1. Virginia ColonyLiterature and Government By: Alison Monaghan Maggie Kiefer Allyssa Idacavage Drew Yeselski

2. Government • The Virginia Colony is Republic • Started as a joint stock company financed by individual investors to make a profit • Starting the colony was a risky business investment • Venture capitalists did not underwrite the colony in Virginia to create a place for religious freedom and political liberty • King James I granted charter to Virginia company on April 10, 1606 • No official government initiative, Navy escort, soldiers on official duty accompanied the expedition, and no military command structure

3. Government • Jamestown, Virginia was originally founded for wealth and a desire to convert the natives to Christianity • Virginia Became a royal colony when King James I revoked in 1624 • Virginia company charter went bankrupt • King James I felt threatened by House of Burgesses(representative assembly) • His timely death in 1625 ended plans of disbanding assembly • Virginia House of Burgesses elected lower house in legislative in New World established in the Colony of Virginia in 1619 • First legislature anywhere in English colonies in America was Virginia

4. Government • The House of Burgesses first met on July 30, 1619 at a church in Jamestown. Its first order of business was to set a minimum price of the sale of tobacco. • Although the first session was cut short because of an outbreak of malaria, the House of Burgesses soon became a symbol of representative government. • From the outset the Virginia Company was granted the authority to govern its own colony.

5. Government Laws • Governor chose the council members • Virginia Colony was allowed to govern itself and make its own laws, according to and within boundaries of English Law • Women, slaves, indentured servants, persons of non- English birth or persons convicted of a crime, were not allowed a voice in the government and weren’t allowed to serve in any aspect of the government • Suspected criminals weren’t allowed to service a jurors or in any firm of government • If a person is found guilty of a major crime (murder, stealing a house, cow, wagon, or valuables) they were hanged within 3 days of a guilty verdict.

6. Literature • After Jamestown, Virginia was established colonial America made an outstanding amount of literature • Mostly non-fiction • Religious disputes were one of the main motivations for writing in colonial times • Addressed the subjects of will and work, relationships between human and nature, and differences between culture

7. Literature • Much literature is in forms of autobiography and sermons • Many literature works reflected their faith in: • Poems • Journals • Literature writing was in two different departments: • Drama • Lyrical • Virginia colony writers wrote as practical explorers, colonists, and business men