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Jamestown Settlement

Jamestown Settlement

Jamestown was established in 1607, on the James River in Virginia, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) southeast of where Richmond, Virginia, is now located. Both the river and the new settlement were named for King James I, who had recently ascended to the English throne. The Virginia Colony's settlement at Jamestown was the first permanent British colony in the United States to survive, following the failure of the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island to the south, in what is now North Carolina. North Carolina

Settlement

Jamestown was founded in 1607, financed by the London Company. After sailing across the Atlantic Ocean from England, the three ships, Susan Constant sometimes known as the Sarah Constant, Godspeed or Goodspeed, and Discovery with their crews of 104 men and boys, made landfall at Cape Henry on April 26, 1607. The party explored the area, named the cape, and set up a cross near the site of the current Cape Henry Memorial. Then they proceeded in their ships into the Chesapeake Bay to Hampton Roads and up the James River, where they arrived at the site of Jamestown on May 14, where they began the first permanent English settlement in what later became the United States (the colonists named the site "Jamestown", after King James; of course there was no city there when the colonists arrived, just empty swamp-land). The settlers consisted mainly of English farmers and Polish woodcutters, hired in Royal Prussia. Upon landing, secret orders from the Virginia Company were opened, which named John Smith as one of the "councelors". Smith had been arrested on the voyage-over by Admiral Christopher Newport, for mutiny and was scheduled to be hanged, but was freed upon the opening of the orders. Despite the fact that Jamestown Island is a swamp, the men of the Virginia Company chose to settle there, because they felt it was far enough inland to avoid contact and conflict with the Spanish fleet, while the river was deep enough to permit the colonists to anchor their ships, yet have an easy and quick departure if necessary. They had only been at Jamestown for less than a fortnight when they were attacked on May 26 by Paspahegh Native Americans, who succeeded in killing one of the settlers and wounding eleven more. By June 15, the settlers finished the initial triangle fort at Jamestown and a week later, Newport sailed back for London on the Susan Constant with a load of pyrite ("fools' gold") and dirt. Edward Maria Wingfield was named the first "president" of the colony, and would remain in that position until September, when he was found guilty of "libel" and was deposed. John Ratcliffe was elected to take his place. A year later, John Smith was elected to replace Ratcliffe. He would remain as President until wounded in 1609, when Ratcliffe became President again, although Ratcliffe was captured by Chief Powhatan, whose native name was Wahunsunacock, and tortured to death by women of the Powhatan tribe while on a trade mission, shortly after being elected. The winter of 1609-1610 became known as the starving time in Jamestown. The settlers who came over on the initial three ships were not well- equipped for the life they found in Jamestown, and many suffered from saltwater poisoning, which led to infection, fevers, and dysentery. Smith was wounded when his powder bag exploded, and he was sent back to England, where he wrote A True Relation about his experiences in Jamestown, and a second book, The Proceedings of the English Colony of Virginia. The publication of this book sparked a resurgence in interest in the colony and, with plans being made to abandon Jamestown in 1610, a new governor, Lord de la Warr, arrived and forced the remaining 90 settlers to stay. This was also the same year that the first European doctor arrived. While president of the colony, Smith led a food-gathering expedition up the Chickahominy River. His men were set upon by Native Americans, and when his men were killed, Smith strapped his Native American guide in front of him to use as a shield. Captured by Opchanacanough, Chief Powhatan's half-brother, Smith gave him a compass, which made the Native American decide to let Smith live. When Smith was brought before Chief Powhatan, however, the chief decided to execute him, a course of action which was (as stated by Smith) stopped by the pleas of Powhatan's young daughter, Pocahontas, who was originally named Matoaka, but whose nickname meant "Playful one." Although Pocahontas's life would be tied to the English after this first meeting, she is not tied to Smith; except in his report in his books. During the winter of 1608, after Jamestown was destroyed by flames, Pocahontas brought food and clothing to the colonists. She later negotiated with Smith for the release of Native Americans who had been captured by the colonists during a raid to gain English weaponry. Pocahontas converted to Christianity and took the name "Rebecca" in 1613, under the tutelage of Reverend Alexander Whitaker, who arrived in Jamestown in 1611 to found the first Presbyterian Church in Virginia. Pocahontas married a settler, John Rolfe on April 24, 1614. They married in hopes of trying to improve relations between the Powhatan's and the settlers. This uneasy peace was ruined when the Powhatan's attacked the settlers for taking the Indian lands. Within two years, they left for London, where Pocahontas died at Gravesend on March 17, 1617. (A year earlier, a smallpox epidemic had swept through New England.) Rolfe arrived in Jamestown in 1609 following the shipwreck of the Sea Venture, which may have inspired William Shakespeare's "The Tempest", through a log of the events kept by Captain Samuel Jordan. Wedged in a reef off Bermuda, the 150 on board built "ships" from the wreckage, and sailed the two boats, known as the Deliverance and the Patience up to Jamestown, where they found the colony in ruins and practically abandoned, until de la Warr arrived the following year.

Growth and development

John Rolfe was the first man to successfully raise export tobacco in the Colony (although the colonists had begun to make glass artifacts immediately after their arrival). The tobacco raised in Virginia prior to that time, Nicotiana rustica, was not to the liking of the Europeans; but Rolfe had brought some seed for Nicotiana tabacum with him from Bermuda. Shortly after arriving, Rolfe's first wife died, having given birth to a daughter in Bermuda, who did not survive long enough to see Virginia. Although most people "wouldn't touch" the crop, Rolfe was able to make his fortune farming it (by 1617, the colonists exported 50,000 pounds of tobacco to England). After Rolfe and Pocahontas lived together at his Varina Farms plantation, when they left for England in 1616, he was wealthy; and they had a son, Thomas. When Rolfe returned to Jamestown following Pocahontas's death from sickness while in England, Thomas remained behind (in England). Once back in Jamestown, Rolfe married Jane Pierce, and continued to improve the quality of his tobacco; with the result that by the time of his death in 1622, Jamestown was thriving as a producer of tobacco, and Jamestown's population would later top 4,000. Wheat also first grew in the colonies in Virginia, in 1618. Tobacco led to the importation of the colony's first black "indentured servants" as well as women from England, in 1619. That same year, the House of Burgesses, the first legislature of elected representatives in America, met in the Jamestown Church. Their first law was to set a minimum price for the sale of tobacco. That year was also the same year that the first ironworks of the colonies were established in Virginia. House of Burgesses] The Indian Massacre of 1622, an uprising led by Opechancanough, led to the deaths of nearly 400 settlers, wiping out several entire communities, including Henricus and Wolstenholme Towne. However, Jamestown was spared from destruction due to the warnings of a Native American boy named "Chanco", who gave warning to Richard Pace of Wapping Wall, London (d. abt 1624), a resident since about 1613. Pace, after securing himself and his neighbors on the south side of the James River, took a canoe across river to warn Jamestown, which narrowly escaped destruction. A year later, Captain William Tucker and Dr. John Potts worked out a truce with the Powhatan Native Americans and proposed a toast, using liquor laced with poison. 200 Native Americans were killed by the poison, and 50 more were slaughtered by the colonists. In 1624, the Virginia Company lost its charter, and Virginia became a crown colony.

