Excerpt from Address at the Three Hundredth Anniversary of the Settlement of Jamestown It seems to me that what is said on this spot on this occa sion should relate to the spiritual side of the work and the fruits of the Jamestown settlement, whose Three Hundredth Anniversary we are here today to celebrate, rather than to the material or physical side. And it is in this spirit that I wish to deal with it in this presence. And first on this spot on this occasion I wish to mention with reverence the name of Sir Walter Raleigh: Lord, and Chief Governor of Virginia, to whom, under God's Provi dence, more than any other human being is due the fact that this Country belongs to the English Speaking Race, and the Civilization which it represents. Three hundred years ago, on this Island - which until then, through all the ages, since the birth of things, had lain desert and untrodden by any feet save those of the wild beast and the yet wilder savage, - to which Spain had simply asserted a traditionary right as a part of the vast unknown region of the American Continent - landed a little band of sea-worn Englishmen and took posession in the name of God and of the Crown of England. Since the 20th day of December preceding, when they weighed anchor in the River Thames and dropped down the stream with the receding tide, they had in their three little ships been making their way slowly and painfully across the wintry Atlantic. These small vessels: The Sarah Con stant, (of one hundred tons) with Captain Christopher New port, the Admiral, in command, The Goodspeed, (of forty tons) with Captain Bartholomew Cosmold, the vice-admiral, and The Discovery, a pinnace, (of twenty tons), with Cap tain John Ratcliffe, had, reckoning all the time since they weighed anchor in the Thames until they dropped anchor inthe Powhatan, made only about one knot per hour. Time moves slowly when weighted with the burden of Fate. Those frail boats in which men might hesitate now to cruise along the margin of the coast, bore in their wombs the destinies of Nations. When on May 13, 1607, they moored to the trees of this Island in six fathom water, they moored Europe to Amer ica. They moored the Old to the New. They moored the English Civilization with all its possibilities to the New World with all its possibilities. There were times when it appeared that their cables were in danger of parting. But though frayed to the slenderest, they never wholly gave way. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Thomas Nelson Page gives a speech on the 300th anniversary of the establishment of Jamestown, highlighting the actions and achievements of the early English settlers, their interactions with the native population and the challenges they faced. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Just in time for the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, Virginia comes an updated edition of Olga Hall-Quest’s classic. Hall-Quest provides an absorbing account of life in this first permanent colony of what is now the United States, and the struggles of those who settled there. Experts from the Jamestown National Historical Site have fact-checked every detail, and the curator has written a brand-new foreword--complete with recently discovered information about the colony.

For the past three decades, many history professors have allowed their biases to distort the way America’s past is taught. These intellectuals have searched for instances of racism, sexism, and bigotry in our history while downplaying the greatness of America’s patriots and the achievements of “dead white men.” As a result, more emphasis is placed on Harriet Tubman than on George Washington; more about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II than about D-Day or Iwo Jima; more on the dangers we faced from Joseph McCarthy than those we faced from Josef Stalin. A Patriot’s History of the United States corrects those doctrinaire biases. In this groundbreaking book, America’s discovery, founding, and development are reexamined with an appreciation for the elements of public virtue, personal liberty, and private property that make this nation uniquely successful. This book offers a long-overdue acknowledgment of America’s true and proud history.

Listen to a short interview with Karen Ordahl Kupperman Host: Chris Gondek | Producer: Heron & Crane Captain John Smith's 1607 voyage to Jamestown was not his first trip abroad. He had traveled throughout Europe, been sold as a war captive in Turkey, escaped, and returned to England in time to join the Virginia Company's colonizing project. In Jamestown migrants, merchants, and soldiers who had also sailed to the distant shores of the Ottoman Empire, Africa, and Ireland in search of new beginnings encountered Indians who already possessed broad understanding of Europeans. Experience of foreign environments and cultures had sharpened survival instincts on all sides and aroused challenging questions about human nature and its potential for transformation. It is against this enlarged temporal and geographic background that Jamestown dramatically emerges in Karen Kupperman's breathtaking study. Reconfiguring the national myth of Jamestown's failure, she shows how the settlement's distinctly messy first decade actually represents a period of ferment in which individuals were learning how to make a colony work. Despite the settlers' dependence on the Chesapeake Algonquians and strained relations with their London backers, they forged a tenacious colony that survived where others had failed. Indeed, the structures and practices that evolved through trial and error in Virginia would become the model for all successful English colonies, including Plymouth. Capturing England's intoxication with a wider world through ballads, plays, and paintings, and the stark reality of Jamestown--for Indians and Europeans alike--through the words of its inhabitants as well as archeological and environmental evidence, Kupperman re-creates these formative years with astonishing detail.

As the site of the first permanent English settlement in North America, the birthplace of a presidential dynasty, and the gateway to western growth in the nation’s early years, Virginia can rightfully be called the “cradle of America.” Peter Wallenstein traces major themes across four centuries in a brisk narrative that recalls the people and events that have shaped the Old Dominion. The second edition is updated with new material throughout, including a new chapter on Virginia and world affairs from the Korean War through 9/11 and beyond, and, an expanded bibliography. Historical accounts of Virginia have often emphasized harmony and tradition, but Wallenstein focuses on the impact of conflict and change. From the beginning, Virginians have debated and challenged each other’s visions of Virginia, and Wallenstein shows how these differences have influenced its sometimes turbulent development. Casting an eye on blacks as well as whites, and on people from both east and west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, he traces such key themes as political power, racial identity, and education. Bringing to bear his long experience teaching Virginia history, Wallenstein takes readers back, even before Jamestown, to the Elizabethan settlers at Roanoke Island and the inhabitants they encountered, as well as to Virginia’s leaders of the American Revolution. He chronicles the state’s dramatic journey through the Civil War era, a time that revealed how the nation’s evolution sometimes took shape in opposition to the vision of many leading Virginians. He also examines the impact of the civil rights movement and considers controversies that accompany Virginia into its fifth century. The text is copiously illustrated to depict not only such iconic figures as Pocahontas, George Washington, and Robert E. Lee, but also such other prominent native Virginians as Carter G. Woodson, Patsy Cline, and L. Douglas Wilder. Sidebars throughout the book offer further insight, while maps and appendixes of reference data make the volume a complete resource on Virginia’s history.