Pa r t
I
Europeans Encounter Another
World
HH
1
The Age of European
Exploration
1420
1440
1471
1487
1492
1494
1497
1498
ca. 1500
1519
1531–3
1539–42
1558
1565
1576
1585
1588
1605
1606
The Portuguese discover and settle Madeira.
The Portuguese settle the Azores.
Portuguese mariners reach the Gold Coast.
Bartholomew Diaz rounds the Cape of Good Hope.
Columbus reaches the Americas.
The Treaty of Tordesillas divides the new territories between
Spain and Portugal.
John Cabot initiates English exploration by searching for a northwest passage around America.
Vasco da Gama reaches India.
The first African slaves are brought to Hispaniola.
Hernando Cortés marches against the Aztec empire.
Francisco de Pizarro overthrows the Inca empire.
Hernando de Soto explores North America from the Gulf of
Mexico to the Ozarks.
Elizabeth I becomes queen of England.
St. Augustine is founded by Spain in Florida.
Martin Frobisher resumes the English search for a northwest
passage.
The first English colony is founded at Roanoke Island.
The Spanish Armada is defeated by England.
Sir George Weymouth explores the New England coast.
The London and Plymouth companies are chartered.
Map 1 The age of exploration.
The Age of European Exploration 5
6 The Age of European Exploration
1
SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
T
of North America, which ultimately led to the creation of
the United States, properly begins with Christopher Columbus. Although Leif
Erickson, Thorfinn Karlsefni, and other Vikings explored the northern coasts of
North America and even established a temporary colony on the tip of Newfoundland at
L’Anse aux Meadows around A.D. 1000, it was Columbus’s voyage of 1492 which opened
the way for the European conquest of the continent, even though he initially failed to
reach the mainland. Ironically Columbus was looking for an alternative route to Asia to
bypass the Turkish-controlled eastern Mediterranean when he stumbled on his discovery.
Europeans had long suspected that the world was round, not flat, and that by sailing westward a mariner would eventually reach the east. But until Columbus made his famous voyage,
such views were merely speculative.
Initially the new territories were a disappointment, since they seemed to present a new
barrier to the east while offering little in return. Traces of gold were found in the possession of
the native inhabitants, but little else of interest was. Hence Columbus, like many other pioneers, did not gain from his discoveries. His career ended in disappointment, and it remained for
others to reap the rewards. The first settlement of any promise was on Hispaniola, where some
gold was found, while after 1500 tobacco, ranching, and sugar – which the Spanish already
had experience of growing on the Mediterranean coast and Canary Islands – proved profitable.
The pace of Spanish penetration increased with the subjugation of the islands of
Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Cuba from 1509 to 1511. Trading posts were established soon
after in Venezuela and Colombia at Santa Marta and Cartagena. However, the sense of
having found a new world came only in 1519 with the expedition of Hernando Cortés to
Mexico to conquer the Aztec empire of Montezuma. Cortés discovered significant Indian
cultures with advanced agriculture, sophisticated building techniques, and knowledge of
gold and other precious metals. These expectations of wealth were further realized twelve
years later when Francisco de Pizarro overthrew the Inca empire in Peru and thus transformed Spain into a world power, the envy of other European monarchs.
Spain’s first problem following the conquest was to find sufficient labor to exploit the
new territories. The indigenous inhabitants soon began to die from diseases brought by the
Europeans, their numbers being reduced in some areas by almost 90 percent, though an
alternative supply of labor was found after 1500 when the Portuguese organized the first
shipment of African slaves to Hispaniola.
