 | The records of the Virginia Company of London |  |
VALUE OF THE VIRGINIA RECORDS
It has been the purpose of this paper to give to the reader a knowledge of
what records the Virginia Company kept and to afford a guide to the extant
records, as well as to indicate the character and importance of the various col-
lections of records and of the various classes of documents. The value of this
series of papers is threefold—it discloses the organization and activity of the
company; it aids in an understanding of the various problems, policies, and con-
ditions of the State under the early Stuarts; and it is of great importance in a
study of the entire movement of the earlier and of the later century for
exploration, for trade, and especially for colonization.
The object of the previous discussion has been to show that an intimate knowledge
of the mechanism of the company, of the methods of other corporations and business
houses, of the policies of the company toward the plantation, of the growth of the
colony, and of the change in the attitude of the Crown may be gained from the
various documents. Thus the value of the records in revealing the methods employed
by the company in conducting its courts, in keeping its books, in securing capital, and
in finding investment which would result in immediate returns and enable the com-
pany to transport men to the colony, has been pointed out. The evidence of the
change of the plantation from a colony for exploitation to a colony for settlement,
and the consequent effort of the company to stimulate exploration, settlement, and
the development of resources, as well as the proof of the liberality of the proprietors
in advancing self-government, has been outlined.
The indication in the records of the colony that the control changed from absolute
authority centralized in the governor to local management and government through
a representative legislative assembly, and that the social conditions developed from
life in a few compact settlements to plantation life has been suggested. Moreover,
the documents which show the efforts of the joint-stock companies to gain protection
and become privileged monopolies, on the one hand, and the tendency of the Crown,
on the other, to utilize the company to relieve the country of its undesirable popu-
lation, to secure a share in the revenue, and finally to assume the full proprietorship
of the colony has been cited.
The court book and other records of the company have another value in that
they incidentally aid in an understanding of many problems of the government. Thus
the attitude of the King toward the company was much influenced by his desire for
marriage relations with Spanish royalty. Various questions of policy were often
discussed in the meetings of the company, such as the freedom of trade and of
fishing, monopolies, customs, and shipping, while the financial aid given to colo-
nization by Spain is cited in contrast to the action of England, and the favor
to the Spanish colonies by the State in allowing the sole importation of certain
products was dwelt upon. The desire to cement the colony to the State and the
necessity of avoiding separation was much emphasized, but the wisdom of allowing
self-government to the colony was never once forgotten. In fact, the argument that
democracy was unavoidable, since the planter had the privilege of the adventurer,
was urged in opposition to the accusations of the King that the company favored
democratic forms. This spirit in the company is also seen in the tendency to
address Parliament whenever possible, as illustrated in the movement for a new
patent and in the settlement of the tobacco question.
The economic and industrial situation in England is perhaps better revealed than
any other phase of affairs. Thus the commodities which were in demand and not
the system of vending goods were all matters of great importance to the company,
and appear again and again in the various documents. The poverty of skilled labor
is shown in the necessity the company was under to go to the Continent for men to
superintend and carry on every industry which it attempted to establish in the col-
ony. Dutchmen, Swedes, Poles, and Frenchmen were thus imported for conducting
sawmills, cultivating silkworms, and making potash, clapboards, salt, wines, and
glass. When engineers for constructing fortifications were desired, General Cecil
declared that he had not men for the purpose, but hoped he might be able to recom-
mend some Frenchmen of ability. The papers which concern the transportation of
vagabonds and of boys and girls furnish a comment on a special phase of social
life, while the spirit of the entire records reveals the demand for an outlet for
activity and an opportunity for investment.
Throughout, the minutes of the courts and the correspondence and references
to the other trading companies emphasize the strong similarity between their
organization and that of the Virginia corporation. Illustrations of this fact are seen
in the citation of the precedent from other joint-stock companies of employing a
deputy and a director, of the salaries paid in the East India Company, and of the
liberty of trade enjoyed by the Muscovy Company; while among the Ferrar papers
are drafts of petitions from the Commons to the King in the writing of Nicholas
Ferrar on behalf of the Turkey merchants and of the "Ginny and Binny" company,
showing the intimate relations between the different movements.
Perhaps the most important result of a study of the Virginia Company comes
from the knowledge which may be gained of the whole movement which had as its
object exploration, trade, and settlement before and since the time of the company
in all of the colonies. In its records are to be found one of the earliest sources of
information concerning colonial experience from the English standpoint, and hence
through them may be gained an understanding of the way in which proprietary
colonies were established; of the development of the plantation into a colony of
settlement; and of the consequent relation between the settlers and the proprietor.
These steps as well as those by which the Crown was led to resume the authority
and to establish a royal proprietorship in place of that of a company or of an indivi-
dual, and the consequent development of the freedom of the settler were repeated
in the history of all of the proprietary colonies of America.
| The records of the Virginia Company of London | |