A School History of the United States | Page 9

in the New World, and

especially one named Bartholomew Gosnold.
Instead of following the old route to America by way of the Canary
Islands, the West Indies, and Florida, he sailed due west across the
Atlantic,[2] and brought up on the shore of a cape which he named
Cape Cod.[3] Following the shore southward, he passed through
Nantucket Sound and Vineyard Sound, till he came to Cuttyhunk Island,
at the entrance of Buzzards Bay. On this he landed, and built a house
for the use of colonists he intended to leave there. But when he had
filled his ship with sassafras roots and cedar logs, nobody would
remain, and the whole company went back to England.[4]
[Footnote 2: By thus shortening the journey 3000 miles, he practically
brought America 3000 miles nearer to Europe.]
[Footnote 3: Because the waters thereabout abounded in codfish. For a
comparison of Gosnold's route with those of the other early explorers
see the map on p. 15.]
[Footnote 4: Bancroft's _United States_, Vol. I., pp. 70-83. Hildreth's
_United States,_ Vol. I., p. 90.]
%19. The Two Virginia Companies.%--As a result of this voyage,
Gosnold was more eager than ever to plant a colony in Virginia, and
this enthusiasm he communicated so fully to others that, in 1606, King
James I. created two companies to settle in Virginia, which was then
the name for all the territory from what is now Maine to Florida.
1. Each company was to own a block of land 100 miles square; that is,
100 miles along the coast,--50 miles each way from its first
settlement,--and 100 miles into the interior.
2. The First Company, a band of London merchants, might establish its
first settlement anywhere between 34° and 41° north latitude.
3. The Second Company, a band of Plymouth merchants, might
establish its first settlement anywhere between 38° and 45°.

4. These settlements were to be on the seacoast.
5. In order to prevent the blocks from overlapping, it was provided that
the company which was last to settle should locate at least 100 miles
from the other company's settlement.[1]
[Footnote 1: Over the affairs of each company presided a council
appointed by the King, with power to choose its own president, fill
vacancies among its own members, and elect a council of thirteen to
reside on the company's lands in America. Each company might coin
money, raise a revenue by taxing foreign vessels trading at its ports,
punish crime, and make laws which, if bad, could be set aside by the
King. All property was to be owned in common, and all the products of
the soil deposited in a public magazine from which the needs of the
settlers were to be supplied. The surplus was to be sold for the good of
the company. The charter is given in full in Poore's _Charters and
Constitutions_, pp. 1888-1893.]
%20. The Jamestown Colony.%--Thus empowered, the two companies
made all haste to gather funds, collect stores and settlers, and fit out
ships. The London Company was the first to get ready, and on the 19th
of December, 1606, 143 colonists set sail in three ships for America
with their charter, and a list of the council sealed up in a strong box.
The Plymouth Company soon followed, and before the year 1607 was
far advanced, two settlements were planted in our country: the one at
Jamestown, in Virginia, the other near the mouth of the Kennebec, in
Maine. The latter, however, was abandoned the following year (see

Chapter IV
).
The three ships which carried the Virginia colony reached the coast in
the spring of 1607, and entering Chesapeake Bay sailed up a river
which the colonists called the James, in honor of the King. When about
thirty miles from its mouth, a landing was made on a little peninsula,
where a settlement was begun and named Jamestown.[1] It was the

month of May, and as the weather was warm, the colonists did not
build houses, but, inside of some rude fortifications, put up shelters of
sails and branches to serve till huts could be built. But their food gave
out, the Indians were hostile, and before September half of the party
had died of fever. Had it not been for the energy and courage of John
Smith, every one of them would have perished. He practically assumed
command, set the men to building huts, persuaded the Indians to give
them food, explored the bays and rivers of Virginia, and for two dreary
years held the colony together. When we consider the worthless men he
had to deal with, and the hardships and difficulties that beset him, his
work is wonderful. The history which he wrote, however, is not to be
trusted.[2]
[Footnote 1: Nothing now remains of Jamestown but the ruined tower