Author Note

Diverse Virginia Planters

Jamestown Settlement

The London Company sponsored the expedition to establish a profitable colony. The expedition started with 144 men but only 104 survived the trip. No women were a part of the initial expedition. In 1609, about six hundred people, including women and children, joined the colony in the hopes of making it more like a settlement. Other voyages brought more settlers in the years between 1606 and 1624 expanding the population and goals of the Jamestown colony.

Document Note

The document was published in Edward D. Neill’s History of the Virginia Company of London (1869). It was written in 1623 by members of the Jamestown Colony in response to a report that Captain Nathaniel Butler made to the Virginia Company. Captain Butler was the governor of Bermuda from 1619-1622 and he visited the Jamestown Colony on his way back to England. Butler was disappointed with the status of the area and the slanters wrote to demonstrate that improvements had been made. The planters specifically discussed Captain Butler’s errors in judging the climate, geographical location, and the status of buildings and the government of the colony.

Other Internet and Reference Sources

The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities has a website with information at
http://www.apva.org/history/

The National Park Service maintains an excellent short Web page on the Virginia Company of London at http://www.nps.gov/colo/Jthanout/VACompany.html