The colony that almost failed

By -
Jamestown has the distinction of being the first permanent English colony in North America. Not the first English colony ever, but the first to survive. It nearly floundered, however, because of a lack of willingness on the part of many colonists to work. But when all the the other members of the council were drowned at sea during a storm, Captain John Smith was left in charge and instituted some basic reforms, including the Biblical injunction, "If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat" (2 Thess. 3:10).
The company was divided into squads of ten or fifteen, and assigned to the necessary duties of the colony. Six hours each day were devoted to their tasks, the rest in pastimes and merry exercises. But such was the untowardness of many among them, to whom labor was equally new and irksome, that our President was compelled to give them sharp counsel after his peculiar fashion.
 “Countryman,” he said, “the long experience of our late miseries, I hope, is sufficient to persuade every one to a present correction of himselfe. Thinke not that either my paines, nor the adventurers’ purses will ever maintain you in idlesse and sloathe. I speake not this to you all, for divers of you I know deserve both honor and reward, much better than is here to be had; but the greater part must be more industrious or starve; however you have been heretofore tollerated by the authoritie of the Councell. You see now that power resteth wholly in myselfe. You must obey this now for a law, that he that will not work (except by sickness he is disabled) shall not eate. The labours of thirtie or fortie honest and industrious men shall not be consumed to maintain an hundred and fiftie idle loyterers. (The Life of Captain John Smith:  The Founder of Virginia, pp. 283-284)
No welfare here, except for the disabled. Work, or die by your own indolence. Not surprisingly, the settlement began to prosper.
Tar, pitch, and potash, in considerable quantities, rewarded their exertions; they produced some samples of glass; dug a well of excellent water in the fort, which, till then, had been very much wanting; provided nets and seines for taking fish; built twenty new houses; repaired the church, and, the better to prevent thieving, and to check the incursions of the savages, raised a block-house on the isthmus of Jamestown, which neither Christian nor heathen was suffered to pass without order or permit from the President. Thirty or forty additional acres of land were also broken up and planted; and such new care taken of pigs and poultry that their increase became marvelous. The former were carried to an islet, which was Hog Island, and here a block-house was also built, and a garrison established which should give notice of any approaching shipping. The soldiers here were not, however, left to keep the place in idleness, but for their exercise and amusement were required to fell trees, and split clapboards. (Ibid, pp. 293-294)
Later, Plymouth colony had similar problems, instituted similar reforms, and (you guessed it) had similar results. See here and here. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why did Jesus say, "Don't Tell"?

By -
Why did Jesus tell the people he healed not to tell anyone? This is a curious thing, isn’t it? Especially in light of the fact that Jesus has commissioned us to make him known. We find that on several occasions during his earthly ministry that Jesus told the people whom he healed not to let anyone know about it. This was not always the case, however. For instance, when Jesus delivered the Gerasene demoniac from the power of Satan, and the man “begged that he might be with him… Jesus sent him away, saying, ‘Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you’” (Lk. 8:38-39). So here’s one time, at least, when Jesus told a man to tell everyone. But on most other occasions he told people not to tell. In Matthew 9 we read about two blind men whom Jesus healed. It says, And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it” (Matt 9:30). In the first chapter of Mark we read of a leper who was healed; and it says, Jesus sternly charged h...
Read more

The New Testament's most prolific authors

By -
Image
Have you ever wondered who the most prolific authors of the New Testament are? Well, wonder no more because here's the skinny: the top three by far are Luke, Paul, and John. Some people will perhaps be surprised to learn that Paul doesn’t stand at the head of the list. The claim is often made that he wrote most of the New Testament. Not so. To be sure, he wrote the most books , but Luke wrote the most words, although their totals are very close to each other. Together, the two men wrote just over half of the New Testament.  Of the 138,020 Greek words in the New Testament, Luke wrote 27.5 percent (37,932). Paul wrote 23.5 percent (32,408). If we take Hebrews to have been written by Paul—the traditional view, though opposed by the consensus of modern biblical scholarship—then the numbers are almost identical. The total number of words written by Paul rises to 37,361 (or 27.1 percent of the total).   For a break down of the numbers, see the two charts below. Click to e...
Read more

When your brother has something against you

By -
What does Jesus mean when he says in Matthew 5:23-24, “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift”? He’s referring to bringing a sacrifice or an offering to the temple to present as a gift to God as an act of worship. And he says that if while you are doing this you remember that someone has something against you, you must first go and make it right, or God will not find the act of worship acceptable. Now, I suppose the question largely has to do with what Jesus means when he speaks of someone “having something against you”. We should be very clear about this. He doesn’t mean that your worship is unacceptable to God just because your neighbor is upset with you, regardless of why he is upset. He means that your neighbor has a legitimate grievance against you because you have sinned against him. You h...
Read more