After the meeting between the departing settlers and the newcomers under
Delaware, the whole band returned to Jamestown and began once more the
struggle for existence.

PROSPERITY BEGINS.--Delaware, who soon went back to England, left Sir
Thomas Dale in command, and under him the colony began to prosper.
Hitherto the colonists had lived as communists. The company owned all the
land, and whatever food was raised was put into the public granary to be
divided among the settlers, share and share alike. Dale changed this
system, and the old planters were given land to cultivate for themselves.
The effect was magical. Men who were lazy when toiling as servants of the
company, become industrious when laboring for themselves, and prosperity
began in earnest.

More settlers soon arrived with a number of cows, goats, and oxen, and the
little colony began to expand. When Dale's term as acting governor ended
in 1616, Virginia contained six little settlements besides Jamestown. The
next governor, Yeardley, introduced the cultivation of tobacco, which was
now much used in Europe and commanded a high price.

[Illustration: VIRGINIA (from 1609 to 1624).]

THE FIRST REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY.--Yeardley was succeeded (1617) by
Argall, who for two years ruled Virginia with a rod of iron. So harsh was
his rule that the company was forced to recall him and send back Yeardley.
Yeardley came with instructions to summon a general assembly, and in July,
1619, the first legislative body in America met in the little church at
Jamestown; eleven boroughs were represented. Each sent two burgesses, as
they were called, and these twenty-two men made the first House of
Burgesses, and had power to enact laws for the colony. [6]