Other states were inevitably motivated to emulate Spain’s success. Within five years
of Columbus’s first voyage, John Cabot, a Venetian seaman with a patent from Henry VII
of England, sailed from Bristol to find a route to China via the northwest, which the
Spanish conquest had disappointingly failed to do. The French made similar efforts. But
only the Portuguese had much success. Like the Spanish, they were geographically well
placed for exploring the Atlantic; indeed Portugal had been engaged in voyages of discovery
even longer than Spain. From 1420 the energetic Prince Henry the Navigator had sponsored
a series of expeditions down the coast of Africa. Portuguese explorers had also navigated
the eastern Atlantic, settling Madeira in the 1420s and the Azores in the 1440s. Here
they established sugar plantations, the first outside the Mediterranean, worked by African
slaves. By 1471 the Portuguese had reached the Gold Coast, the site of modern Ghana,
HE EUROPEAN INVASION
Spain and Portugal 7
DOCUMENT 1
Letters patent to John Cabot, March 5, 1497, reprinted in W. Keith Kavenagh,
Foundations of Colonial America: A Documentary History (New York, 1974), I, 18–19.
[This document shows the desire of England’s King Henry VII to emulate Spain’s example
by sending an expedition to conquer non-Christian territories. The fact that no moral
qualms were felt about such activities represents the typically Eurocentric view of the
time. Ironically, like the Spanish, Henry Vll had to employ an ltalian mariner to undertake the exploration for him.]
Be it known that we have given and granted . . . to our well beloved John Cabot,
citizen of Venice [and his sons] full and free authority, leave and power to sail to all
parts, countries, and seas of the East, of the West, and of the North under our
banners and ensigns . . . to seek out, discover and find whatsoever isles, countries,
regions or provinces of the heathen and infidels whatsover they be, and in what part
of the world soever they be which before this time have been unknown to all Christians. We have granted to them . . . license to set up our banner and ensigns in every
village, town, castle, isle or mainland newly found by them which they can subdue,
occupy, and possess as our vassals and lieutenants, getting unto us the rule, title and
jurisdiction of the same villages, towns, castles and firm land so found.
though it was not until 1487 that Bartholomew Diaz rounded the Cape of Good Hope.
Exploration of this route was completed in 1498 when Vasco da Gama reached India, thus
pioneering a new passage to the East which avoided the Turks.
Initially it seemed that the Portuguese and Spanish would dispute control over their
discoveries. However, under the auspices of Pope Alexander VI in 1494, the two crowns
signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, which drew an imaginary line 370 leagues (about 1,000
miles) from the Cape Verde Islands. Spain was to have exclusive rights to all new territories
to the west, while Portugal was to enjoy similar advantages to the east. Neither had any
qualms about annexing such lands, since Christian doctrine had granted the right to the
persons and property of heathens and infidels since the time of the Crusades. Even Cabot
had been given full authority to “subdue, occupy and possess” native habitations.
The mainland of North America played little part in this territorial scramble. In 1513
Juan Ponce de Leon of Spain explored the coast of Florida, and in 1521 he tried to establish
a settlement there but failed in the face of the hostility of the native inhabitants. In 1526
Lucas de Ayllon made another attempt father north near the Pedee River, but this effort
foundered too, owing to the difficulties of the terrain and climate. The process of exploration continued, however, inspired by the twin objectives of finding a passage to China and
discovering another E1 Dorado, or city of gold. In 1524 Giovanni de Verrazzano, acting for
the French king, found the Hudson River and sailed as far north as present-day Nova Scotia.
Then in 1535 Jacques Cartier, also in the employment of France, penetrated the St. Lawrence
to the future site of Montreal. Four years later Spain’s Hernando de Soto traveled across the
lower Mississippi to the Ozarks, meeting numerous American Indian nations on the way.
8 The Age of European Exploration
Other Spaniards explored the west coast, yet despite many rumors and hopeful promises,
the interior of the northern continent was seemingly barren of all but a scattered native
population still living in the Stone Age.
Nevertheless, some interest remained, not least among the French, who in 1562 sent an
expedition to northern Florida under Jean Ribaut. Sponsored by Gaspard Coligny, the
Protestant Admiral of France, its aim was to establish a retreat for his coreligionists in the
event of their persecution at home. The initial attempt by Ribaut to establish a post at
Charlesfort in modern South Carolina failed, so two years later he led a second expedition,
this time to build a fort and settlement on the St. Johns River in Florida. Unfortunately
for the French, this second, more substantial expedition merely induced the Spanish to
make a new effort to establish themselves in that area. In the summer of 1565, a force of
fifteen hundred men under Pedro Menéndez de Avilés first founded the town of St. Augustine and then tracked down and destroyed Ribaut’s settlement. The Spanish then placed
various missions along the coast to convert the local inhabitants and to prevent any further
intrusion by the subjects of a foreign power.
