1586. Naval expedition of Sir Francis Drake to the Spanish West Indies. Sack of St. Domingo and Carthagena. Rescue of the colony of Virginia.

1587. Third voyage of John Davis (the second was to Labrador in 1586). He reached 72° 12′ N. and discovered the Cumberland Islands, London Coast, Lumley's Inlet (Frobisher's Strait 1). 1592. Alleged discovery of the strait of Juan de la Fuca on the west coast of North America in 48° N. by Apostolos Valerianos, a Greek, who had been in the service of Spain under the name of Juan de la Fuca. Peschel (Gesch. d. Erdkunde, I. 273) regards the story as apocryphal.

1595. Expedition of Sir Walter Raleigh to Guiana. Capture of the city of St. James. Search for El Dorado. Voyage up the Orinoco for 400 miles.

1595. Expedition of Drake and Hawkins to the West Indies. Death of Hawkins. Drake died 1596.

1598. The Marquis de la Roche obtained from Henry IV. of France a commission to conquer Canada. He left forty convicts on the Isle of Sable, made some explorations in Acadia, and returned to France. After his death his patent was granted to Chauvin, who made two successful voyages to Tadoussac, and left some people there (1600).

1602. Voyage of Bartholemew Gosnold from Falmouth. Taking due westerly course he first saw land in 42° N. Discovery of a cape which Gosnold named Cape Cod (May 15). Discovery of Buzzard's Bay (called Gosnold's Hope). Erection of a fort and storehouse on Cuttyhunk (called by Gosnold Elizabeth Island, a name now applied to the whole chain of islands of which this is the most westerly). Return of the whole party to England.

1603. Voyage of Martin Pring from Bristol along the coast of Maine from the Penobscot River to the Bay of Massachusetts.

1603. Voyage of Samuel Champlain, a Frenchman, from Brouage, up the St. Lawrence.

1604. Foundation of Port Royal (the present Annapolis) in Nova Scotia by the French.

In 1603 Pierre du Gast, Sieur de Monts, obtained from Henry IV. of France a grant of all lands in North America from 40° N. to 46° N. (from Pennsylvania to New Brunswick), under the name of Acadia. (This name was afterwards restricted to the present New Brunswick, and the French possessions in N. America were designated generally as New France.) In 1604 De Monts associated himself with M. Poutrincourt and sailed for America with two vessels. Foundation of Port Royal by Poutrincourt. Discovery of the St. John River by Champlain, De Monts' pilot. De Monts built a fort at St. Croix, but in the following year joined Poutrincourt at Port Royal.

1 See Peschel, Gesch. d. Erdkunde, I. 299, for a discussion of the errors of the early Arctic navigators.

1605. Voyage of George Weymouth (who had made a trip to Labrador in 1593) to the coast of Maine in about 41° 30' N. Over a hundred years had elapsed since the discovery of America, and thus far South America and Central America had alone been the scene of active and successful colonization. In North America, a few scattered Spanish settlements in the south and one French colony in the north were the only representatives of European civilization. The next few years witnessed a mighty change. England, which for all her voyages had not a foot of land in America, entered on a course of settlement and conquest which ultimately gave her the fairest portion of the New World.

English, Dutch, and Swedish Colonies in North America (1606-1638).

A. English Colonies.

1606. April 10. The patent of Sir Walter Raleigh becoming void by his attainder for treason, James I. issued a patent dividing Virginia into two parts: 1. The First Colony, embracing the country from 34° N. to 38° N. with the right to settle as far as 41° N. if they were the first to found their colony: this southern colony was granted to a number of gentlemen, residing principally in London (Richard Hakluyt), and known as the London Company. 2. The Second Colony, embracing the country between 41° N. and 45° N. with the right of settling as far as 38° N. if they were the first to establish their colony; this northern colony was granted to gentlemen residing chiefly in Bristol, Plymouth, etc., and hence known as the Plymouth Company. Each company was to become owner of the land for fifty miles on each side of the first settlement, and one hundred miles inland. The nearest settlements of the two colonies should be one hundred miles apart. The government of each colony was vested in a council resident in England and nominated by the king; the local government was intrusted to a council resident in America also nominated by the king, and to conform to his regulations. Imports from England free of duty for seven years; freedom of trade with other nations, the duties for twenty-seven years to go to the colonies. Right of coinage and of self-defense. Establishment of a Council of Virginia in England for the superintendence of both colonies.

