Message from the Governor

of the Chesapeake Bay Company

While the broader focus of the 400th Anniversary celebration has been on the confluence of three diverse cultures in the settling of Virginia, the focus of the Jamestowne Society in connection with this historic celebration is to celebrate the lives and the heritage of those English adventurers who chose to board three small ships and brave the elements of the Atlantic Ocean in search of new horizons. It is the lineage of these early settlers whom we represent and proudly so.

On May 13, 1607, the Susan Constant, the Godspeed and the Discovery officially landed at Jamestown Island, and thus began the great adventure. The early years of colonization were fraught with disease, warfare with the local Indians, and a severe period of starvation. Those who survived were joined by shiploads of other English settlers who added to their numbers and helped ensure the success of the colony.

The history of the Colony of Virginia and of the United States of America does indeed begin with the small settlement at Jamestown. Was it the first settlement in North America? No. But it was the First Permanent English Settlement in North America. And because of this, we celebrate our heritage of being English transplants who came to what was a virtual wilderness (in terms of what the English had been used to at home), defining their new home in their own terms, including the bringing of the traditions and customs of English law and the establishment of a representative democracy in 1619 with the first meeting of the General Assembly of Virginia. Whoever we have become, in the interim, both individually and as a nation, we owe a great debt of gratitude to the creativity and the persistence and the great sense of adventure and exploration which, without doubt, was part of all of the early Virginia colonists.

There is a great focus on the blending of the three cultures which contributed to the history of Jamestown. This is undoubtedly something which should be acknowledged. However, this year, on May 13, 2007, the specific contribution we honor is that of those 105 men and boys who were aboard those three ships on that late spring day in 1607 who stepped ashore with the intent to make this land an extension of England. At that time, the thought of the United States of America would not have been even a figment of their imagination – they were all good Englishmen, and shortly thereafter, good Englishmen and Englishwomen, who were loyal subjects of Her Majesty.

The reasons they came were varied. Men who were not first-born did not stand to inherit land from their fathers, due to primogeniture in England. Second and later born sons were often sent into the ministry or into law. Some of those who were disenchanted with those prospects chose to come to Virginia for a chance to own land. Some who were not of the propertied class in England chose to come to Virginia for the same opportunity, to own land, because they could not have reasonably expected to have ever owned land in England. Tradesmen came because their skills bartered their passage.

Whatever the reason they came, they did, and in staying here, they cast a long shadow on the history of North America. It is to them that we tip our collective hats this spring, and for them that we gather to honor their valiant efforts. Not many of us in a lifetime will ever make choices so dramatic as those made by those English settlers who decided to sign on board one of those tiny ships to brave what even today can be considered a risky voyage. All of us who can demonstrate our lineage to these few people are understandably awed by their dedication to purpose, and by their ultimate success. It is for them that we pause this May in honor and in celebration. If it were not for those three ships, the date of May 13, 1607 would indeed not be the subject of celebration, but some other date tied with some other event. We are about remembering what was done, by whom it was done, and to perpetuate their history without diminution.

Susan Godman Rager, Governor     

The above ad appeared in the Washington Post Magazine, March 25, 2007