ised the Company knew well enough
that there was little hope of immediate returns upon the money they
subscribed so liberally. They expected to receive their reward in
another way, in the revival of English industrial life and the
restoration of English economic independence. It is a singular
perversion of history, an inaccurate interpretation of men and events,
which for so many years beclouded our conception of the beginning of the
British colonial empire. The settlement at Jamestown was not the product
of a selfish, private venture, but the fruition of long years of thought
and endeavor, long years of pleading with the English public, of the
conscious and deliberate efforts of the nation to expand to the New
World, to break the bonds of economic dependence and to restore to
England the place in the world which rightfully was hers.

In addition to, but closely associated with, the economic causes of
Anglo-Saxon expansion was the realization in England of the need for
prompt action in putting a limit to the growing domains of the King of
Spain. In the century which had elapsed since Columbus opened a new
world to the peoples of Europe, this monarch had seized the richest part
of the great prize, and was still reaching forward to the north and to
the south. Unless England took advantage of the present opportunity, the
vast American continents might be closed to her forever. Anglo-Saxon
civilization in that case might well remain permanently cooped up in the
little island that had seen its inception, while the Spanish language
and Spanish institutions expanded to embrace the garden spots of the
world.[1-10]

There were still other motives for this great movement. The English felt
the prime necessity of discovering and controlling a new route to the
East, they wished to expand the influence of the Anglican church and
convert the Indians, they hoped to seize and fortify strategic points in
America which would aid them in their struggles with the Spaniards. But
these things, important as they were, paled beside the pressing
necessity of national expansion, of rehabilitating English industrial
life, restoring the merchant marine and securing economic independence.

Thus, when Captain Newport returned in 1607 to report that the colony of
Virginia had been safely launched, many Englishmen were aroused to a
high pitch of hope and expectation. Now at last a province had been
secured which could supply the raw materials which E