Later Colonial Era

crown colony In 1634, the English Crown created eight shires (i.e. counties) in the colony of Virginia, with a total population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants. James City Shire was established, and included Jamestown. About 1642-43, the name of the James City Shire was changed to James City County. In the 1670s, the governor of Virginia was Sir William Berkeley, serving his second term in that office. Berkeley had previously been governor in the 1640's, and was a scholar and playwright, as well as a veteran of the English Civil War and in his seventies. In the mid 1670s, a young cousin of his through marriage, Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., arrived in Virginia; sent by his father in the hope that he would "mature". Although lazy, Bacon was intelligent, and Berkeley provided him with a land grant and a seat on the Virginia Colony council. In July 1675, the Doeg Indians raided the plantation of Thomas Mathews in order to gain payment for several items Mathews had obtained from the tribe. Several Doegs were killed in the raid, and the colonists then raided the Susquehanaugs in "retaliation". This led to large-scale Indian raids. Berkeley tried to calm the situation, but many of the colonists refused to listen to him, and Bacon disregarded a direct order and captured some Appomattox Indians. Following the establishment of the Long Assembly in 1676, war was declared on "all hostile Indians", and trade with Indian tribes was regulated, often seen by the colonists to favor those friends of Berkeley. Bacon opposed Berkeley, and led a group in opposition to the governor. Bacon and his troops set themselves up at Henrico until Berkeley arrived and Bacon and his men fled, upon which time Berkeley declared them in rebellion, and offered a pardon to any who returned to Jamestown peaceably. Bacon led numerous raids on Indians friendly to the colonists in an attempt to bring down Berkeley. The governor offered him amnesty, but the House of Burgesses refused; insisting that Bacon must acknowledge his mistakes. At about the same time, Bacon was actually elected to the House of Burgesses, and attended the June 1676 assembly, where he was captured, apologized, and was pardoned by Berkeley. Bacon demanded a commission, but Berkeley refused. Bacon and his supporters surrounded the statehouse, and threatened to start shooting the Burgesses if Berkeley did not receive the commission as "General of all forces against the Indians". Berkeley eventually acceded, and then left Jamestown. He attempted a coup a month later, but was unsuccessful. In September, however Berkeley was successful, and Bacon dug in for a siege, which resulted in his burning Jamestown to the ground on September 19, 1676. Bacon died of the flux and lice on October 26, 1676 and his body is believed to have been burned. Berkeley hanged the major leaders of the rebellion, and was relieved of his governorship and returned to London, where he died in July, 1677. "Jimsonweed" is a corruption of "Jamestown weed," named for the village after some British soldiers sent to quell Bacon's Rebellion in 1676, failed in their mission after being fed leaves of the plant, which grew wild in great quantity there. They were "intoxicated" for about a week, and claimed afterward to have no memory of that period. The first phase of Jamestown's history ended in 1699, when a decision was made not to rebuild the statehouse which had burned down in 1698, but instead to accept a proposal by students of the College of William and Mary to move the capital of Virginia to higher ground, to about 12 miles (20 km) away, where their school was located at Middle Plantation, which would soon be renamed Williamsburg.

18th century

Due to the movement of the capital to Williamsburg, Jamestown began to slowly disappear above ground. By the 1750s, the land was owned and heavily cultivated, primarily by the Travis and Ambler families.

19th century

Williamsburg During the American Civil War, in 1861, Confederate William Allen, who owned the Jamestown Island, occupied Jamestown with troops he raised at his own expense with the intention of blockading the James River, and therefore protecting Richmond, from the Union Navy. He was soon joined by Lieutenant Catesby ap Roger Jones, who directed the building of batteries and conducted ordnance and armor tests for the first Confederate ironclad warship CSS Virginia (formerly known as the Merrimac) at the site. By the end of 1861, Jamestown had a force of 1200 men, which was augmented in early 1862 by an artillery battalion. With the Union forces landing at Yorktown under General George B. McClellan, in April, however, the peninsula was abandoned by the Confederates. Once in Federal hands, Jamestown became a meeting place for runaway slaves, who burned the Ambler house. An eighteenth century plantation which, along with the old church, were the few remaining signs of Jamestown. When Allen sent men to assess damage in late 1862, they were killed by the former slaves. For the most part, Jamestown did not have an active role in the Civil War, although both sides used it for feints. Following the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, the oath of allegiance was administered to former Confederate soldiers at Jamestown.

20th century

Jamestown Exposition of 1907

Appomattox Courthouse The Jamestown Exposition of 1907 was one of the many world's fairs and expositions that were popular in the United States early part of the 20th century. Early in the 20th century, as the tercentennial of the 1607 Founding of the Jamestown neared, leaders in Norfolk, Virginia began a campaign to have a celebration held there. The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities had gotten the ball rolling in 1900 by calling for a celebration honoring the establishment of the first permanent English colony in the New World at Jamestown, to be held on the 300th anniversary. No one thought that the actual isolated and long-abandoned original site would be suitable because Jamestown Island had no facilities for large crowds, and the fort housing the Jamestown Settlement was believed to have been long-ago swallowed by the James River. The decision was made to locate the international exposition on a mile-long frontage at Sewell's Point near the mouth of Hampton Roads. The Jamestown Exposition was held there from April 26, 1907 to December 1, 1907.

Jamestown National Historic Site

Currently, "Jamestown National Historic Site" exists on 22 ½ acres (91,100 m²) of land at the western end of Jamestown Island. The area was donated to the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities in 1893, before which time, it had seen settlement, rebellion (in 1676), and battle (during the Civil War). In 1934, Colonial National Historical Park obtained the remaining 1500 acre (6.1 km²) island and partnered with the APVA to preserve the area and present it to visitors in an educational manner.

Jamestown Festival Park

Jamestown Festival Park was established at Jamestown Island in 1957 to mark the 350th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown Settlement. At the National Park Service site, the reconstructed Glasshouse, the Memorial Cross and the visitors center were completed and dedicated. Full-sized replicas of the three ships that brought the colonists, the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery were constructed at a shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia, and docked at Jamestown. Other events included army and navy reviews, air force fly-overs, ship and aircraft christenings and even an outdoor drama at Cape Henry, site of the first landing of the settlers. This celebration continued from April 1 to November 30 with over a million participants, including dignitaries and politicians such as the British Ambassador and U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon. The highlight for many of the nearly 25,000 at the Festival Park on October 16, was the visit and speech of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and her consort, Prince Philip. Queen Elizabeth II loaned a copy of the Magna Carta for the exhibition. Although the 1957 celebration is long past, many of the attractions remained and some have been enhanced in the years since. There is now a working reconstruction of the settlement. The original replicas of the three ships that brought the colonists, the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery which had been constructed at a shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia have been rebuilt, and are still very popular with tourists, especially school groups.

APVA archaeological campaign

Starting in 1994, a major archaeological campaign at Jamestown has been conducted by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, in preparation for the quadricentennial of Jamestown's founding. The original goal of the archaeological campaign was to locate archaeological remains of "the first years of settlement at Jamestown, especially of the earliest fortified town; [and the] the subsequent growth and development of the town". [http://www.apva.org/pubs/94reprt.html] Early on, the project discovered the remains of the 1607 settlement. This was something of a surprise, as it had been widely thought that the original site had been entirely lost, due to erosion by the James River. However, only one corner of the first triangular fort (which contained the original settlement) turned out to have been destroyed. The extended archaeological campaign has made many discoveries, including retrieving hundreds of thousands of artifacts, a large fraction of them from the first few years of the settlement's history. In addition, it has uncovered much of the fort, the remains of several houses and wells, a palisade wall line attached to the fort, and the graves of several of the original settlers, including one thought to be that of Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, one of the most important figures in the English settlement of the New World. [http://www.historicjamestowne.org/news/gosnold_dna_01.php] Archaeological work at the site continues, and is greatly expanding knowledge of what happened at Jamestown in its earliest days.

