London Company was one of two associations chartered in 1606 by King James I for English merchants and other interested people who wanted to set up trading colonies in America. Its full title was the Virginia Company of London. The other association was the Virginia Company of Plymouth, or the Plymouth Company . The charter gave the London Company permission to establish a colony in North America between 34° and 41° north latitude. The Plymouth Company had permission to colonize between 38° and 45° north latitude. The London Company, later known more commonly as the Virginia Company, founded the Jamestown colony in 1607.
The London Company also issued a patent (charter for a large area of land) to the group that would become known as the Pilgrims. This group in 1620 landed north of the London Company’s jurisdiction, however, and the Pilgrims’ patent lost its legal value.
The founders of the London Company hoped that precious metals existed or that a water passage to Asia might be found within the land they claimed. They also thought they might profit from other exploitable natural resources or trade with Native Americans. Those who stayed in England and invested their money in the company were called adventurers. Those who went to America and risked their lives were called planters. Each planter and adventurer was to share in the company’s profits. The majority of those of who arrived in Virginia belonged to neither group. They were indentured servants who worked either for the company itself or for individual planters who paid for their passage. Despite reorganization under new charters in 1609 and 1612, the London Company never returned a profit.
The Jamestown settlement was plagued by problems from the start. The colonists were exposed to malaria and other diseases to which they had little or no immunity. Virginia had neither gold nor a water route to Asia. Planters found no easily exploitable natural resources, and they failed to put their energy into growing food instead. Trade with Native Americans centered not on making profits for the company, but on obtaining food to feed the starving. Planters eventually discovered that tobacco could be grown as a cash crop, but the discovery did not offset the company’s costs and debts enough for the investors to reap any profits.
In 1622, a group of native Powhatan people attacked the Virginia Colony and killed about 350 colonists, more than a quarter of the English population in Virginia at the time. Factions within the London Company called for a royal investigation. The company’s records revealed extensive problems. The company had regularly misled prospective colonists about the dangers in Virginia, and it proved negligent in protecting and feeding them. Of the company’s more than 6,000 colonists, over 80 percent died from disease, native attacks, and starvation.
In 1623, King James decided that the company was being managed poorly. He took over the association in 1624 and dissolved the company.
