400th Anniversary of the First Landing of Permanent English Colonists In America Today

Today is the 400th anniversary of English colonists landing at Cape Henry at the mouth of the Chesepeake Bay. They arrived in three ships, the Susan Constant, the Godspeed and the Discovery. This kicks off a year of activities commemorating the founding of the Virginia colony at Jamestown in 1607.

Before setting sail, the London Council offered some interesting advice on how the colonists should deal with natives. To wit:

Secondly you must in no Case Suffer any of the natural people of the Country to inhabit between You and the Sea Coast for you Cannot Carry Your Selves so towards them but they will Grow Discontented with Your habitation and be ready to Guide and assist any Nation that Shall Come to invade You and if You neglect this You neglect Your Safety. . . .

In all Your Passages you must have Great Care not to Offend the naturals if You Can Eschew it and imploy Some few of your Company to trade with them for Corn and all Other lasting Victuals . . . and this you must Do before that they perceive you mean to plant among them. . . .

And how Weary Soever your Soldiers be Let them never trust the Country people with the Carriage of their Weapons for if they Run from You with Your Shott which they only fear they will Easily kill them with all their arrows. And whensoever any of Yours Shoots before them be sure that they be Chosen out of your best Markesmen for if they See Your Learners miss what they aim at they will think the Weapon not so terrible and thereby will be bould to Assailt You. Above all things Do not advertize the killing of any of your men that the Country people may know . . . they are but Common men. . . . Do well also not to Let them See or know of Your Sick men . . . which may also Encourage them to many Enterprizes.

In any case, Jamestown was officially founded on May 14, 1607 and the rest is history. Happy 400th!

Disclosure: I grew up in Virginia and currently live most of the time in the Old Dominion. Apparently, my Scots-Irish ancestors arrived in Maryland sometime around 1750 and eventually ended up in hollers of what became West Virginia. My branch emerged from coal country in the 1950s. On the other hand some of my Texas forebears apparently arrived in central Texas from Bavaria sometime around 1900. And I admit it, I am very happy that my ancestors had the gumption and good sense to leave Old Europe for the New World.