21st century

Bartholomew Gosnold Plans are underway for "Jamestown 2007", which will celebrate the quadricentennial of the founding of the Jamestown Settlement. An upcoming feature length film, The New World, will cover the story of Jamestown's colonization. The film will focus on the relationship between John Smith, played by Colin Farrell, and Pocahontas. A limited release of the film is set for December, 2005 with full release in January, 2006.

External links

- Geographical coordinates:
- [http://www.apva.org/jr.html APVA web site for the Jamestown Rediscovery project]
- [http://www.historicjamestowne.org/ Historic Jamestowne]
- [http://www.historicjamestowne.org/the_dig/ Where are We Digging Now?]
- [http://www.jamestown2007.org/ Jamestown 2007 Celebration]
- [http://www.historyisfun.org/ Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center]
- [http://www.virtualjamestown.org/ Virtual Jamestown]
- [http://www.familyforest.com/PR_Royal_Visit_to_The_White_House.html America’s 400th Anniversary and Jamestown 2007 commemoration]
- [http://www.nps.gov/jame/ National Park Service: Jamestown National Historic Site]
- [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16277/16277-h/16277-h.htm New Discoveries at Jamestown] by John L. Cotter and J. Paul Hudson, (1957) at Project Gutenberg

1607

Events

- January 20 - Tidal wave swept along the Bristol Channel, killing 2000 people. (Possibly tsunami)
- April 25 - Battle of Gibraltar Dutch fleet destroys anchored Spanish fleet
- April 26 - English colonists make landfall at Cape Henry, Virginia, later moving up the James River to found Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the United States.
- August 13 - Ship Gift of God of the Plymouth Company arrives at the mouth of the modern-day Kennebec River in Maine. English colonists establish a Fort St. George, also known as the Popham Colony. The settlement lasts little more than a year before residents return to England in the first ocean going ship built in the New World, a 30-ton pinnace, called The Virginia.
- Spain is effectively bankrupt.
- The British national anthem, God Save the King, is first sung.
- Rule of Andorra is passed jointly to the king of France and the Bishop of Urgell.
- June 8 - Newton Rebellion: 40-50 peasants killed by landowners Tresham family during protests against enclosure of common land in Newton, Northamptonshire, UK - culmination of Midlands Revolt.
- Yaqob is defeated in battle and deposed by his cousin Sissinios, who then becomes Emperor of Ethiopia.
- The Midlands Revolt against Enclosure - first use of the terms Levellers and Diggers

Births

- January 10 - Isaac Jogues, Jesuit missionary to native Americans (died 1646)
- March 20 - Lady Alice Boyle, Irish noblewoman (died 1667)
- March 24 - Michiel de Ruyter, Dutch admiral (died 1676)
- July 13 - Václav Hollar, Bohemian etcher (died 1677)
- November 1 - Georg Philipp Harsdorffer, German poet (died 1658)
- November 15 - Madeleine de Scudéry, French writer (died 1701)
- November 26 - John Harvard, American clergyman (died 1638)
- Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll (died 1661)
- Thomas Barlow, Bishop of Lincoln (died 1691)
- John Boys, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (died 1664)
- John Dixwell, English judge and regicide (died 1689)
- Jan Kazimierz Krasinski, Polish nobleman (died 1669)
- Claude de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, French courtier (died 1693)
- Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton (died 1667)
- Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi, Japanese samurai (died 1650)
- Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla, Spanish dramatist (died 1660) See also :Category:1607 births.

Deaths

- March 11 - Giovanni Maria Nanino, Italian composer
- May 21 - John Rainolds, English scholar and Bible translator (born 1549)
- June 10 - John Popham, Lord Chief Justice of England
- June 30 - Caesar Baronius, Italian cardinal and historian (born 1538)
- August 22 - Bartholomew Gosnold, English explorer and privateer (born 1572)
- September 10 - Luzzasco Luzzaschi, Italian composer
- September 22 - Alessandro Allori, Italian painter (born 1535)
- Henry Chettle, English writer (born 1564)
- Edward Dyer, English courtier and poet
- Yaqob, Emperor of Ethiopia
- Domenico Fontana, Italian architect (born 1543)
- Wawrzyniec Grzymala Goslicki, Polish philosopher (born 1530)
- Penelope Devereux, Lady Rich (born 1562) See also :Category:1607 deaths. Category:1607 ko:1607년

James River (Virginia)

] The James River in the U.S. state of Virginia is 547.160 km (340 miles) long and drains a watershed comprising 26,000 km² (10,000 square miles), an area with a population of 2.6 million people (2000). The James River forms in the Allegheny Mountains, near Iron Gate from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers, and flows into the Chesapeake Bay. The earliest permanent English settlement in the Americas was in 1607 at Jamestown, along the banks of the James River; Richmond, the capital of Virginia, is at its fall line. Navigation of the river played an important role in early Virginia commerce and the settlement of the interior. Produce from the Piedmont and Great Valley regions traveled down the river to seaports at Richmond through such port towns as Lynchburg, Scottsville, Columbia and Buchanan. The James River was considered as a route for transport of produce from the Ohio Valley, and the James River and Kanawha Canal was built for this purpose. The Native Americans called the James River the Powhatan River. During the American Civil War, the XVIII Corps and X Corps of the Union Army merged to form the Army of the James, named after the river. During the war the army took part in many battles and military operations along the river.

External links

- [http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/home/james.html Heritage of the James River] Category:Chesapeake Bay Watershed Category:Richmond, Virginia Category:Rivers of Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia is one of the original thirteen states of the United States that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution, and is part of the South. It is one of four states that use the name commonwealth. Virginia was the first part of the Americas to be colonized permanently by England. Virginia's U.S. postal abbreviation is VA, and its Associated Press abbreviation is Va. Kentucky and West Virginia were part of Virginia at the time of the founding of the United States; but the former was admitted to the Union as a separate state in 1792, while the latter broke away from Virginia during the American Civil War. Virginia is known as the "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents, more than any other state. Five of them were re-elected to a second term: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe and Woodrow Wilson. William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, and Zachary Taylor round out the list of American Presidents from the Commonwealth of Virginia. (Harrison and Taylor died while in office.)

History

Native Americans

At the time of the English colonization of Virginia, among Native American people living in what now is Virginia were the Cherokee, Chickahominy, Mattaponi, Meherrin, Monacan, Nansemond, Nottaway, Pamunkey, Pohick, Powhatan, Rappahannock, Saponi, and Tuscarora. The natives are often divided into three groups. The largest group are known as the Algonquian who numbered over 10,000. The other groups are the Iroquoian (numbering 2,500) and the Siouan. [http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/education/projects/webunits/vahistory/tribes.html]

Virginia Colony: 1607–1776

At the end of the 16th century, when Great Britain began to colonize North America, Virginia was the name that Queen Elizabeth I of England (who was known as the "Virgin Queen" because she never married) gave to the whole area explored by the 1584 expedition of Sir Walter Raleigh along the coast of North America, eventually applying to the whole coast from South Carolina to Maine. The London Virginia Company became incorporated as a joint stock company by a proprietary charter drawn up on April 10, 1606. It swiftly financed the first permanent English settlement in the New World, which was at Jamestown, named in honor of King James I, in the Virginia Colony, in 1607, which settlement was founded by Captian Christopher Newport and Captain John Smith. Its Second Charter was officially ratified on May 23, 1609. Jamestown was the original capital of the Virginia Colony, and remained so until the State House burned (not the first time) in 1698. After the fire, the colonial capital was moved to nearby Middle Plantation, which was renamed Williamsburg in honor of William of Orange, King William III. Virginia was given its nickname, "The Old Dominion", by King Charles II of England at the time of the Restoration, because it had remained loyal to the crown during the English Civil War.

