100 THE GREEN RISING 



government everywhere asserted itself in the progress 

 of colonial development. But underlying the poli- 

 tical struggles there was often much discontent be- 

 cause of agrarian inequalities. 



The conflict of Governor Dale with the settlers in 

 Virginia was the earliest incident of this kind. The 

 Virginia colonists were suffering great hardships 

 when he came from England to assume his adminis- 

 trative duties in 1611. When he arrived late in the 

 season he found that no crops had been planted. 

 The first settlers of Virginia had little intention of 

 engaging in agriculture. Very few of them seem to 

 have known much about farming. The charter of 

 the Virginia settlement contained an unfortunate 

 provision calling for common storage and use of 

 supplies and community of labor. This communis- 

 tic tendency did not encourage farming, nor offer 

 much inducement for thrift. Captain Newport 

 assigned about one third of the settlers, approxima- 

 ting forty men, to cultivate the soil, but the result 

 was disappointing. 



When Governor Dale arrived he realized the situa- 

 tion and immediately set the colonists to digging 

 sassafras roots and cedar for the English markets. 

 He distributed a few three-acre allotments of land 

 to private holders and required that they be culti- 

 vated. These farmers were expected to give annu- 

 ally to the London Company seven and a half bar- 

 rels of corn and one month's labor in payment for 

 the land. This was regarded as exorbitant rent. 



