The first of the British colonies to
take hold in North America was Jamestown. On the basis of a charter
which King James I granted to the Virginia (or London) Company,
a group of about 100 men set out for the Chesapeake Bay in 1607.
Seeking to avoid conflict with the Spanish, they chose a site about
60 kilometers up the James River from the bay.
Made up of townsmen and adventurers
more interested in finding gold than farming, the group was unequipped
by temperament or ability to embark upon a completely new life in
the wilderness. Among them, Captain John Smith emerged as the dominant
figure. Despite quarrels, starvation and Indian attacks, his ability
to enforce discipline held the little colony together through its
first year.
In 1609 Smith returned to England,
and in his absence, the colony descended into anarchy. During the
winter of 1609-1610, the majority of the colonists succumbed to
disease. Only 60 of the original 300 settlers were still alive by
May 1610. That same year, the town of Henrico (now Richmond) was
established farther up the James River.
It was not long, however, before a
development occurred that revolutionized Virginia's economy. In
1612 John Rolfe began cross-breeding imported tobacco seed from
the West Indies with native plants and produced a new variety that
was pleasing to European taste. The first shipment of this tobacco
reached London in 1614. Within a decade it had become Virginia's
chief source of revenue.
Prosperity did not come quickly, however,
and the death rate from disease and Indian attacks remained extraordinarily
high. Between 1607 and 1624 approximately 14,000 people migrated
to the colony, yet only 1,132 were living there in 1624. On recommendation
of a royal commission, the king dissolved the Virginia Company,
and made it a royal colony that year.