tivated the land in common; but this did not promote industry, and it was found best to give each man a few acres to till for himself. The cultivation of tobacco commenced in 1615, and soon became the general pursuit. There were no more gold-seekers; "the fields, the gardens, the public squares, and even the streets of Jamestown were planted with tobacco," which became not only the staple product, but served as money for the colonists.

18. Legislative Assembly. The real prosperity of Virginia dates from the arrival of Sir George Yeardley (yard'-le), in 1619. He put an end to the cruel martial law, by which the colony had been ruled, and established the principles of free government by permitting the colonists to elect their own legislature. In July, 1619, delegates from each of the eleven plantations met at Jamestown. This was the first legislative assembly in the New World.

19. Introduction of Slavery.-Slavery was introduced. into the English colonies in 1619. In that year a Dutch trading vessel from Africa sailed up the James River, and landed twenty negroes, who were sold as slaves to the colonists.* The cultivation of cotton was commenced two years after (1621).

* "These negroes the planters purchased on trial, and the bargain was found to be so good that in a short time negroes came to be in great demand in Virginia. Nor were the planters long indebted to the chance visits of the Dutch ships for a supply of negro laborers; for the English merchants embarked in the traffic, and instructed the captains of their vessels visiting the African coast to barter for negroes as well as for wax and elephants' teeth. Before the middle of the seventeenth century all Europe was implicated in the buying and selling of negroes."-Robert Chambers.

18. Who arrived in 1619? His measures? First legislative assembly? 19. What was introduced in 1619? In what way?

20. Importation of Wives. As yet there were but few families in the colony, and the men worked only with the intention of amassing enough wealth to enable them to return home. In 1620, the treasurer of the Company induced one hundred and fifty young women of good reputation to embark for Virginia. The young planters eagerly paid one hundred pounds of tobacco each in order to obtain a wife, that being at first the expense of each woman's passage. Afterwards, the price was raised to one hundred and fifty pounds. Domestic ties soon bound the settlers to their new homes, and the idea of returning to England was abandoned.

21. Indian Massacre.-About this time Powhatan, the father of Pocahontas, died. This was an unfortunate event for the colonists; for his successor, jealous of the increasing numbers of the white settlers, commenced a war against them, during which, in one day, the Indians massacred about three hundred and fifty men, women, and children (March 22, 1622). The settlers, in return, slaughtered great numbers of the savages, and drove the rest into the wilderness. The numbers of the settlers were greatly reduced, but peace was secured for more than twenty years.

22. Virginia a Royal Province. The London Company had spent vast sums of money in the settlement of Virginia, and as yet had received but very slight returns. The king, however, becoming displeased with the manner

20. What were imported in 1620? How paid for? What effect had this upon the prosperity of the colony? 21. What led to an Indian war? Its result? 22. When and how did Virginia become a royal province ?

in which they discussed their affairs at the public meetings, took away their charter; and Virginia thus became a royal province (1624).

23. Growth of the Colony.--From this time the colony continued to prosper. The people raised large quantities of tobacco, cotton, and corn, which they exchanged for such goods as they needed from England and other countries. The soil was very fruitful, and the climate delightful; so that Virginia was said to be "the best poor man's country in the world." In 1648, the population amounted to 20,000, notwithstanding a second massacre by the Indians four years before.

24. Virginia during the English Civil War.-During the great civil war in England between King Charles I. and the Parliament, the people of Virginia were generally on the side of the king; but when the war was over, and the king was defeated and beheaded, they submitted to the forces sent by Cromwell, who was at the head of the English government. On the return of Charles II. to the throne, in 1660, they gladly acknowledged him. On account of their faithfulness to the royal authority, Virginia was often spoken of as the "Old Dominion."

25. Oppressive Measures of England. The colonists were obliged to submit to many oppressive measures on the part of the mother country. By a law called the Navigation Act, they were forbidden to export or import any goods except in British vessels, and they were not allowed

23. Describe the growth of the colony. What is said of the country? What was its population in 1648? 24. What happened during the English civil war? At its close ? On the restoration of the king? What was Virginia called? 25. By what measures was Virginia oppressed? To what did they lead?

to ship any of their staple products to any country except England. This law caused great discontent in the colony; and was the means of exciting a rebellion called Bacon's Rebellion, from the name of a popular leader, Nathaniel Bacon.

26. Bacon's Rebellion.-Sir William Berkeley had been governor for many years, and had been quite popular; but the people became dissatisfied with him because he carried out so strictly the oppressive measures of England, and also because he took no sufficient means to suppress the hostile attacks of the Susquehanna Indians. In 1676, a large number of the colonists revolted from his authority, and set up a government under Nathaniel Bacon.

27. Death of Bacon.-During the civil war that followed, Jamestown was burned,* and many plantations were laid waste. In the midst of it, however, Bacon died; and the insurrection immediately ended, his followers laying down their arms, on the promise of a general pardon. Berkeley, however, was very severe in his punishment of the rebels, many of whom were executed (1677).†

28. Culpepper's Administration.—In 1673, Charles II. granted the whole of Virginia to Lord Culpepper and the

* "I find no vestiges of the ancient town (Jamestown), except the ruins of a churchsteeple and a disordered group of old tombstones. The ruin of the steeple is about thirty feet high, and mantled to its very summit with ivy."- Wm. Wirt.

+ "More blood was shed than, on the action of our present system, would be shed for political offences in a thousand years. "The old fool,' said the kind-hearted Charles II., alluding to Berkeley, has taken away more lives in that naked country, than I, for the murder of my father.' . . . It was on the occasion of this rebellion, that English troops were first introduced into the English colonies in America."-Bancroft.

26. What were the causes of Bacon's Rebellion? 27. What occurred during the war? How did it end? What followed? 28. To whom was Virginia granted? How long did it continue under Culpepper? What followed?

Earl of Arlington, two of his favorites, for the term of thirty-one years. After the recall of Berkeley, in 1677, Culpepper assumed the government, which he administered till 1684, when the king revoked the grant, and Virginia once more became a royal province, and so remained till the Revolution in 1776.

CHAPTER V

New England

1. The Plymouth Company. It has already been stated that King James, in 1606, granted to the London Company the land lying between the thirty-fourth and thirty-eighth parallels, called South Virginia, this being the southern part of the territory which the English claimed on account of the discoveries made by the Cabots. The northern portion, lying between the forty-first and the forty-fifth parallels, he granted to a company called the Plymouth Company.* This Company, in 1607, began to form a settlement at the mouth of the Kennebec River,t

"This patent conveyed a grant of the land along the coast for fifty miles, on each side from the place of their first habitation, and extending one hundred miles into the interior."-Edward Everett.

"Captain George Popham was their president. They went to work building a fort, storehouse, dwellings, and even a vessel. She was called the 'Virginia,' and

her size was thirty tons. Her first voyage was made the next year to Virginia, and thence to England. Therefore the Kennebec River, which has since sent out so many vessels, has the honor of producing the first vessel built by English hands in America." -Varney's Hist. of Maine.

"The first decked vessel (having a full deck) built within the limits of the old United

Map Questions.-(Map, p. 53.) Where is Cape Cod? Cape Cod Bay? Plymouth? Salem? Boston? Little Harbor? Dover? Merrimac River? Piscataqua River? Providence ?

Text Questions.-1. What grant was made to the Plymouth Company? What settlement did they attempt ?