SETTLEMENT AT JAMESTOWN. Q. When and where was the first permanent English settlement? A. In 1607, at Jamestown, under the direction of the London Company. Q. How is Jamestown situated? Q. Where had the Spaniards and French made settlements? A. The French had made settlements in Canada, and the Spaniards in Mexico. Q. When and by whom was Quebec founded? A. In 1608, by the French. Q. In whose possession is Quebec now? How situated? Q. What was the character of the first settlers in Virginia? A. They were dissipated and profligate, and destitute of that industry and economy which their situation required. Q. In what were they involved? B A. In war with the natives. Q. What occasioned their sufferings? Q. How many died in the first six months? A. Half of their number. Q. What celebrated commander is mentioned A. Captain Smith. Q. By whom was he taken prisoner? A. By the Indians. Q. To whom did they carry him? A. To Powhattan, the principal chieftain of Virginia. Q. How was Smith treated by him? A. He sentenced him to die. Q. Was the sentence executed? A. No: at the moment of executing the sentence, Pocahontas, the favorite daughter of Powhattan, rushed between the prisoner and uplifted club, and, by her tears and entreaties, prevailed on her father to recall the sentence. Note. This amiable child performed many other services for the English. When Powhattan and his chiefs had secretly formed a plan to cut off the English by a general massacre, one cold, rainy night, when the Indians were confined to their tents, by storm, Pocahontas ventured alone through the wood, and gave timely notice to Captain Smith. By this seasonable information, the English were prepared, and the colony saved. Q. Did Smith continue to reside in the colony? Q. What caused his departure? A. He was so dreadfully mangled by an explosion of gunpowder, that he was under the necessity of returning to England, for medical aid. Q. What effect had the absence of Smith on the affairs of the colony? A. His absence was the occasion of great loss and confusion to the English. Q. How was Pocahontas induced to visit Jamestown? A. She was decoyed thither by an old Indian woman, whom the English had bribed by the reward of a copper kettle. Q. How was she treated? A. She was persuaded on board a ship, where she was kept a prisoner. Q. What effect had her imprisonment on Powhattan? A. Powhattan, who dearly loved her, concluded a treaty with the English, on their own terms. Q. To whom was she married? A. Mr. Rolfe. Q. Where was she taken? A. To England. Q. How was she received in England? A. She was treated with kindness in England, and presented at court. Q. In what was she instructed? A. She was instructed in the Christian religion. Q. Where did she die? A. At Gravesend. Q. Where is Gravesend?-(See map of Europe.) Q. What family did she leave? A. One son, from whom are descended some of the principal families in Virginia. Q. When was the cultivation of tobacco introduced? A. In 1616. Q. How was slavery introduced? A. A Dutch ship, from the coast of Guinea, with a cargo of slaves, sailed up the James river, and disposed of a part of her cargo to the planters. Q. What brought the colony to the brink of ruin? A. The Indians attacked them when they were unprepared, and in one hour destroyed one fourth of them. Q. What ensued? A. A long and bloody war ensued, in which the Indians were slaughtered, without regard to age or sex. SETTLEMENT OF THE NORTHERN COLONIES. Q. When and by whom was New-York settled? A. By the Dutch, in 1614. Q. Where had the Swedes a settlement? A. On the east and west sides of Delaware river. A. They kept possession till 1654, when they were overpowered by the Dutch. Q. What was the cause of the settlement of Massachusetts ? A. The persecution carried on in England on account of religious opinions. Q. What did the government of England require? A. The government of England required a strict observance of the rites established, and enacted severe laws against nonconformity. Q. Whither did the Puritans go before coming to America? A. They went to Holland. Q. Why did they resolve to remove to America? A. They became dissatisfied with their residence in Holland. Q. What was their first object? A. Their first object was to enjoy a free exercise of their religious opinions. Q. What promise was made to them by king James? A. That he would not molest them, while they remained peaceable subjects. Q. Where did they intend to land? A. At the Hudson. Q. Why were they carried farther to the north? A. It is supposed that the captain of the ship was bribed by the Dutch. Q. When and where did they land? A. On the 22d of December, 1620, these pilgrims, to the number of 101, landed at a place called by the Indians Patuxet, to which they gave the name of New-Plymouth. Q. Where is New-Plymouth? (For Arms of Massachusetts, see p. 68.) Q. What occasioned their sufferings? A. Famine and disease. Q. How many died before spring? A. Half of their number. Q. With what neighboring colony was New-Plymouth afterwards associated? A. The colony at Massachusetts Bay. Q. What gave rise to religious controversies? A. Some of the colonists, who had not emigrated through motives of religion, preferred the rituals of the church of England, and refused to join the colonial establishment for public worship. B2 |