A new state

In 1780, during the American Revolutionary War, the capital was moved to Richmond at the urging of then-Governor Thomas Jefferson, who was afraid that Williamsburg's location made it vulnerable to a British attack. In the autumn of 1781, American troops trapped the British on the Yorktown peninsula in the famous Battle of Yorktown. This prompted a British surrender on October 19, 1781, formally ending the war and securing the former colonies' independence, even though sporadic fighting continued for two years. Patrick Henry served as the first Governor of Virginia, from 1776 to 1779, and again from 1784 to 1786. On June 12, 1776, the Virginia Convention adopted the Virginia Declaration of Rights, a document that influenced the Bill of Rights added later to the United States Constitution. On June 29, 1776, the convention adopted a constitution that established Virginia as a commonwealth independent of the British Empire. In 1790 both Virginia and Maryland ceded territory to form the new District of Columbia, but in an Act of the U.S. Congress dated July 9, 1846, the area south of the Potomac that had been ceded by Virginia was retroceded to Virginia effective 1847, and is now Arlington County and part of the City of Alexandria.

American Civil War

Virginia is one of the states that seceded from the Union to become the Confederacy during the Civil War. When it did, some counties were separated as Kanawha (later renamed West Virginia), an act which was upheld by the United States Supreme Court in 1870. More battles were fought on Virginia soil than anywhere else in America during the Civil War. Virginia formally rejoined the Union on January 26, 1870, after a period of post-war military rule.

20th century

When Douglas Wilder was elected Governor of Virginia on January 13, 1990, he became the first African-American to serve as Governor of a U.S. state since Reconstruction.

Law and government

The capital is Richmond: the current Governor is Mark Warner, a Democrat. Tim Kaine, also a Democrat, is the governor-elect. Previous capitals included Jamestown (1609–1699) and Williamsburg (1699–1780). The Virginia State Capitol building in Richmond was designed by Thomas Jefferson and the cornerstone was laid by Governor Patrick Henry in 1785. In colonial Virginia, the lower house of the legislature was called the House of Burgesses. Together with the Governor's Council, the House of Burgesses made up the General Assembly. The Governor's Council was composed of 12 men appointed by the British Monarch to advise the Governor. The Council also served as the General Court of the colony, a colonial equivalent of a Supreme Court. Members of the House of Burgesses were chosen by all those who could vote in the colony. Each county chose two people or burgesses to represent it, while the College of William and Mary and the cities of Norfolk, Williamsburg, and Jamestown each chose one burgess. The Burgesses met to make laws for the colony and set the direction for its future growth; the Council would then review the laws and either approve or disapprove them. The approval of the Burgesses, the Council, and the Governor was needed to pass a law. The idea of electing burgesses was important and new. It gave Virginians a chance to control their own government for the first time. At first the burgesses were elected by all free men in the colony. Women, indentured servants, and Native Americans could not vote. Later the rules for voting changed, making it necessary for men to own at least fifty acres (200,000 m²) of land in order to vote. Founded in 1619, the Virginia General Assembly is still in existence as the oldest legislature in the Western Hemisphere. Today, the General Assembly is made up of the Senate and the House of Delegates. Like many other states, by the 1850s Virginia featured a state legislature, several executive officers, and an independent judiciary. By the time of the Constitution of 1901, which lasted longer than any other state constitution, the General Assembly continued as the legislature, the Supreme Court of Appeals acted as the judiciary, and the eight elected executive officers were the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of the Commonwealth, State Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts, Superintendent of Public Instruction and Commissioner of Agriculture and Immigration. The Constitution of 1901 was amended many times, notably in the 1930s and 1950s, before it was abandoned in favour of more modern government, with fewer elected officials, reformed local governments and a more streamlined judiciary. Virginia currently functions under the 1970 Constitution of Virginia. It is the state's ninth constitution. Under the Constitution, the State Government is composed of three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative branch or state legislature is the Virginia General Assembly, a bicameral body whose 140 members make all state laws. Members of the Virginia House of Delegates serve two-year terms, while members of the Virginia Senate serve four-year terms. The General Assembly also selects the state's Auditor of Public Accounts. The statutory law enacted by the General Assembly is codified in the Code of Virginia. The executive branch comprises the Governor of Virginia, the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, and the Attorney General of Virginia. All three officers are separately elected to four-year terms in years following Presidential elections (1997, 2001, 2005, etc) and take office in January of the following year. The Governor serves as chief executive officer of the Commonwealth and as Commander-in-Chief of the State Militia. State law forbids any Governor from serving consecutive terms. The Lieutenant Governor serves as President of the Senate of Virginia and is first in the line of succession to the Governor. The Attorney General is chief legal advisor to the Governor and the General Assembly, chief lawyer of the state and the head of the Department of Law. The Attorney General is second in the line of succession to the Governor. Whenever there is a vacancy in all three executive offices of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General, then the Speaker of the House of the Virginia House of Delegates becomes Governor. The Office of the Governor's Secretaries helps manage the Governor's Cabinet, comprised of the following individuals, all appointed by the Governor:
- Governor's Chief of Staff
- Secretary of Administration
- Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry
- Secretary of Commerce and Trade
- Secretary of the Commonwealth
- Secretary of Education
- Secretary of Finance
- Secretary of Health and Human Resources
- Secretary of Natural Resources
- Secretary of Public Safety
- Secretary of Technology
- Secretary of Transportation
- Assistant to the Governor for Commonwealth Preparedness The judicial branch consists of the Supreme Court of Virginia, the Virginia Court of Appeals, the General District Courts and the Circuit Courts. The Virginia Supreme Court, composed of the chief justice and six other judges is the highest court in the Commonwealth (although, as with all the states, the U.S. Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction over decisions by the Virginia Supreme Court involving substantial questions of U.S. Constitution law or constitutional rights). The Chief Justice and the Virginia Supreme Court also serve as the administrative body for the entire Virginia court system. The 95 counties and the 39 independent cities all have their own governments, usually a county board of supervisors or city council which choose a city manager or county administrator to serve as a professional, non-political chief administrator under the council-manager form of government. There are exceptions, notably Richmond, Virginia, which has a popularly-elected Mayor who serves as chief executive separate from the city council.

