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(More customer reviews)This is definitely the best-researched book in existence concerning the Jamestown Colony! You really get a sense of the events that caused the English to set out for the new world to begin with, and the terrible troubles that they endured after landing. It should be noted that in 1607, "Virginia" referred to all of North America claimed by the English, including much of Canada, so the book isn't just about some regional explorer, but rather the leader of England's hopes in all America.
Who knew that the first democratic election in the country that prides itself as the seat of democracy took place under British corporate rule? And who could name the first American President? Washington was the first president of the United States, but Wingfield was the first President of any kind elected here, over 400 years ago. Wingfield's name was sullied over the years by the accounts of a very bitter Captain John Smith, who was never again employed by the Virginia Company after some rather disastrous decision-making. If you want to read the other side of the story, this is it.
No doubt teachers & professors will find this book an invaluable tool in discussing America's beginnings as an English-speaking land. I thoroughly enjoyed it!!
Click Here to see more reviews about: Virginia's True Founder: Edward Maria Wingfield And His Times - Jamestown 400th Anniversary Edition
When 57-year-old Edward Maria Wingfield first set foot in the soil of the New World, he was already a man who had seen a lot.He had been a lawyer, a commander of troops fighting the Imperial Spanish Army, a POW, and a Member of Parliament. He had become a fortifications expert in Ireland, and finally a businessman, helping to incorporate the first Virginia Company in 1606. But it wasn't until now, standing on the shores of this strange and hostile land in 1607, that the grizzled captain was to have his greatest adventure.
In a time when no English colony had ever succeeded overseas, 13 years before the Mayflower, something unprecedented happened.The newly-formed Jamestown council, selected by the company to run the colony's affairs, actually elected a leader to govern the 105 men, boys and all the land in this part of the world.With the warships of France and Spain patrolling the seas behind, myriad warring native tribes surrounding them, and not enough food to survive, their choice of a leader was critical.The man they chose - their President - was Edward Maria Wingfield.This is his story.
- Appendices include E. M. Wingfield's 1608 Discourse Of Virginia and the 1606 Virginia Company Charter.
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