At this point, interest in the northern continent subsided. The Spanish were too busy
elsewhere to bother with their less promising northern territories, while the Portuguese had
more than enough to do exploiting Brazil, their preserve east of the Tordesillas line. Other
European nations, meanwhile, seemed unable to make any impression. England and France
were politically weak; Holland was a province of Spain; Germany was divided into small
states; and Sweden and the other Scandinavian countries were remote and impoverished.
In addition the trauma of the Reformation now swept most of northern Europe, channeling
the region’s energies away from exploring the New World.
2
ENGLAND: THE ELIZABETHAN PRELUDE
The Reformation in Europe began in 1517 when Martin Luther protested against what he
considered to be the corrupt practices of the Roman Catholic church under the pope.
Luther and others believed that faith alone, not good works, could secure salvation. They
also felt that the church contained too much ceremony, pomp, and superstition to be
compatible with the Christian message contained in the Bible. Ultimately most of northern
Europe, including England, denounced the pope and separated from Catholicism.
The process of reforming the English church proved tortuous, however, and it was not
until 1559 that Elizabeth I effected even a partial settlement. Interest in the New World
resumed only in 1576 when Martin Frobisher set off on a series of journeys to seek a
northwest passage. Two years later Sir Humphrey Gilbert obtained a patent from Queen
Elizabeth for the discovery and colonization of the northern continent. Unfortunately,
Frobisher was frustrated by the arctic ice, while Gilbert drowned off the Newfoundland
coast in September 1583 before he could accomplish anything. Gilbert’s patent was then
taken up by his half-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh, who managed to interest a number of
influential courtiers and seafaring men like Sir Francis Drake and Richard Grenville. As a
result an expedition comprising two small vessels was dispatched in April 1584 under Philip
Amadas and Arthur Barlowe to explore the coast of North America. They duly made their
way via the West Indies and early in July reach the outer banks of North Carolina, where
they made contact with the inhabitants of Roanoke Island and the surrounding area. Before
leaving they persuaded (or forced) two inhabitants, Manteo and Wanchese, to accompany
them back to England, to provide more information, not least knowledge of their language.
England: The Elizabethan Prelude 9
Amadas and Barlowe were sufficiently encouraging about trading prospects and the
defensive advantages of Roanoke to persuade Raleigh and his friends to dispatch a major
expedition the following year, this time to establish a permanent base. The flotilla comprised five large and two small vessels under the command of Grenville. Raleigh put much
thought into the expedition. Not only were Manteo and Wanchese to return as interpreters
but Thomas Harriot, a young Oxford graduate and scientist, and John White, an artist, were
hired to assess the resources and draw the flora and fauna of the region, now called Virginia,
in honor of the celibate queen.
Grenville’s force left England in early April 1585 and arrived off the outer banks early
in July. Here the expedition suffered its first setback when Grenville discovered that only
the smallest vessels could get over the sandbar to the sound beyond, making Roanoke
unsuitable as a permanent military base. Next, as the force explored the interior, a silver
cup went missing. Grenville’s decision to avenge this incident by burning an Indian village
was hardly calculated to maintain good relations, though the act was to prove typical of the
English in their dealings with the native population.
Grenville then departed for the Caribbean toward the end of August, leaving Captain
Ralph Lane with approximately one hundred men to complete a fort and other dwellings.