Political control

After William Mahone and the Readjuster Party lost control of Virginia politics around 1883, the Democratic Party held a strong majority position of state and federal offices for over 85 years. In 1970, Republican A. Linwood Holton Jr. became the first Republican governor in the 20th century. In the years thereafter, Republicans made substantial gains, and for a time, controlled both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, as well as the Governorship from 1994 until 2002.
- Republicans hold both seats in the U.S. Senate, 8 of 11 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, hold a majority in the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate, and a Republican is Virginia's Lieutenant Governor-Elect. A republican is also temporarily serving as attorney general having been appointed to fill the seat left by Jerry Kilgore. However, the recent election for attorney general to fill the open seat has not been decided and a recount will occur to determine the election.
- Democrats control the remaining 3 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Governor and Governor-Elect are both Democrats. The Democrats have steadily been gaining seats in the Virginia House of Delegates and may soon take control, however the State Senate will likely remain under Republican Leadership. Incumbent Virginia governors cannot run for re-election under the state constitution and In the November 2005 election, the race to succeed Democratic Governor Mark Warner, Democrat Timothy M. Kaine beat Republican Attorney General Jerry Kilgore (Scott County), and State Senator Russ Potts (Winchester) (longtime Republican) running as an independent. Kaine will become governor of the state at his inauguration on January 14, 2006.

Geography

2006 2006 Virginia is bordered by West Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia (across the Potomac River) to the north, by Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, by North Carolina and Tennessee to the south, and by Kentucky and West Virginia to the west. The Chesapeake Bay divides the state, with the eastern portion (called 'the Eastern Shore of Virginia'), a part of the Delmarva Peninsula, completely separate (an exclave) from the rest of the state. Geographically, Virginia is divided into the following 5 regions:
- Tidewater - Stretching from the Atlantic coast to the fall line
- Piedmont - East of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Tidewater Region
- Blue Ridge Mountains - East of the Appalachian Mountains to the Blue Ridge Mountain Region
- Valley and Ridge - Appalachian Mountains and Shenandoah Valley Region
- Appalachian Plateau - West of the Appalachian Mountains Virginia's long east-west axis means that metropolitan northern Virginia lies much closer to New York and New England than to the rural western panhandle of its own state. Conversely, Lee County, at the tip of the panhandle, is closer to 8 state capitals than it is to Richmond.

Demographics

As of 2004, Virginia's population was estimated to be 7,459,827. The state had a foreign-born population of 679,500 (9.1% of the state population), of which an estimated 100,000 were illegal aliens (15% of the foreign-born). The state's population increased by 1.3 million between 1990 and 2004, a growth of 21% Race and Ancestry
The racial makeup of the state:
- 70.2% White non-Hispanic
- 19.6% Black
- 4.7% Hispanic
- 3.7% Asian
- 0.3% Native American
- 2% Mixed race The five largest reported ancestry groups in Virginia are: African American (19.6%), German (11.7%), American (11.2%), English (11.1%), Irish (9.8%). Historically, as the largest and wealthiest colony and state and the birthplace of Southern and American culture, a large proportion (about half) of Virginia's population was made up of black slaves who worked the state's tobacco, cotton, and hemp plantations. The twentieth century Great Migration of blacks from the rural South to the urban North reduced Virginia's black population to about 20 percent. Today Blacks are concentrated in the eastern and southern tidewater and piedmont regions where plantation agriculture was most dominant. The western mountains are populated primarily by people of British and American ancestry. People of German descent are present in sizable numbers in the northwestern mountains and Shenandoah Valley. And due to recent immigration, there is a rapidly growing population of Hispanics (particularly Central Americans) and Asians in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. 6.5% of Virginia's population were reported as under 5, 24.6% under 18, and 11.2% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 51% of the population.

Religion

The religious affiliations of the people of Virginia are:
- Christian – 84%
- Protestant – 69%
- Baptist – 32%
- Methodist – 8%
- Episcopal – 3%
- Presbyterian – 3%
- Other Protestant or general Protestant – 23%
- Roman Catholic – 14%
- Other Christian – 1%
- Other Religions – 2%
- Non-Religious – 12%

Economy

Virginia's economy has long been regarded as one of the better-balanced in the United States with diverse sources of income, including military installations concentrated in the Hampton Roads area, tobacco and peanut farming all through Southside Virginia, manufacturing and transportation, and the location of Northern Virginia as a bedroom community for the federal government and its vendors. Virginia, arguably the wealthiest southern state before the Civil War, recovered from the civil war and the Great Depression much faster than the rest of the south. Today it is still significantly wealthier than the rest of the south, although much of that is from the northern influence around Washington D.C.

Transportation

Northern Virginia Virginia is served by a network of Interstate Highways, arterial highways, several limited access tollways, bridges, tunnels, and three bridge-tunnel complexes. The [http://www.springfieldinterchange.com/ Springfield Interchange Project] (also known as "The Mixing Bowl") and the replacement of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, two of the country's largest highway improvement projects, are taking place in the state ten miles apart. Major airports are located in these areas: Northern Virginia (Reagan-National and Dulles), Richmond-Petersburg (Richmond), Virginia Peninsula (Newport News), South Hampton Roads (Norfolk), and the Roanoke Valley (Roanoke). Virginia has extensive waterways. In addition to the lower portion of the Chesapeake Bay, navigable rivers include the Elizabeth River at Hampton Roads, the James River, the York River, the Rappahannock River, and the Potomac River. The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway passes through eastern Virginia. Virginia has Amtrak passenger rail service along several corridors and Virginia Railway Express (VRE) maintains two commuter lines into Washington, D.C. The Washington Metro serves Northern Virginia as far west as Fairfax County.

Sports

Virginia is by far the most populous U.S. state without a major professional sports league franchise. The reasons for this include the close proximity of Washington, D.C. which has franchises in all four major sports, and the lack of any dominant city or market within the state. An attempt to bring a National Hockey League expansion franchise to Hampton Roads in the 1990s was rejected by the NHL. A proposal to relocate the Montreal Expos to Northern Virginia was considered by Major League Baseball, but MLB eventually settled on the national capital as the Expos' new home. Virginia is home to many minor league clubs, especially in baseball and soccer.

Important cities and towns

Under the laws in effect in Virginia, all municipalities incorporated as cities are independent of any county. Of the 43 independent cities in the United States, 39 are in Virginia. The complete list of Virginia independent cities follows: Some other municipalities are incorporated towns, which are not independent of a county, but rather, located within one of the 95 counties in Virginia. These incorporated towns include: Finally, Arlington County, which lies across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., is a completely urbanized community, much like a city, but remains organized as a county, and has no towns within its borders. There are also hundreds of other unincorporated communities (sometimes informally called villages or towns) in Virginia.

Colleges and universities

Miscellaneous information

- State motto: "Sic semper tyrannis." (Thus always to tyrants.)
- State bird: Cardinal
- State dog: American Foxhound
- State flower: Dogwood
- State tree: Dogwood
- State insect: Tiger swallowtail
- State bat: Virginia Big-Eared Bat
- State song: none; the former state song, "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny," was retired in 1997 because some found its lyrics to be racially offensive
- State dance: Square dance
- State boat: Chesapeake Bay deadrise
- State fish: Brook trout
- State shell: Oyster
- State fossil: Chesapecten Jeffersonius
- State beverage: Milk USS Virginia was named in honor of this state.

Other places

There are also places named Virginia in the States of Illinois and Minnesota: see
- Virginia, Illinois.
- Virginia, Minnesota.

