The colony of Virginia, founded May 14, 1607 by John Smith and 213 others that traveled from England. Settling on Jamestown Island, the colony was nearly abandoned because of disease, the lack of food, and the attack of the native tribes. The harshness of the new land was taking it's toll.
The settlers had a hard time at growing enough food to sustain them through the harsh winters and the constant fear of disease and of being wiped out by the native tribes haunted them daily as they were totally dependant on the supplies that the Indians could supply them.
In the winter of 1609, following Smith's departure, only 60 of the original 214 survived. The following summer, the colonist that survived the winter had all but given up and were ready to abandon the colony and return to England. Only after the arrival of their new governor, Lord De La Ware and the supply ships that came with him, were the colonist persuaded to remain.
The suffering did not end there, it went on for decades, but for a few years peace and prosperity managed to shine on them after the wedding of Pocahontas to John Rolfe.
In July 1619 the first representative assembly covened in Jamestown church to establish a uniform government for all of Virginia. Also that year the first Africans came to America, not as slaves, that would not take place until the 1680's, but as indentured servants.
In 1622 the Indians attacked the plantations, killing 300 settlers. In 1624 Virginia became a crown colony. Jamestown was the capital of Virginia until 1698, when its statehouse burned and the capital was moved to Williamsburg. Eventually the land that Jamestown once occupied became a plantation and the town virtually disappeared.
254 years after Virginia became a colony, it would side with the South in another struggle for independence and freedom, not from the tyranny of a foreign enemy or a king, but of a domestic one, the tyranny of Abraham Lincoln, the president of the United States.
