Volume 1, Chapter 4, From Company to Royal Colony
King James I encountered growing troubles with the Puritans at home and grew increasingly restive about the Puritan Virginia Company.
For one thing, the king had ousted Sandys from his post as treasurer, only to find him replaced by Sandys' liberal ally, the Earl of Southampton.
The disgruntled and influential Sir Thomas Smith persisted in advising the King to confiscate the Company.
Finally, King James managed, in 1624, to obtain from a court under his domination the annulment of the Charter of the Virginia Company.
One of King James' maneuvers against the Company was to have the Privy Council suspend in 1622 the use of the lottery as a fundraising device, although it had been authorized in the amended Charter of 1612.
This turnabout contributed greatly to the financial difficulties of the Company and its going into receivership in 1623.
in 1923. Lotteries had accounted for 8,000 pounds of the total Virginia company budget
of less than 18,000 pounds in fiscal year 1621. Pressures against the company's right
to finance itself by lottery came also from the ousted Smith Group and from capitalists
who feared the competition for funds of the lottery device.
The abrupt change in government, although unwelcome to the Virginia settlers, scarcely
altered the social structure of the Virginia colony.
For surprisingly, the king did not disturb the land titles and land privileges that had
been allocated to individuals and groups by the company.
For many years, indeed, the colony continued to grant land in exchange for the company's
shares.
These allotments continued to be made in large tracts and generally the best tracts in contrast
to the small frontier settlements of the indentured servants along the navigable rivers.
One result of this pattern of land allocation and of the heavy reliance on forest labor
was that Virginia, in contrast as we shall see to the New England system, was thinly
They settled over an extended area with few towns or villages. The tobacco planters prospered
and increased their reliance on indentured service and, after mid-century, on Negro slavery.
The London Company, after granting land to the individual settlers, had reserved to itself
the feudal quit-rent, in this case of two shillings per 100 acres. Since the quit-rent
Since the quit rent was not payable for seven years until 1625, the Crown, upon seizure
of the assets of the London Company, took over the proprietary privilege and collected
the first quit rents from the settlers. However, the British government did not bother to enforce
collection of the dues. At first, the governor, now appointed by the king, his council, chosen
by the King from among the wealthiest and most prominent of Virginians nominated by
the Governor, and the representative Burgesses continued to sit together. But soon they were
divided into two houses, the Council and the House of Burgesses. The Council also functioned
as the supreme judicial body of the colony when sitting as the general court. Thus the
The legislative and judicial powers were combined. Before this court came all the major criminal
and civil cases. The local county courts had direct jurisdiction over minor cases with
appeals permitted to the general court. The counselors held office indefinitely. They
were usually reappointed whenever a new governor arrived. The increase in the number of settlers
In 1634, a change in the political divisions of the colony occurred in the composition of the House of Burgesses.
Instead of the system of general and particular plantations, eight counties were created,
counties that followed settlement westward along the rivers of Virginia.
The eight original counties were, on the James River, Elizabeth City, Wanuskwa Auk, later Isle of Wight, Warwick River, later Warwick, James City, Charles City, and Henrico.
On the Charles, New York River, Charles River County, and encompassing the eastern shore, Acomac County.
Two burgesses were now chosen from each county and one from each of the leading towns by qualified property holders.
Thus emerged an English parliament in miniature.
The governor, however, as the king's proconsul in the colony, was the dominant governing influence.
He commanded the army and navy, directed religious affairs, appointed justices of the peace and other court officials,
The Federal Reserve, Mises Institute, Austrian School, Praxeology, catallactics, malinvestment, entrepreneurship, Man Economy and State, The Theory of Money and Credit
performed both the judicial and the executive functions for their areas.