External links

- [http://www.virginia.gov State Government website]
- [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/raleigh.htm Charter to Sir Walter Raleigh : 1584]
- [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/va01.htm The First Charter of Virginia; April 10, 1606]
- [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/va02.htm The Second Charter of Virginia; May 23, 1609]
- [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/va03.htm The Third Charter of Virginia; March 12, 1611]
- [http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/51000.html U.S. Census Bureau]
- [http://www.vahistorical.org Virginia Historical Society]
- [http://www.historical-markers.org Virginia's Historical Markers]
- [http://www.virginiaplaces.org/ Geography of Virginia]
- [http://www.fathersforvirginia.org/ Fathers for Virginia]
- Category:States of the United States ko:버지니아 주 ja:バージニア州

James I of England

James VI of Scotland and James I of England and Ireland (occasionally known as King James the Vain) (Charles James) (19 June 1566–27 March 1625) was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland. He ruled in Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 until his death, and, from the Union of the Crowns, in England and Ireland as James I from 24 March 1603 until his death. He was the first English monarch of the House of Stuart, succeeding the last Tudor monarch, Elizabeth I, who died without children. James was a successful monarch in Scotland, but the same was not true in England. He was unable to deal with a hostile Parliament of England; the refusal on the part of the House of Commons to impose sufficiently high taxes crippled the royal finances. His taste for political absolutism, his mismanagement of the kingdom's funds and his cultivation of unpopular favourites established the foundation for the English Civil War, during which James' son and successor, Charles I, was tried and executed. During James' own life, however, the governments of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland were relatively stable. Along with Alfred the Great, James is considered to have been one of the most intellectual and learned individuals ever to sit on the English or Scottish thrones. Under him, much of the cultural flourishing of Elizabethan England continued; science, literature and art, contributed by individuals such as Sir Francis Bacon and William Shakespeare grew by leaps and bounds during his reign. James himself was a talented scholar, writing works such as Daemonologie (1597), The True Law of Free Monarchies (1598), Basilikon Doron (1599) and A Counterblaste to Tobacco (1604).

Early life

James was the only child of Mary I, Queen of Scots and of her second husband, Henry Stuart, Duke of Albany, more commonly known as Lord Darnley. James was a direct descendant of Henry VII, through his great-grandmother Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII. James' mother was an insecure ruler, as both she and her husband, being Roman Catholics, faced a rebellion of Protestant noblemen. Their marriage, furthermore, was a particularly difficult one. While Mary was pregnant with James, Lord Darnley secretly allied himself with the rebels and murdered the Queen's private secretary, David Rizzio. James was born on 19 June 1566 at Edinburgh Castle, and automatically became Duke of Rothesay and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland, for he was the eldest son of the monarch and thus the heir-apparent. He received the name Charles James, the first name in honour of his godfather Charles IX of France, thus becoming the first future British monarch to have more than one forename. James' father was murdered on 10 February 1567 at Kirk o' Field, most likely to avenge Rizzio's death. Mary's marriage on 15 May of the same year to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, who was widely suspected of murdering the Duke of Albany, made her even more unpopular. In June 1567, the Protestant rebels arrested Mary and imprisoned her in Loch Leven Castle. Mary was forced to abdicate the throne on 24 July, giving it to James, then only thirteen months old.

Regencies

James was formally crowned King of Scotland at the Church of the Holyrood, Stirling, on 29 July 1567. In deference to the religious beliefs of most of the Scots ruling class, he was brought up as a member of the protestant, national Church of Scotland and educated by men with Presbyterian sympathies. During James VI's early reign, power was held by a series of regents, the first of whom was James Stuart, 1st Earl of Moray, his mother's illegitimate half-brother. Mary escaped from prison in 1568, leading to a brief period of violence. Lord Moray defeated Mary's troops at the Battle of Langside, forcing her to flee to England, where she was imprisoned by Elizabeth I. Lord Moray was assassinated by one of Mary's supporters in 1570. He was succeeded by James' paternal grandfather, Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox, who suffered a similar fate in 1571. The next was James VI's guardian, John Erskine, 1st Earl of Mar, who died in 1572. The last of the regents was James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, who, during the two previous regencies, had been the most powerful Scottish nobleman, more so than the previous regents. Historian and poet George Buchanan was responsible for James' education. Lord Morton was successful in finally crushing the families who continued to support Mary. His fall was brought about not by Mary's supporters, but by the King's closest courtiers, who impressed upon the young monarch the extent of the royal powers, thereby encouraging him to take control himself. The courtiers accused Lord Morton of participating in the murder of James' father. Lord Morton was consequently tried, convicted and then executed in 1581; power was thenceforth held by the King himself, rather than by a regent. Nevertheless, James VI did not rule by himself, relying instead on the advice of his closest courtiers. One of the most important noblemen at the time was James VI's cousin, Esmé Stuart, Seigneur d'Aubigny, who had come from France in 1579, and who had been made Earl of Lennox. Another powerful courtier at the time was James Stuart, who was created Earl of Arran as a reward for his testimony against Lord Morton. As Lord Lennox was a Catholic, and Lord Arran leaned towards Episcopalianism, the Presbyterian Scottish Lords found the government distasteful. In the Raid of Ruthven (1582), some Presbyterian nobles, led by William Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie, captured James and held him captive for almost a year at Ruthven Castle, now known as Huntingtower Castle, in Perthshire. Lord Arran was also detained, and Lord Lennox was banished to France. The King and Lord Arran escaped in 1583; Lord Gowrie was executed, and the rebels forced to flee to England. The Parliament of Scotland, loyal to the King, passed the Black Acts, putting the Church of Scotland directly under royal control. These Acts were extremely unpopular; his clergy opposed and denounced him, attempting to keep his influence under control, lest he grow so powerful as to be bold enough to disestablish Presbyterianism.

English succession

James VI and Elizabeth I became allies under the Treaty of Berwick. James sought to remain in the favour of the unmarried Queen of England, as he was a potential successor to her Crown. Henry VIII had feared that the English Crown would go to a Scot: in his will, he excluded Margaret Tudor, James' grandmother, and her descendants from the line of succession. Although technically excluded by the will—which, under an Act of Parliament, had the force of law—both Mary, Queen of Scots and James were serious claimants to the English Crown, as they were Elizabeth I's closest relatives. Also in 1586, Mary was implicated in the Babington Plot, a scheme which sought to put her on the throne of England after murdering Elizabeth. Elizabeth had previously spared Mary's life after the Ridolfi Plot, but could no longer tolerate the danger she posed. Consequently, Mary was executed for her crimes in 1587; but for the will of Henry VIII, James was now the Heir Presumptive to the English Crown. Heir Presumptive Following her execution, Mary's Scottish supporters became weak; James managed to significantly reduce the influence of the Roman Catholic nobles in Scotland. He further endeared himself to Protestants by marrying Anne of Denmark—a princess from a Protestant country and daughter of Frederick II of Denmark—by proxy in 1589. Another marriage, this time with both parties personally present, occurred on 21 January 1590 at Krondborg during James' visit to Denmark. Soon after his return via Leith on 1 May, he attended the North Berwick Witch Trial, in which several people were convicted of having used witchcraft to create a storm in an attempt to sink the ship on which James and Anne had been travelling. This made him very concerned about the threat that witches and witchcraft were posing to himself and the country. During this period, he wrote the aforementioned treatise on demonology. As a result, hundreds of women were put to death for witchcraft; their bodies were later found in what was then called Nor Loch (now Princes Street Gardens). At first, James and his new queen were close, but gradually drifted apart. The couple produced eight children, three of whom survived infancy and one who was stillborn. They decided to live apart after the death of their daughter Sophia. James faced a Roman Catholic uprising in 1588, and was forced to reconcile with the Church of Scotland, at length agreeing to the repeal of the Black Acts in 1592. James, fearing that dealing too harshly with the Catholic rebels might anger many English Catholics, agreed to pardon some of his opponents, which angered the Protestant Church. In 1600, a conspiracy was formed by John Ruthven, 3rd Earl of Gowrie (son of the Earl of Gowrie, executed in 1584). Upon the failure of the plot, Lord Gowrie and his associates were executed, and even Protestant nobles began to be repressed by the King. Upon the death of Elizabeth I in 1603, the Crown technically should have passed (under the will of Henry VIII) to Edward Seymour, Viscount Beauchamp; some argue that Lord Beauchamp was attainted from succeeding to the throne and therefore that the heir was Lady Anne Stanley. Nevertheless, James was the only serious claimant to the English Crown; no others, including Lord Beauchamp and Lady Anne, were powerful enough to defend their claims. Thus, an Accession Council met and proclaimed James King of England. He and his wife were crowned on 25 July 1603 at Westminster Abbey. Scotland and England remained separate states (see Personal union); it was not until 1707 that the Acts of Union merged the two nations to create a new state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Early reign in England

