starvation and cannibalism were common. Virginia offered something more than just hard work; in England only the upper, wealthy class was privileged to have a land, a farm and estate to make profit from, Virginia gave land to poor as well, to feed the family, and for some lucky ones, the tables simply turned.

The American and British folklore started its beginning, wonderful and beautiful oracle histories were told from village to village, one particularly astounding.  

Let’s start is as the story usually begins; once upon a time it was a captain and a princess. John Smith a young – 27 years-old captain was very energetic and entrepreneurship. It was he who brought the first colony to life and forced newcomers to work and work on and on. During one of his expeditions he was captured and imprisoned. He swore, the Native Americans wanted to beat him up so he would be blue and black all over, luckily, his body was shield by Pocahontas – 12 years-old daughter of the chief. It was she who saved him from death. It was she who help the colony to sustain the cold, hunger, diseases and lack of hope. She was a sparkle of a wonder that happen, hope they all desperately needed. In 1609 John Smith was  sent to England, after being wounded by gunpowder explosion he had to retreat and prematurely retire. Pocahontas stayed, she married a tobacco planter – John Rolfe. She was fortunate to visit England in 1616, however, she had never returned home, she died a year later of smallpox. She was the first Native American officially introduced to the King James I.

We can only imagine how difficult it must be to keep the colony on, settling it at all time, sometimes there were too many men and just a few women, so to make the balance, some new brides were chosen to be shipped to Virginia. Over ninety young about 18/19 years-old girls were sent overseas, the husband had to pay for a future wife (£120). The colony was ruled very strictly and for some historians it is nothing but a prison camp. The most valuable commodity was not a gold but tobacco.

Virginia is often called as the lost colony, namely, it represents truly the first European settlers who came and built the land. Unprepared and cheated, exploited and left for the unknown fate. Losers … heroes, I believe. It was about to be changed when Dutch overseas exploration reached the North coast of America, they brought new work-force, Africans to America. It was just a shadow of what will be called – slavery.

The land – the Virginia Company didn’t succeed as expected, the boom stopped by 1623  it didn’t produce money. The investors withdrew, the chain of hard work and slavery was broken apart, the relief was slightly felt, the rich returned to England convinced and certain of an inevitable end and collapse.  They left, yet, other stayed, resettled, started again, remembering the hardship, and all the consequences that followed, survived, so did Virginia. They represented the first society of English people overseas who put living roots into American soil for good. Proved impossible was possible.

Bibliography:

1.      The Norton Anthology of American Literature.

2.      A History of American Literature, A. Grey

3.      An Outline of American History.

4.      An Illustrated History of the USA.