Colony of South Virginia.

1607, May 13. Foundation of Jamestown in the southern colony by a band of one hundred colonists sent out under Christopher Newport. It included Bartholomew Gosnold and John Smith. Dissension in the council. Explorations by John Smith who was captured by the Indians, and presented to the chief, Powhatan, but in the end released (story of the rescue of Smith by Pocahontas, daughter of Powhatan1). In 1607

1 This story has been relegated to the realm of fable, on the insufficient ground that no mention of it appears in Smith's first account of his captivity.

Smith explored the Chesapeake. During the first years the colony suffered severely from extremes of heat and cold, as well as from dissensions and bad provision by the company. Laborers were scarce, the colonists being either gentlemen or criminals. 1609. Second charter of the company of South Virginia, increase of privileges and of members. Lord Delaware (Thomas West) appointed governor for life. Smith returned to England. 1610. The distress in the colony was so great (The Starving Time) that it was on the point of abandonment when Lord Delaware arrived with supplies.

1611. Delaware returning to England, Sir Thomas Gates was sent out as deputy governor.

1612. Third charter of the company of South Virginia. Inclusion of the Bermudas within their possessions.

1613. The French having established the colony of St. Saviour at Mount Desert on the coast of Maine, the governor of South Virginia sent Samuel Argal to dispossess them. Argal destroyed St. Saviour and razed Port Royal. On his return he received the submission of the Dutch settlement at Hudson's River (?).

1614. Sir Thomas Dale deputy governor of South Virginia. 1615. Land, which had hitherto been held of the company by farmers as tenants-at-will, was now made private property; fifty acres being now granted to every colonist and his heirs.

1617. Samuel Argal succeeded Sir George Yeardley as deputy governor of South Virginia; reduced state of the colony. In the 1618. following year Lord Delaware sailed with supplies and colonists for Virginia, but died on the voyage. Rigorous government of Argal. At this time there were 600 persons and 300 cattle in the colony; the only exports were tobacco and sassafras, and the London company was indebted £5,000.

1619. First General Assembly in South Virginia convoked (June 19) by Sir George Yeardley, governor general, consisting of the burgesses of the colony, representing eleven "boroughs or plantations. The burgesses sat with the council and governor.

Introduction of negro slaves (20) into Virginia by a Dutch vessel.

1620. The colony, numbering 1000 persons, received an accession of 1200 new settlers. Introduction of women who were sold as wives to the colonists for from 100 to 150 pounds of tobacco. Free trade with the colony established.

1621. Sir Francis Wyatt, governor, brought over a new constitution for the colony, whereby its government was vested in a governor, a council of state, and a general assembly, to which two burgesses were to be chosen by every town, hundred, and plantation. The governor had the veto power, and every enactment of the colonial legislature required the ratification of the company in England to become binding. All ordinances of the company were without effect unless accepted by the assembly.

1622. March 22. Massacre of 347 colonists by the Indians. 1624. Commission of inquiry into the affairs of Virginia appointed by the crown. In spite of the answer of the general assembly wherein the rights of the people were defined, the court of king's bench in England, before which the cause was tried, decided against the company. The charter was annulled. The company had sent out more than 9000 persons to the colony, of whom not more than 2000 now remained. Sir Francis Wyatt was appointed governor, with a council of eleven members appointed by the king. This plan of government was continued by Charles I., who announced that the colony should immediately depend upon the crown, which should appoint the governor and council and issue patents and legal processes. Commercial restrictions.

