Virginia Colony founded at Jamestown

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.1: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Colonial Period, 1604-1783.
Vol. editors: Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Scott Slawinski (Western Michigan University)

Domains

Population, migrations and new settlements

Dates

Date of occurrence 1607-05-14

Places

United States (Location)
England (Involved)

Resources

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Among the many European initiatives to establish trading posts and colonies on the Atlantic shore of North America, Jamestown achieves prominence because it survived, unlike Sir Walter Raleigh’s attempted settlements at Roanoke, 1585-87.

The foundation of Jamestown was undertaken under a charter granted by James I to the Virginia Company in London in 1606. The Company funded an expedition comprising three vessels -- the Susan Constant, Discovery, and Godspeed under Captain Christopher Newport – which left England in January 1607, sailed south to the Canaries, then west to the Caribbean, pausing to restore themselves in what is now Puerto Rico. They reached the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay at the end of April and then scouted for a secure, inland place which would be safe from attack by

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623 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Virginia Colony founded at Jamestown". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 April 2014 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1174, accessed 06 May 2024.]

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