A Comparison Of Selected British Charter Companies In India And North America

On April 10, 1606, George Popham and Sir Ferdinando Gorges were granted a charter from Queen Elizabeth I to start the Virginia Company of Plymouth. The Plymouth Company was one of two joint-stock companies who had charters in England to colonize in North America. The other company was the Virginia Company of London , which will be mentioned in more depth in the next section. The Plymouth Company was allotted the northern region of North America and was not to start a settlement less than a hundred miles away from any London Company settlement. The first band of colonists set out from England and was captured by the Spanish, undiscouraged the second ship with colonists aboard

Whereas the East India Company had seen governing as a secondary sideline issue next to making money and had shared governing powers with the indigenous rulers, Cornwallis was to change the focus to governing India and making it an even more profitable venture. All of the governing power was to be in the hands of the British. Up till this time the British residents in India had largely intermingled with the Indians and sought to learn their indigenous knowledge#, but under Cornwallis, the idea of cultural and race segregation was initiated. The policy of Permanent Settlement was began by Cornwallis. Permanent Settlement was an agreement whereby the British were entitled to taxing the Indians “forever.” Cornwallis also headed military actions and in 1792 defeated the powerful sultan of Mysore, Tipu Sahib.#

The Virginia Company of London formed at the same time with the Virginia Company of Plymouth, was granted the use of the southern region of North America. Unlike the Plymouth Company, but similar to the East India Company, the London Company had the power to appoint the Council of Virginia, the Governor and other officials, and the responsibility to provide settlers, supplies and ships for the trip. The Company set up its first settlement on a peninsula in the Chesapeake Bay. They named it Jamestown after King James I who had granted them their charter. These settlers were mostly sons of merchants or second sons of the aristocracy. Either way they were all there for one purpose, to find gold, become rich, and return to England with their fortunes that would benefit themselves as well as the Crown. The initial reaction to the Company was favorable but as the mortality rate rose and the prospect for profit grew dim, the support for it waned. The leadership resorted to lotteries, searching for gold, and silkworm production to increase profits. Finally, the Company discovered the lucrative production of tobacco. The company was reorganized in 1609 and again in 1612. The charter was finally revoked in 1624 and Virginia became a Crown colony, largely as a result of the Indian Massacre of 1622 in which 346 white settlers were killed by Opechancanough and his warriors.#

Cornwallis was sent to reform the company.

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