Triangle stamp shows the three ships, Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery that brought English colonists to America in 1607. Calling their settlement Jamestown, after England's King James I, the colonists founded the first permanent settlement in the new world. The first class postage stamp commemorates Jamestown's 400th anniversary, and honors the colony's first triangular-shaped fort.
In 1606, King James I chartered the Virginia Company travel to America in search of gold and silver as well as a river route to the Pacific to open trade with Asia. For many of the men, it was a chance “to seek new worlds for gold, for praise, and glory.” About 100 colonists left England in late December 1606 aboard three ships, the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery. After a four-month journey across the Atlantic, they arrived off the coast of America where they saw “faire meddowes and goodly tall trees.” While anchored there, the men formed a governing council before deciding where to make landfall.
In 1606, King James I chartered the Virginia Company travel to America in search of gold and silver as well as a river route to the Pacific to open trade with Asia. For many of the men, it was a chance “to seek new worlds for gold, for praise, and glory.” About 100 colonists left England in late December 1606 aboard three ships, the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery. After a four-month journey across the Atlantic, they arrived off the coast of America where they saw “faire meddowes and goodly tall trees.” While anchored there, the men formed a governing council before deciding where to make landfall.
They finally selected a site along present-day Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay. The men made landfall on May 14, 1607 and named the small peninsula settlement and nearby river in honor of their king, James I. At Jamestown, the first representative government of the American continent was established. However, the site of the settlement was a poor choice, the men were ill equipped for manual labor, and disease took a heavy toll. Additionally, no gold was found, and the men showed little interest in farming the land.
Although Jamestown’s first settlers were all men, women arrived the following year in 1608. Most historians agree that the colony wouldn’t have survived permanently without women. Brave and daring, they were willing to leave the comfort and safety of their homeland to face the challenges of the untamed wilderness in Virginia. The arrival of women created a sense of stability and permanence, making Virginia home, not just a temporary place to make a profit or find adventure.
Although Jamestown’s first settlers were all men, women arrived the following year in 1608. Most historians agree that the colony wouldn’t have survived permanently without women. Brave and daring, they were willing to leave the comfort and safety of their homeland to face the challenges of the untamed wilderness in Virginia. The arrival of women created a sense of stability and permanence, making Virginia home, not just a temporary place to make a profit or find adventure.
The first two women arrived in October 1608 on the ship Mary and Margaret. Mistress Forrest was joining her husband, but sickened on the three-month long journey and reportedly died within a month after arriving. The second woman, 14-year-old Anne Burras, had been Mistress Forrest’s personal maid. She married carpenter John Laydon just three months after her arrival. They were the first couple to be married in Jamestown, and were also the parents of the first English child born in Jamestown in December 1609. Virginia was the first of four daughters born to the couple, the others being Margaret, Katherine, and Alice. John and Anne were among the lucky few who survived the “Starving Time” during the winter of 1609-10.
Source: Mystic Stamps
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