Pioneers of the Old South: A Chronicle of English Colonial Beginnings — A Closer Reading

Motives and Miscalculations

The opening chapter lays out a calculus of colonization: the desire for English markets, the need for raw materials, and the persistent idea of a 'surplus population.' Johnston notes that the fervor against Spain and Rome had cooled since Drake's day, but the lure of wealth remained. She quotes a line from Eastward Ho!—'all their dripping-pans are pure gold'—to capture the era's exaggerated expectations. The text does not yet describe any actual settlement; instead, it dwells on the assumptions that drove the enterprise. This focus on motivation rather than action suggests that the chronicle will treat colonial history as a story of human intention and error, not inevitable destiny.

Governor Harvey and the Assembly's Silence

In a later excerpt, Johnston recounts the return of Governor Harvey to Virginia in the 1630s. The language is terse: 'In silence Virginia received him, and while he remained Governor no Assembly sat.' The detail is striking—a colony that refuses to convene its representative body as a form of protest. Johnston does not elaborate on the causes, but the phrase implies a tense standoff between the governor and the colonists. The text then notes that the King eventually recalled Harvey and replaced him with the well-liked Sir Francis Wyatt. This episode, drawn from a single paragraph, reveals how Johnston uses specific administrative actions to convey broader conflicts between colonial autonomy and royal authority.

Religious Uniformity and Expulsion

The excerpts include a 1631 law requiring 'uniformitie throughout this colony both in substance and circumstance to the cannons and constitutions of the church of England.' Johnston then describes the 1643 Assembly's enactment that nonconformist ministers 'be compelled to depart the collony with all conveniencie.' The text specifies that some went to New England or Maryland, where they might worship freely. Notably, Johnston adds that 'Puritan and nonconforming minds' remained among parishioners, 'watching lynx-eyed for their opportunity.' This phrase—'lynx-eyed'—is a rare figurative flourish in an otherwise factual account, hinting at the tension beneath official conformity. The passage shows how Johnston weaves legislative detail with a sense of simmering dissent.

Readers should note that the excerpts cover only the first and middle portions of the chronicle. The narrative's treatment of later colonies—the Carolinas and Georgia—and figures like Nathaniel Bacon and Alexander Spotswood is not represented here. The text's style is consistently lean, favoring documentary evidence over dramatic reconstruction. Those interested in the interplay between English policy and colonial reality will find a wealth of specific acts, appointments, and reactions, though the human voices of ordinary settlers remain largely absent from these pages.

That rainy afternoon, the old Virginian governors felt so distant—yet their squabbles over tobacco and prayer lingered like damp air. I closed the book, and my mind drifted instead to a boy who found worlds in a quiet wood. Later, I stumbled upon The Story of My Boyhood and Youth — Key Ideas to Explore, and the same wilderness seemed to hum beneath his words.