This number was smaller than originally contemplated, which posed a problem because
more men were now needed to find another, more suitable site. Fortunately relations with
the Roanoke Indians and their chief, Wingina, remained friendly. Lane was accordingly
able to reconnoitre the surrounding area, even dispatching a party under White to winter
among the Chesapeake Indians. However, when supplies began to run low toward the
spring, Lane responded by demanding corn from Wingina, who offered Lane and his men
some empty fields and seed corn. Despite this generosity Lane believed that the Indians
were plotting an attack and carried out a preemptive strike, murdering Wingina and a
number of his people. The triumph proved short-lived, since it soon made the other Indian
communities fearful of further dealings with the white men, thus intensifying the food
shortage. The Europeans now realized how tenuous their hold was. Not surprisingly, when
Drake called unexpectedly in June 1586 after a buccaneering expedition in the West Indies,
Lane and his men insisted on returning home.
The timing was unfortunate, for Grenville arrived a few weeks later with fresh supplies
and men. After some deliberation he decided to leave fifteen men to hold the fort until a
further group of colonists could arrive the following year.
Meanwhile, in England Raleigh’s enthusiasm for colonization was beginning to wane.
White and a number of others, however, remained optimistic and suggested a new plan to
settle the Chesapeake area, which he believed would provide better harbor facilities and a
more friendly population. Under White’s prompting the scheme this time was less martial
and more agricultural, being primarily aimed at establishing a colony of predominantly
families and freeholders as opposed to soldiers and servants. It was to be called the City
of Raleigh.
Accordingly in April 1587 some eighty-five men, seventeen women, and eleven children set sail, this time for the Chesapeake. Unfortunately the two vessels were late in
departing, and the captain insisted on leaving the settlers at the old site on Roanoke. White
may have agreed to this, since Manteo was still with him and could be expected to enlist
some local support. There was also a chance that the men Grenville had left behind would
be present to welcome them. Unfortunately, they turned out to be no longer there, having
presumably been driven off by a now enraged native population. This meant that no crops
10
The Age of European Exploration
Plate 1
Roanoke and its vicinity 1585, by John White. The Mansell Collection,
London.
had been sown, nor habitable accommodation maintained. In this critical situation it was
decided that White should return to England for additional help.
Before he could return with fresh supplies, however, war broke out between England
and Spain. Philip II had been increasingly angered by Elizabeth I and her policies. Having
previously been married to Elizabeth’s half-sister and predecessor, Queen Mary, he still had
pretensions to the English throne. A devout Catholic, having received from the pope the
title of “most Catholic monarch,” his religious belief also caused him to oppose Protestant
England. In addition, Philip II resented England’s support for the Dutch revolt against his
rule; and he was also displeased at the activities of Drake and Grenville. By 1588 the
solution was clear. With the support of Pope Sixtus V, he resolved to invade England, claim
its throne for himself, and rid the world of a dangerous heretic.
The effect of the war was to sever all communication with Roanoke until after the
Spanish Armada had been defeated. Not until August 1590 did a relief vessel get through,
by which time all trace of the settlers had vanished. White had left instructions that the
colonists were to move to a neighboring location in the event of trouble, leaving a message
as to their whereabouts. The only message was the word “Croatan” carved on a doorpost,
an apparent reference to a neighboring island on which Manteo’s people lived. But no clue
to the settlers’ fate could be found, though diminishing supplies and poor weather prevented a visit to Croatan itself.
The Roanoke episode subsequently gave rise to legends that the settlers had intermarried with the local people and migrated into the interior of the continent. Another
England: The Elizabethan Prelude 11
thesis is that they went north to join the Chesapeake Indians. More prosaically, their fate
can be reduced to one of three possibilities: either they died of starvation; or they were
killed by hostile American Indians; or they drowned at sea while trying to make their escape.
The last fate now seems the most likely, given the lack of any archeological remains.1
There are several reasons for the English failure to sustain a permanent presence on
the continent at this time. The first was poor timing. Had the Armada not sailed, the Roanoke
settlers would probably have been rescued by White’s relief expedition. The second factor
against them was the poor nature of the site, which was swampy, not readily accessible, and
disease-ridden. But even more important was the project’s poor organization, which stemmed
mainly from Raleigh’s limited funds. Mounting an expedition so far from home in such hostile
conditions required huge resources, not to mention luck. It was an enterprise equivalent to
exploring the moon today, in which no single individual, however rich, could hope to succeed.
