Virginia represents a large area in North America with vast populations today who never existed in the history of the state. The poor conditions of the region during pre- colonial times, made staying in the area quite unfavorable. However, leadership of several prominent men made Virginia quite successful and worth inhabiting. Despite the laziness and incompetency of some kings and officials, Virginia made it through the tough colonial times with the drive of some of her officials (Francis et al). Virginia’s success and development came about as a result of distribution of inhabitants in different towns and cities.
John White, for instance, in his attempt to rescue the colonists at Roanoke in 1587, returned to Plymouth, England successfully. He engaged in a voyage to the island of Roanoke, in which case he brought with him women and children. The aim of the voyage was to create a stable colony of the English people at the Atlantic coast. White went back to England to collect supplies, where he stayed for three years because of the wars that broke out among the Spaniards and English men. In 1590, he returned to Roanoke Island to continue with his mission, during which they faced numerous problems. The winds and storms at sea made their lives hard, during the entire voyage. They survived the harsh sea weathers despite they limited resources to fight and rescue themselves. Many people perished in the voyage due to the heavy storms and winds(White, 2). At last they reached the island, achieved their goal and White and others returned to Plymouth successfully.
Virginia’s success was also contributed to by the fair treatment of every inhabitant of the state. The arrival of Indians in the state was accompanied with change of attitudes, seen majorly among the Spaniards. They became harsh and cruel to the Indians that all they did was get into war or fights with them. However, Bartolome de las Casas, an English man contested for the end of Indian maltreatment. He rescued the Indians from the Spaniard cruelty, and his help was facilitated by advice from a Dominican. Antonio de Montesinos advised Casas that Indians were human just like them and that they had souls. Subjecting them to such harsh treatment was not going to end the fights, since they also fought back and in the process a lot of people died. Peace was made between the Spaniards and the Indians and with time Virginia developed into a peaceful and kind state (Bartolome, 2, 3).
Utopia a small community of North America also contributed to the great success of Virginia. The community had a good government characterized by politeness and kindness. The inhabitants were success oriented and often worked towards achieving their goals of making their lives better. The island having 54 cities had customs and laws governing them and were to be followed to the latter. At the beginning, the inhabitants of the island were rude and uncivilized individuals; however, the rules of the land made them change tremendously. Their manners records back to several years in history. The rules of the land involved families, individuals, and the entire community. Utopia represents the true meaning of success and development, as is evident in their housing. They started with mud houses thatched with straws; however, the houses were later made of concrete and storey. The utopians made use of the law in their island pursue their advantages, and they never believed in snatching someone else’s pleasures (More, 2, 3).
The Spaniards had an enormous bone to chew with the Indians and their wars never stopped for an awful long time. All the Spaniard kings from King Charles to his successors including King Phillip made the Indians feel unwanted in North America. Equal treatment of the Indians and the royal people of Spain were to bring success and development in Virginia. There was also need to turn to the gospel of Christ to help in spiritual leadership of the land. Engagement in agricultural activities by the Virginian’s also contributed to colonial success of the state (Hakluyt, 2, 4, 8). All these changes were brought by the western discourse which portrayed the necessities that could improve England.
John Smith explains the reasons for a lot of fights and drawbacks in Virginia including the failure of the company. The leaders of that time were lazy and hungry for wealth and power than anything. They preferred to help themselves to serving the people. As a leader of the people, he explored the entire land, utilized strong arms in cases of emergencies and wheedled supplies and resources from the Indians to help the Virginia people (Smith, 2). He had befriended the Indians, thus managing the trades between his people and Indians. He kept the Virginian colony alive. He had a spirit of patriotism and self- denial, but his colonial colleagues were jealous of his considerable influence on the people. He believed in change and soldiers and laborers suggested by him made the difference among the people (Smith, 3). The arrival of more people happened in 1609, and agriculture continued to flourish at this time. However, during Smith’s time, the Indians still attacked them, and in the process plants were destroyed as many lives lost.
Works Cited
Bartolomé de las Casas. A Short Account Of The Destruction Of The Indieswritten 1542, published 1552 [EXCERPTS]
John, Smith. Jamestown: The End of The Company, 1624, EXCERPTS
Francis, Drake, Martin Frobisher et al., Dedicatory Verse in Praise of Exploratory Ventures, London, 1583 Excerpts
Richard, Hakluyt. Discourse of Western Planting[Excerpts], 1584
Thomas More. UTOPIA, The Frick Collection, New York, 1551
White, John. John White’s Attempt to Rescue the Roanoke Colonists,Carolina coast__1590
