Forged in Faith by Rod Gragg

Author:Rod Gragg
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-03-27T16:00:00+00:00

Governor Dale returned to England in 1616. His successor eased the harsh military penalties for wrongdoing in Virginia, but kept Dale’s laws in place. Virginia was hardly the “new Jerusalem” Dale had envisioned, but his Bible-based code of laws eventually transformed the colony from a desperate state of rebellion, starvation, disease, and desperation to a “tranquil and prosperous” colony. It was a long and arduous transformation, marked at times by disasters and disillusionment, but also by a determination, perseverance, and faith that were indeed “noble” at times. Jamestown evolved into the first successful English colony in America and established a precedent for American law and culture, both of which began at Jamestown with a faith-based foundation—the Judeo-Christian worldview. 11

That worldview helped establish another important American precedent in Virginia—self-government. By 1619, the colony was relatively stable and was expanding inland. Gone were the slovenly ways of the common-store system, which had been replaced by free enterprise and biblically inspired accountability. “When our people were fed out of the common store,” observed a colonial leader, “glad was he who could slip from his labour, or slumber over his taske…the most honest among them would hardly take so much true paines in a week as now for themselves they will doe in a day.” The Virginia colonists learned to grow tobacco, which gave the colony an expanding economy. To provide wives for the Virginia settlers, the London Company recruited English women—“young and incorrupt maids,” they were called—and the colony was infused with the stability of family life. Within a dozen years, Virginia had been transformed from desperation to development, thanks to rule of law, family life, and free enterprise—all of which were faith-based. So too was the dramatic jump forward in political freedom that occurred in 1619. 12

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