Other factors, too, worked against the would-be colonists. One was the type of settler.
Most were soldiers of fortune, not colonizers. They lacked the motivation and practical
skills to get a settlement started. They and their patrons were interested mainly in seizing
existing wealth, either from newly discovered empires or from Spanish treasure fleets, and
the lure of such conquests remained strong until the next century, despite the diminishing
returns that even successful buccaneers like Drake and Grenville experienced. As late as
1617, Raleigh was still proposing another expedition to discover a new El Dorado, reputed
to be a fabulously rich Indian empire in the interior of Guiana.
Although the last decade of the sixteenth century witnessed no fresh attempt at
settlement by the English, a number of changes occurred which ultimately enabled them
to colonize North America. The first was the growing realization that precious metals
and jewelry were not the only commodities to bring wealth. Increasingly sugar, cotton,
cacao, coffee, tobacco, and even fish were seen as having equal value. Indeed, as the Dutch
were beginning to demonstrate, shipping these goods alone could be a highly profitable
undertaking.
This realization in turn led to the appreciation that a different kind of operation was
required to profit fully from the New World. Buccaneering might result in the interception
of a treasure fleet; it could hardly enable a crop to be harvested. Clearly a more sober type
of colonist was needed. Richard Hakluyt, Jr., advocated this and other ideas in his book
The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation, which
appeared in 1589. In various chapters Hakluyt listed the advantages which would result from
plantations, as he called them. The new settlements could provide naval stores like pitch,
tar, and hemp. Ships would be required to supply them, thus increasing the pool of seamen
and naval resources of the nation. Other valuable commodities, like olives, vines, and citrus
fruit, could be grown, thus ending both dependence on foreign producers and the drain on
bullion. In short, the American settlements could “yield unto us all the commodities of
Europe, Africa and Asia . . . and supply the wants of all our decayed trades.”2 The poor need
no longer burden the rest of the community, while the power of the state would greatly
increase, as would the profit of the individual.
1
For the argument that the colonists joined the Chesapeake Indians see Karen Ordahl Kupperman, Roanoke: The
Abandoned Colony (Totowa, 1984); and David B. Quinn, Set Fair for Roanoke: Voyages and Colonies, 1584–1606
(Chapel Hill, 1985).
2
Extracts of Hakluyt’s writings are to be found in David B. Quinn, The New American World: A Documentary
History of North America to 1612, 5 vols (London, 1979), III, 71–123.
12
The Age of European Exploration
English colonization of the New World was given another important boost at this time
by the rise of the joint stock company, a new institution which promised to overcome the
limitations of exploration by individuals such as Raleigh. By selling shares in an enterprise,
such companies could harness the resources of many individuals, making possible a larger
and more sustained effort. The first such ventures were the Russia and Eastland companies,
formed in 1553 and 1572 respectively to trade with Muscovy, followed in 1592 by the
Levant Company, set up to trade in the eastern Mediterranean. The most famous was the
East India Company, established in 1600 to trade with India and the Far East. The development of these companies reflected not only the growing concentration of monied wealth,
especially in London, but also the increasing opportunities for commerce. Indeed, historians
have regarded European expansion in the sixteenth century as proof that the continent
was emerging from its feudal, theocratic, and communal past into a more aggressive, individualistic, and capitalistic era.
These opportunities for English colonization and trade were greatly increased in 1604
by the formal signing of peace with Spain. Although Spain did not recognize the right of
the English to contravene the Treaty of Tordesillas, the agreement did promise a new era
in which their colonial ventures stood a better chance of success. The Spanish implicitly
accepted that they had enough difficulty controlling their existing possessions without
attempting to police the activities of other nations farther to the north.
