morning of the appointed day a converted Indian told the people at Jamestown. Men were sent to warn all the settlers, but before the news could reach every plantation, twelve

o'clock came, and three hundred planters, with their families, were killed. A bloody war followed, in which the Indians were defeated and driven back into the forest.

61. Virginia a Royal Province. - The London Company had invested a large amount of money for the support of the colonies in America; and, because of the need of more money, the number of its members had been increased until it contained many of the most prominent men of the kingdom. The production and sale of tobacco having at length become a sure and steady source of wealth, the strength of the comFIELD'S GR. SCH. H.-4

pany was still further increased. More than one hundred members of the Parliament that opposed the king were enrolled among its members, and the king, wishing 1624 to crush this growing power, in 1624 revoked the charter of the company. He then took the government of the colony into his own hands, and himself appointed its governors. This made Virginia a royal province.

1644-6

CHAPTER II

THE SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA (CONTINUED)

62. Indian War. After their defeat, the savages professed to be at peace with the white men. But twenty-two years afterwards, in 1644, they made another sudden attack upon the plantations, and killed a large number of the settlers. The war which followed this attack lasted two years. Many red men were killed or captured, and after this the Virginia Indians gave but little trouble to the colony.

63. The Old Dominion. After the execution of Charles I,1 king of England, in 1649, many Royalists, called "Cavaliers," removed to Virginia, where the people had remained devoted to the cause of the king. Sir William Berkeley was governor, and Charles II, who was then banished from England, was invited to come and reign as king in Virginia. From this circumstance, and from the name "His Majesty's Ancient

1 Revolution in England. A quarrel between Charles I and Parliament brought on civil war in England in 1642. The people who took sides with the king were called " Royalists or "Cavaliers." Those who were on the side of Parliament were called "Roundheads," because of their habit of cutting the hair short. Oliver Cromwell was one of the leaders of the army against the king. After some years of trouble, during which several battles were fought, the town into which the king had fled was surrounded by the Parliamentary army, and he was made a prisoner. He was tried by a court made up of members of Parliament; this court condemned him to be beheaded. Oliver Cromwell was then proclaimed Lord Protector, and the king's son fled from the country. In 1660, eleven years after the death of Charles I, his son, Charles II, was placed on the throne of England.

Colony and Dominion of Virginia," which was given in one of her charters, Virginia was called the "Old Dominion."

The Cavaliers obtained large tracts of land, and their dwellings were surrounded by broad acres, tilled by their slaves. The "quarters" built for their slaves, white and black, formed a small settlement not far from the house of the owner. Many of the Cavaliers belonged to the aristocratic class in England, and they lived in America as they had lived in their old homes. They delighted in hunting and fishing; and, as game was abundant, every gentleman had his horses and hounds. In their homes they entertained visitors with kindliest hospitality. The influence of these Cavaliers did much to form the character of the people among whom they came to live. They brought with them their great respect for the king, and their love for the Church of England. Among them were the ancestors of Washington and Lee.

64. Navigation Acts. While Cromwell was ruling in England, the ships of Spain were busy carrying gold from America, and those of Holland were sailing with cargoes of silks, tea, and spices from China and India. Cromwell determined that England should have a share of the commerce that was bringing wealth and power to those nations, and as early as 1651 laws were enacted which injured the commerce of the colonies. Between 1660 and 1670, the English Parliament passed the Navigation Acts. These declared that no goods should be carried to the colonies or brought from them except 1660-70 in English ships. The people were compelled, be

sides, to pay a heavy tax upon everything exported from the colonies, and upon everything brought in. The commerce of England was soon doubled, but at the cost of the colonists, who naturally thought they were unjustly treated.

65. Grant to Culpeper and Arlington. — Virginia had been a royal province about fifty years, when Charles II gave the whole of the province to two of his favorites Lord Culpeper and the Earl of Arlington.

This

1673

act of the king, added to the tyranny of Governor Berkeley,

aroused deep feelings of indignation among the people. As Virginia then contained a white population of forty thousand, the two men were too wise to attempt to take possession of the king's gift.

66. Bacon's Rebellion.

1676

While this widespread discontent was increasing more and more, the Susquehanna Indians began plundering the plantations along the border, from the Potomac to the James, and Governor Berkeley did nothing to protect these settlements. Many thought that his unwillingness to fight the Indians came from a fear that war would interfere with the profitable trade that

RUINS AT JAMESTOWN

he was carrying on with them. The Virginians saw their families and their homes in constant danger, and having armed themselves, they chose for their leader Nathaniel Bacon, an ambitious and popular young lawyer. Berkeley pronounced Bacon and his followers rebels, but they pursued the savages and defeated them at Bloody Run, near the site of the city of Rich

mond. When Berkeley attempted to arrest Bacon, he found such opposition

among the people, that he was compelled to dismiss the assembly, which he had kept for a long time in session, and to order an election for new members. Bacon was elected as one of the representatives, and assisted in drawing up a petition to the king in which complaints were made of the despotism of Berkeley. The Indians again became troublesome, and Bacon again gathered his forces, marched to Jamestown,

and compelled the governor to give him a commission. He continued to drive the Indians from the frontier, and was again declared a rebel. He brought his men back to Jamestown, and Berkeley fled to collect forces who were friendly to him.

This was just one hundred years before the Declaration of Independence by the colonies. Civil war began to rage throughout the province. Property was destroyed, plantations plundered, and Jamestown burned to ashes. It was never rebuilt. Nothing but a ruined church tower now stands to show where the first settlement was made. Williamsburg became the capital. The king proclaimed Bacon a traitor, and sent over troops to assist Governor Berkeley. But before they reached the shores of Virginia, Bacon suddenly died, and the rebellion came to an abrupt end. Berkeley in revenge, and with the cruelty for which he was noted, hanged more than twenty of the rebels; the king recalled him to England, where he died, having been governor of Virginia through a period of thirty-five years, except for a few years during Cromwell's Protectorate. 67. William and Mary College. Virginia continued to be oppressed by unjust laws and royal governors during the