1630. Grant of Carolana (the region south of the Virginia colony between 31° N. and 36° N.) to Sir Robert Heath, being the first instance of a proprietary grant by the crown. No settlement seems to have been made, on which account the grant was subsequently declared void, and a part of the territory granted out under the name of Carolina, a proceeding which resulted in much ill-feeling.

1632. Grant of Maryland (the region between the Potomac and 41° N.) to Cecil Calvert, the second lord Baltimore, son of Sir George Calvert, to whom the grant was originally made, but who died before putting it to use. The grant was met by a protest from Virginia which was of no avail. In 1634, the first colony reached Maryland; being about two hundred persons. Gift of fifty acres of land to each emigrant as private property. The Calverts being Roman Catholics, no mention of religious establishment appeared in the charter beyond the recognition of Christianity as established by English common law.

The proprietary, or grantee holding directly of the crown, was subject to no corporation or company, appointed the deputy governor and the executive officers, regulated the legislation, and received the taxes. The general assembly of the colonists possessed an advisory power, and the right of expressing non-approval.

1636. Grant of New Albion (including New Jersey) from the viceroy of Ireland to Sir Edward Plowden. This New Albion, which was not settled, must not be confounded with the tract of like name discovered by Drake on the western coast of America (p. 289).

The Plymouth Company.

Immediately upon the receipt of the charter the company had dispatched two explorers to the region of their grant (Challons, Hanam), and in

1607, George Popham and Raleigh Gilbert led 120 colonists to the

northern colony. They built Fort St. George on Parker's “Island" (peninsula), at the mouth of the Kennebec River in Maine (Aug. 11). The death of George Popham and of Sir John Popham in England (1608) so disheartened the colonists that they returned to England. No further attempts at settlement being made for some time, the French (who had also a claim to these regions (see 1604) planted several colonies within the territory of the Plymouth Company.

1614. Exploration of the coast of the northern colony by John Smith from Penobscot to Cape Cod. On his return he wrote an account of his voyage and published a map of the district explored, to which the name of New England was given. Trouble

with the Indians, springing from the action of Thomas Hunt, who carried off twenty-seven natives to the West Indies for slaves, discouraged settlement.

After the frustration of an attempt at colonization by Smith in 1515 through adverse circumstances, the company itself made no more attempts at settlements, and the colonies that grew up in its territories were founded by companies or individuals under its charter but independent of its action. One of the most important settlements, indeed, was made without any authority from the company. In 1620 the company was reorganized as the Council at Plymouth for New England with territory from Philadelphia to Chaleur Bay (40° N. to 48° N. across the continent).

1620. Settlement of Plymouth in New England by English separatists from Holland.

This religious sect, a sort of left wing of the larger body of Puritans, had left England in 1607-8 on account of the intolerance with which they were treated, and settled at Leyden in Holland (1609) to the number of 1000 or more, under their minister, John Robinson. After several attempts to secure a patent from the London company (South Virginia), and a promise of toleration from the king, they succeeded in the former endeavor in 1619, but not in the latter. Procuring two ships (Speedwell, Mayflower), a part of the congregation, and some others, set sail Aug. 5, from Southampton (having left Leyden in July) for the vicinity of Hudson's River. Twice driven back by stress of weather the Pilgrims (a name applied much earlier to the whole body in Holland) finally left Plymouth in the Mayflower, Sept. 6. On Nov. 9 they sighted Cape Cod, but instead of running southward they were induced by fear of shoal water, by the late season, and perhaps by the cunning of the shipmaster, to anchor at the Cape. On Nov. 11, the company signed a compact of government (they being beyond the limits of the London Company), and elected John Carver governor. For some weeks they explored the coast, landing at various places. (Birth of Peregrine White, the first European child born in New England). Toward the close of December they fixed on the site of Plymouth, and landing, began the erection of a house and portioned out land among the settlers (nineteen families, 102 individuals).1

▲ The date is disputed; that of the landing of the whole body can hardly be