James' chief advisor was Robert Cecil, 1st Baron Cecil of Essendon (the younger son of Elizabeth I's favoured minister, Lord Burghley), who was created Earl of Salisbury in 1605. James was an extravagant spender; only the skill of the Earl of Salisbury could avert financial disaster. He created numerous peerage dignities to reward his courtiers. In total, sixty-two individuals were raised to the English Peerage by James, contrasted to his predecessor, Elizabeth, who had only created eight new peers during her 45-year reign. James also embroiled himself in numerous conflicts with Parliament. Being accustomed to a timid Parliament of Scotland, he did not like working with its more aggressive English counterpart. Before his accession to the English throne, he had written The True Law of Free Monarchies, in which he argued that the divine right of kings was sanctioned by the apostolic succession, and which illustrates James' difficulty in sharing the power of his government. Upon his arrival in London, James was almost immediately faced by religious conflicts in England: he was presented with a petition requesting the tolerance of Puritans. In 1604, at the Hampton Court Conference, James was unwilling to agree to their demands. He did, however, agree to fulfil one request by authorizing an official translation of the Bible, which came to be known as the King James Version. Also in 1604, he broadened Elizabeth's Witchcraft Act to bring the penalty of death without benefit of clergy to any one who invoked evil spirits or communed with familiar spirits. That same year, he ended England's involvement in the twenty year conflict known as the Anglo-Spanish War by signing the Treaty of London. Though James was careful to accept Catholics in his realm, his Protestant subjects ensured that they would not get equal rights. In the early years of his reign, many of his subjects did not know his policies—only that he had an extreme Protestant background—there were a number of plots to remove him from power, such as the Bye Plot and the Main Plot. In 1605, a group of Catholic extremists led by Robert Catesby developed a plan, known as the Gunpowder Plot, to cause an explosion in the chamber of the House of Lords, where the King and members of both Houses of Parliament would be gathered for the State Opening. The conspirators sought to replace James with his daughter, Elizabeth, whom, they hoped, could be forced to convert to Catholicism. One of the conspirators, however, leaked information regarding the plot, which was consequently foiled. Terrified, James refused to leave his residence for many days. Guy Fawkes, whose responsibility had been to execute the plot, was tortured until he revealed the identities of the other conspirators, all of whom were executed or killed during capture. Fawkes is still annually burned in effigy during Guy Fawkes Night, celebrated in the United Kingdom, and New Zealand, to commemorate the failed plot. James' care not to strongly enforce anti-Catholic doctrine thereafter ensured that there were no more plots after 1605.

Conflict with Parliament

New Zealand In 1605, Parliament voted four subsidies to the King, who still considered this to be inadequate revenue. He imposed customs duties without parliamentary consent, although no monarch had taken so bold a step since the reign of Richard II. The legality of such an action was challenged in 1606 by the merchant John Bates; the Court of Exchequer, however, ruled in the King's favour. The decision of the court was denounced by Parliament. Relations between James I and Parliament were also soured by the latter's refusal to pass the King's plan to allow free trade between England and Scotland. In the last session of the first Parliament of his reign (which began in 1610), Lord Salisbury proposed the Great Contract, which would have led to the Crown giving up feudal dues in return for an annual parliamentary subsidy. The plan, however, failed because of factionalism in Parliament. Frustrated by the members of the House of Commons and by the collapse of the Great Contract, James dissolved Parliament in 1611. With the Crown deep in debt, James blatantly sold honours and titles to raise funds. In 1611, he used letters patent to invent a completely new dignity: that of Baronet, which one could become upon the payment of £1,080. One could become a Baron for about £5,000, a Viscount for about £10,000, and an Earl for about £20,000. Lord Salisbury died in 1612; another of the King's closest advisors, Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset, was forced to leave office after being disgraced by the Overbury Scandal. Following the loss of these advisors, James began to involve himself in matters previously handled by his ministers. James' personal government was disastrous for his finances, and a new Parliament had to be called in 1614 in order to obtain the imposition of new taxes. This Parliament, the second of James' reign, was known as the Addled Parliament because it failed to pass any legislation or impose any taxes. James angrily dissolved Parliament shortly thereafter, when it became clear that no progress could be made.

Later years

Following the dissolution of the Addled Parliament, James ruled without a Parliament for seven years. Faced with financial difficulties due to the failure of Parliament to approve new taxes, James sought to enter into a profitable alliance with Spain by marrying his eldest son, Charles, Prince of Wales, to the daughter of the King of Spain. The proposed alliance with a Roman Catholic kingdom was not well-received in Protestant England. James' unpopularity, furthermore, was augmented by the execution of Sir Walter Raleigh. In Scotland, James was despised for his insistence on the passage of the Five Articles of Perth, which were seen as attempts to introduce Roman Catholic and Anglican practices into Presbyterian Scotland. From 1618 onwards, the religious conflict known as the Thirty Years' War engulfed Europe. James was forced to become involved because his daughter, Elizabeth, was married to the Protestant Frederick V, Elector Palatine, one of the war's chief participants. During the conflict between Protestants and Catholics, James' attempt to ally himself with Catholic Spain fostered much distrust. Queen Anne died on 4 March 1619 at Hampton Court Palace and was buried at Westminster Abbey. Rumours were later spread that James was little moved by the death because he had romantic affections for George Villiers. The two met in 1614 and James is said to have nicknamed the young man "Steenie" and bestowed honour upon honour to him, culminating with creating Villiers the duke of Buckingham in 1623. George Villiers was the first commoner to be elevated to a dukedom in more than a century. 1623 (1621).]] The third and penultimate Parliament of James' reign was summoned in 1621. The House of Commons agreed to grant James a small subsidy to signify their loyalty, but then, to the displeasure of the King, moved on to personal matters directly involving the King. Villiers, by now James' primary advisor, was attacked for his plan to have the Prince of Wales marry the Spanish Infanta. The practice of selling monopolies and other privileges was also deprecated. The House of Commons sought to impeach Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, who was implicated in the sale of such privileges during his service as Lord Chancellor, on charges of corruption. The House of Lords convicted Bacon, who was duly removed from office. Although the impeachment was the first in centuries, James did not oppose it, believing that sacrificing Bacon could help deflect parliamentary opposition. In the end, James released Bacon from prison and granted him a full pardon. A new constitutional dispute arose shortly thereafter. James was eager to aid his son-in-law, the Elector-Palatine, and requested Parliament for a subsidy. The House of Commons, in turn, requested that the King abandon the alliance with Spain. When James declared that the lower House had overstepped its bounds by offering unsolicited advice, the House of Commons passed a protest claiming that it had the right to debate any matter relating to the welfare of the Kingdom. James ordered the protest torn out of the Commons Journal, and dissolved Parliament. In 1623, the Duke of Buckingham and Charles, the Prince of Wales, travelled to Madrid in an attempt to secure a marriage between the latter and the Infanta. They were snubbed, however, by the Spanish courtiers, who demanded that Charles convert to Roman Catholicism. They returned to England humiliated, and called for war with Spain. The Protestants backed them and James summoned Parliament, which granted some funding for the war. Parliament was prorogued, on the understanding that it would later return to grant more funds. Parliament, however, never actually met when scheduled. Charles had promised that even if he would marry a Roman Catholic, he would not repeal political restrictions that applied to Roman Catholics. When, however, he agreed to marry the Catholic French Princess, Henrietta Maria, he reneged on his earlier promise and undertook to abolish the same religious qualifications. Charles then ensured that Parliament did not actually meet, in order to avoid a confrontation over the diverging promises. James lapsed into senility during the last year of his reign. Real power passed to Charles and to the Duke of Buckingham, although James kept enough power to ensure that a new war with Spain did not occur while he was King. James died at Theobalds House in 1625 of 'tertian ague' (fever one day in every three), probably brought upon by kidney failure and stroke, and was buried in the Henry VII Lady Chapel in Westminster Abbey. Charles, Prince of Wales, succeeded him as Charles I. James had ruled in Scotland for almost sixty years; no English, Scottish or British monarch, with the exceptions of Victoria and George III, has surpassed his mark.

