The First Seventeen Years: Virginia 1607-1624

The narrative recounts the colony's founding and early years, describing settlement of Jamestown, initial hardships and supply voyages, political and administrative developments, and the emergence of tobacco as an economic staple. It examines leadership changes, interactions with Indigenous peoples, efforts to stabilize social life including programs to encourage family settlement, and the eventual transformation of corporate governance. The work also documents the geographic spread of towns, plantations, and administrative divisions with maps and keyed entries, and provides appendices and selected readings to support the chronological and topographical account.