Religious Life of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century The Faith of Our Fathers

This concise historical booklet opens with the grand vision that drove England’s early Atlantic expansion, tracing the daring yet tragic Roanoke venture of 1585 before moving to the decisive charter of 1606 that birthed Jamestown. It explains how the Virginia Company, spurred by ambitions of trade, profit, and relief for England’s crowded cities, set out to plant a permanent foothold on the New World’s rugged shore.

The narrative then shifts to the practical realities faced by the first settlers: the transplantation of English law, church, and customs, and the early attempts to blend those structures with the native landscape. Readers gain insight into the layered motives—economic, demographic, and religious—that shaped the colony’s foundation, setting the stage for the growth of what would become a cornerstone of American history.