Love life

Historians have said, based upon an assortment of contemporary accounts, that the King had some male lovers throughout his life and was not much interested in his wife. Growing up, James did not have any parents, for his father, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, was murdered and his mother, Mary I of Scotland was forced to flee when she married the suspected murderer, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell. His grandfather was assassinated during his boyhood, and he had no siblings. At the age of thirteen, James made his formal entry into Edinburgh. Upon arriving, he met the thirty-seven year old, married, father of five children, French lord Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox who Sir James Melville described as "of nature, upright, just, and gentle." The two became extremely close and it was said by an English observer that "from the time he was fourteen years old and no more, that is, when the Lord Stewart came into Scotland… even then he began… to clasp some one in the embraces of his great love, above all others" and that James became "in such love with him as in the open sight of the people oftentimes he will clasp him about the neck with his arms and kiss him." The King first made Stewart a gentleman of the bedchamber, then a member of the Privy Council, an earl and finally duke of Lennox. In Presbyterian Scotland the thought of a Catholic duke irked many, and Lennox had to make a choice between loyalty to his Catholic faith and loyalty to James. Lennox chose James and the king taught him the doctrines of Calvinism. The Scottish Kirk remained suspicious of Lennox after his public conversion and took alarm when he had the earl of Morton tried and beheaded on charges of treason. The Scottish ministry was also warned that the duke sought to “draw the King to carnal lust.” In response, the Scottish nobles plotted to oust Lennox. They did so by luring James to Ruthven Castle as a guest but then kept him as prisoner for ten months. The Lord Enterprisers forced him to banish Lennox. The duke journeyed back to France and kept a secret correspondence with James. Lennox in these letters says he gave up his family "to dedicate myself entirely to you"; he prayed to die for James to prove "the faithfulness which is engraved within my heart, which will last forever." The former duke wrote, "Whatever might happen to me, I shall always be your faithful servant… you are alone in this world whom my heart is resolved to serve. And would to God that my breast might be split open so that it might be seen what is engraven therein." James was devastated by the loss of Lennox. On his return to France, Lennox was met with a frosty reception as an apostate Catholic. The Scottish nobles had thought that they would be proven right in their convictions that Lennox's conversion was artificial when he returned to France. Instead the former duke remained Presbyterian and died shortly after, leaving James his embalmed heart. James had repeatedly vouched for Lennox's religious sincerity and memorialized him in a poem called "Ane Tragedie of the Phoenix," which said he was like an exotic bird of unique beauty killed by envy. Following Lennox’s death James married Anne of Denmark in 1589 to produce heirs for the throne. The two had eight children with the last being born during 1607. By then James had lost interest in his wife and it was said that she led a sad, reclusive life, appearing at court functions on occasion. His behaviour with the late Lennox, and his distancing himself from his wife attracted wide attention. Francis Osborne noted in a memoir not published until many years later that “The love the King showed men was amorously conveyed as if he had mistaken their sex and thought them ladies, which I have seen Somerset and Buckingham labour to resemble in the effeminateness of their dressings; though in whorish looks and wanton gestures they exceeded any part of womankind my conversation did ever cope withal. Nor was his love, or whatever posterity will please to call it… carried on with a discretion sufficient to cover a less scandalous behaviour; for the king’s kissing them after so lascivious a mode in public, and upon the theatre, as it were, of the world, prompted many to imagine some things done in the tiring house that exceed my expressions no less than they do my experience, and therefore left them upon the waves of conjecture, which hath in my hearing tossed them from one side to another.” A diary entry by Sir Simonds D'Ewes after speaking with James said “I discoursed with him of the things that were secret, as of the sin of sodomy, how frequent it was in the wicked city (London), and if God did not provide some wonderful blessing against it, we could not but expect some horrible punishment for it; especially it being, as we had probable cause to fear, a sin in the prince as well as the people, which god is for the most part chastiser of himself, because no man else indeed dare reprove or tell them of their faults.” Responding to deflect the growing criticism over his sexuality James adopted a severe stance towards sodomy using English law. His book on kingship, Basilikon Doron, lists sodomy among those “horrible crimes which ye are bound in conscience never to forgive.” Jeremy Bentham in an unpublished manuscript denounced James as a hypocrite after his crackdown. King James also singled out sodomy in a letter to Lord Burleigh giving directives that Judges were to interpret the law broadly and not issue any pardons saying that “no more colour may be left to judges to work upon their wits in that point.” A few years later after the controversy over his relationship with Lennox faded away and he began a relation with Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset. Carr was made a gentleman of the bedchamber and he was noted for his handsome appearance as well as his limited intelligence. His downfall came through Frances Howard, a beautiful young married woman. Upon Carr’s request James stacked a court of bishops that would allow her to divorce her husband in order to marry Carr. As a wedding present Carr was created Earl of Somerset. During the next two years the relationship between Carr and James became troubled as Carr increasingly preferred his wife. In a letter James complains that Carr had been “creeping back and withdrawing yourself from lying in my chamber, notwithstanding my many hundred times earnest soliciting you to the contrary” and that he rebuked James “more sharply and bitterly than ever my master Buchanan durst do.” At this point public scandal erupted when the underkeeper of the tower revealed that Carr’s new wife had poisoned Sir Thomas Overbury, his best friend wh

Jamestown Settlement

Settlement

Growth and development

Later Colonial Era

18th century

19th century

20th century

Jamestown Exposition of 1907

Jamestown National Historic Site

Jamestown Festival Park

APVA archaeological campaign

21st century

External links

Further reading

1607

Events

Births

Deaths

James River (Virginia)

See also

External links

Virginia

History

Native Americans

Virginia Colony: 1607–1776

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James I of England

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