Program Information

For nearly two decades the Virginia Company of London tried to exploit its monopoly in the New World. Despite its efforts and innovations, its money and influence, the company could not make the colony pay. "Jamestown: A Fruitful Soil" provides a historical overview of the people and events of 17th-century Virginia.

Transcript

For nearly two decades the Virginia Company of London tried to exploit its monopoly in the New World. Despite its efforts and innovations, its money and influence, the company could not make the colony pay.

I’m Steve Clark with Jamestown: A Fruitful Soil, a celebration of Virginia’s Quadricentennial sponsored by Jamestown Settlement, a living history museum in the Williamsburg area of Virginia.

The late 16th and early 17th centuries saw the flowering of the
English joint-stock company. Many were set up to secure capital for overseas investment and were granted royal monopolies to pursue trade and business opportunities in Russia, Turkey, Africa, the East Indies, the Mediterranean and America.

The first colonists on the Chesapeake were not agents of the royal government, but were employees, indeed servants, of the Virginia Company. A charter from King James I gave its investors exclusive right to profit from the settlement of North America and to extend the bounds of English civilization. They were also to find a route to the Orient, to create jobs for England’s unemployed, to tap the natural resources of the New World and to bring Christianity to indigenous peoples.

Investors, called “adventurers,” bought stock at 12 ½ pounds per share to finance the fitting of ships and the recruiting and outfitting of settlers. The company also raised money, over seven million dollars in today’s currency, through lotteries.

English society was enthusiastic for colonization, the Virginia Company directors were creative, and multiple charters from the King reflected the evolving challenges facing the colony. Yet, costs nearly always exceeded revenue. Finally, mismanagement, looming bankruptcy and disputes among the directors pushed the royal patience beyond endurance. King James I revoked the Company charter and in 1624 made Virginia a royal colony.

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