Another stimulus to English overseas settlement at this time was the growth in population and rise in unemployment. The latter problem was greatly exacerbated by the enclosure of fields to consolidate holdings; as a result of this policy many tenant farmers lost their
lands. Some of these were prepared to try their fortunes elsewhere. So, too, were skilled
workers in the woolen industry who were experiencing hard times. As Sir George Popham,
one of the first architects of English settlement in Virginia argued, a colony in America
could employ not only the ex-soldiers and “poor artisans” but also “the idle vagrants” and
many others who could not find work at home.
A further inducement for people to leave England was religious conflict. Although
Elizabeth I had tried to devise a religious settlement which permitted theological diversity,
many groups were still dissatisfied. The Puritans in particular yearned for greater cleansing
of the national church. They believed that there were still too many corrupt Roman Catholic
elements in the Episcopalian settlement, and their discontent increasingly brought them
into conflict with the authorities. As a result, some Puritan dissenters began to think of
leaving England to establish a commonwealth elsewhere which was free from such corruption.
Yet another reason for emigration may have been the Crown’s attempts to modernize
the English state. Since the middle of the sixteenth century successive monarchs had
interfered with local institutions like the borough corporations, the militia, and the governing of the poor. Now new laws like the Statute of Artificers regulating the employment of
labor were suddenly imposed on communities which had barely changed in centuries, while
additional agencies of government, like justices of the peace, were also created. All of these
changes helped produce an atmosphere of uncertainty, encouraging some people to look
overseas for a more stable environment.
A final contributing factor may have been the English colonization of Ireland. Since
the beginning of her reign Elizabeth I had made determined efforts to anglicize Ireland by
imposing English law, customs, and officials to bind the country more securely to the Crown.
In the process a number of settlers had also been sent. Of course colonizing Ireland was very
different from settling North America. Ireland had a large population with a highly developed
England: The Elizabethan Prelude 13
agriculture. It was also a Christian country with a long cultural tradition, many of whose
people spoke English. Moreover, Ireland was nearby, and the English and the Irish had been
visiting each other since the time of the Norman invasion of Ireland in the twelfth century.3
North America, on the other hand, was three thousand miles distant. The main
challenge there was to tame a totally different environment, and to civilize inhabitants
who in English eyes were nothing more than heathen savages. The English colonization of
Ireland was nevertheless an important precedent, if only for the experience it provided.
Many of those involved in Ireland were also active across the Atlantic, notably Raleigh,
Grenville, Gilbert, and Lane. Significantly, their attitude to the Irish was similar to that
shown subsequently to the indigenous peoples in North America.
By the turn of the seventeenth century, then, the pace of English interest in the New
World was beginning to quicken. Peace with Spain was in the offing, and new possibilities for
trade were in prospect. Even the most northern parts of America now appeared attractive,
since it was now appreciated that the seas there abounded with fish, while the land contained many fur-bearing animals. These prospects led to renewed voyages of exploration,
notably by Sir George Weymouth, who visited the coast of Nantucket and Maine in 1605.
He returned with five Abenaki Indians and a highly optimistic account of the possibilities
for trade and settlement. One final spur, if any were needed, was the knowledge that from
1603 the French were sending out various expeditions under Samuel Champlain to explore
the area of the St. Lawrence.
Toward the end of 1605, therefore, a group of merchants and their friends, including the
younger Hakluyt, petitioned the Crown for a charter incorporating two companies, one from
the City of London, called the London Company, the other from the ports of Bristol, Exeter,
and Plymouth, called the Plymouth Company, to establish two colonies in that part of
America “commonly called Virginia.” This area was defined as lying between latitudes 34
and 45 degrees north, which James I, Elizabeth’s successor, affirmed was outside the dominion
of either Spain or France, since neither nation had established any effective settlement there.
The plea was accordingly successful and a charter duly issued on April 10, 1606. The
London Company, or South Virginia group, was granted the area between 34 and 41
degrees north: the Plymouth Company, or North Virginia group, could settle anywhere
between 38 and 43 degrees north, though neither company was to come within one hundred miles of the other. No difficulties were anticipated in this respect, since the South
Virginia group intended to concentrate on the Chesapeake area, which White and others
had explored in the winter of 1585. The North Virginia group, in contrast, intended to
devote itself to the area to the north reconnoitred by Weymouth.
In America, each venture was to set up a council of thirteen, which was to elect a
president and control all local matters. However, the overall direction of the two enterprises was to be in the hands of a royal council of fourteen chosen by the king. The normal
joint stock model was not adhered to in this case because the two companies were not
simple trading organizations. The fact that they were rather aiming to develop commerce
by peopling new lands with subjects of the Crown led James I to believe that his Privy
Council should oversee all important aspects of the new venture. Both groups were in any
3
The argument that Ireland provided a model for the English colonization of America is put forward by Nicholas
P. Canny. See especially his article, “The Ideology of English Colonization: From Ireland to America,” William and
Mary Quarterly, XXX, 1973, 575–98.
14
The Age of European Exploration
case represented on the new royal council, the northern company by Sir Fernando Gorges
and the southern company by Sir Thomas Smith.4
Initially few objections were voiced, for the prospects still looked promising. The
charter granted the companies “all the Lands, Woods, Soil, Grounds, Havens, Ports, Rivers,
Mines, Minerals, Marshes, Waters, Fishings, Commodities, and Hereditaments” within their
jurisdiction. In addition they could mine for gold and other precious metals, though onefifth of any such discoveries would belong to the Crown. They could also mint money, a
rare privilege, but could not trade with foreign nations, meaning Europeans. Finally, the
companies had the right to expel any interlopers, which effectively gave each an absolute
monopoly in its respective area.
The charter also had to address the status of those now going across the sea. It was
clearly not intended that they should cease to be subjects of the king. On the other hand,
neither should their position be disadvantaged as a result of leaving their homeland. Consequently it was agreed that the colonists and their children should be guaranteed all the
“liberties, franchises, and immunities” which Englishmen then enjoyed. These were not
defined, although recognized as among the most important was the right to own and inherit
property. Nevertheless, all lands in America were to be held as part of the king’s demesne
in free and common socage, not fee simple.5 Except in New England, seventeenth-century
property rights were never to be as absolute as they later became in the United States.6
The charter said little about the treatment of the native inhabitants except that the
settlements might “tend to the Glory of his Divine Majesty” by spreading “the christian
Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance.” The hope was
that such missionary work would “in time bring the Infidels and Savages, living in those
parts, to human Civility, and to a settled and quiet Government.” No liberties or immunities
were mentioned for them. Indeed, the Spanish precedent suggested that Christianity could
succeed only when civility had been accomplished and that this could be achieved only by
compulsion. Even then, the indigenous peoples could expect no more than a subordinate
role as hewers of wood and drawers of water, if the examples set by Raleigh, Gilbert, and
others in Ireland were any guide.
In the initial stages of colonization, the Plymouth Company proved the more speedy.
By August 1606 it had a ship ready to reconnoitre its designated area. Unfortunately, the
vessel was blown off course and then seized by the Spanish. A second attempt at reconnoitring the New England coast was more successful, but by the time the crew returned, the
London Company had already dispatched three ships – the Sarah Constant, Godspeed, and
Discovery – with the first colonists on board.
4
A complete copy of the charter can be found in W. Keith Kavenagh, Foundations of Colonial America: A
Documentary History (New York, 1974), III, 1698–1704.
5
The term socage meant that the possessor had to pay a small annual fee, known as quitrent, to the king, as
opposed to enjoying an absolute fee simple, which would have been equivalent to owning the land outright.
Modern English property law uses the term leasehold for socage and freehold for fee simple. It is these latter terms
which are generally used hereafter to describe such property arrangements.
6
This was true of all “rights” at this time, which basically fell into three categories: privileges granted by the
Crown, privileges established by custom, and rights laid down by statute. Crown privileges varied according to the
residence and circumstance of the individual. The same was true of custom. Only rights established by statute,
notably trial by jury, were common to all. Even these were not absolute in the sense of the later state and federal
constitutions of America, since what one parliament had granted another could take away.