Dale’s Code: The Struggle for Jamestown’s Future
Since the infancy of Jamestown in 1607, the first permanent English colony in North America faced many obstacles. Disease, starvation, mutiny, and Indian attacks were responsible for hindering Jamestown from becoming a fully viable and economically successful colony for the Virginia Company of London. John Smith believed it was the “multiplicity of Governors” that was perhaps the most significant hindrance as such governmental change had “subverted great Empires” (Smith 436). In addition, Smith, himself, was part of a coup to oust Wingfield as president only five months after dropping anchor in the Chesapeake Bay in September of 1607. Jamestown’s constant governmental transition and upheaval continues for the remainder of the seventeenth century. However, amid power struggles and new world politics, one governor stands out as a success among a group of incompetent leaders. Sir Thomas Dale became the first military leader in Virginia as Marshall in 1611. Using a philosophy of leadership gleaned from military life, along with a strict code of conduct now called the Dale Code, Dale would go on to bring order and financial stability to Jamestown. Gordon McCabe of the Virginia Historical Association named him the most competent “administrator” alongside Smith, while Samuel Purchas named him the “establisher” of Virginia (Scarboro 80). Dale’s leadership did not go without controversy. Some modern scholars are viewing the Dale Code as brutal martial law that was “bloodier than the cruellest laws of England” (Scarboro, 93). By closely examining Smith’s digression in Histories, along with other texts in Writings, coupled with the historical context of the early seventeenth century, we will discover that Dale’s military background, resourceful planning and leadership, disciplined code of conduct, and commitment to the success of Virginia no matter the cost proves he was the right person to lead during uncertain times.
Smith wrote a commentary regarding the mismanagement of Jamestown he titled “A Digression” (Smith 436). He argues three main points for the failures of The Virginia Company’s colonial aspirations in America. It opens with the obvious blunders of the Virginia Company’s “alteration of government” (436). He is arguing that the constant transition of governors has damaged the colonies’ chances of success. He asserts that with the continual changing of powers, each new governor brings with them their own “entertainments” (436). In other words, each new governor leads differently than the previous with new interests and directives. Smith then appeals to his readers on an emotional level by writing, “This deare bought Land with so much bloud and cost, hath onely made some few rich, and all the rest losers” (436). Smith believes the real losers in this endeavor are those who deserved the first reward: settlers. In 1621, Captain John Bargrave accused the Virginia Company of “framing a tyrannical government to be imposed upon his Majesty’s subjects in Virginia” (Scarboro, 109 Kindle Edition). The Virginia Company’s attempt in 1620 to squash reports of “widespread mortality” in Jamestown was failing (Kupperman, 294). By 1623, legal proceedings were underway with the Committee of Grievances in the House of Commons. In 1624, the same year Histories was published, the Crown revoked Virginia Company’s charter and assumed control of the Virginia colony (Wolfe). Smith’s Histories was attempting to place himself on the right side of history. His digression was just one instance of separating his legacy as a leader and pioneer from the now-defunct Virginia Company. However, when we closely examine his digression, we can learn more about what positive traits Smith would find in a governmental leadership.
Smith’s digression can operate as a counterargument for what competent leadership looks like in the early years of Jamestown. Jamestown needed a leader who would not give into the “entertainments” of leadership and someone who would have the fortitude to make the necessary decisions to save lives. Dale was the first professional military man handpicked by the Virginia Company to assist Sir Thomas Gates at a particularly trying time in the colony. As Marshal, and later, deputy governor, Dale was responsible for leading Jamestown out of the starving time and into a new phase of relative success. Dale had been made captain in service to England in 1594. Twenty years of military training prepared Dale to take on the failing colony on the verge of all-out mutiny.
When the government was surrendered to Dale, he enacted a series of laws and conduct to bring order to Jamestown with a renewed focus on faith in God. Thomas Smith praised Dale’s leadership, writing, “It was no small trouble to reduce his people so timely to good order, being of so ill a condition, as may well witnesse his severitie and strict imprinted booke of Articles, then needfull with all extremitie to be executed…” (419). He goes on to credit Dale for preventing the collapse of Jamestown and argues that his enactment of laws, also known as Dale’s Code, was necessary regardless of its severity. Thomas Smith’s choice of words to support Dale acted as a disclaimer for critics who would say the Virginia Company unleashed a dictator upon the colony. In Trewe Relacyon and A brief Declaration, both Percy and the unknown author of Declaration described how Dale dealt with unruly settlers, with one describing conditions similar to slavery (Scarboro, 100). However, Sir Edwin Sandys, the Treasure of the Virginia Company, believed it was Dale’s “great and constant severity” that pushed the settlers to a “honest fashion of life” (Scarboro, 112). While Dale’s Code was largely a code of conduct for military professionals, it also spoke of moral and religious discipline along with political order for the colony. Dale’s Code saved Jamestown from impending disaster by bringing order and stability to the settlers, allowing them to refocus efforts on planting and cultivating the land.
John Smith believed there did exist some who “doe take more care and paines, nay, and at their continuall great charge” (Smith, 436) This might best describe Dale’s attitude towards leadership. With order restored to Jamestown from Dale’s Code, his next move was two-fold. He would plant crops to prevent starvation while also dealing with Indian attacks. He used his military experience to build fortifications and a new site named “Henrico” at higher ground (421). As a leader, Dale was creating a sustainable strategy for success. Whereas previous governors focused on finding minerals and resources to make Jamestown a profitable investment for the Virginia Company, Dale understood the only chance of a profit laid with the settler’s ability to survive and thrive as landowners in Virginia. Dale granted settler’s up to three acres for living and planting outside of Jamestown (427). In doing so, he turned the settlers from servants of The Virginia Company to investors in Virginia.
With the first Anglo-Powhatan War ended, Dale, along with Captain Argall, met with Chickahamania Indians to write up Articles of Peace (426). The language used in these articles focused on six main points. The Indians agreed to be subject to King James and to not kill any men or farming animals. They would also commit to staying away from English colonies, pay a tribute in the form of corn in exchange for a picture of King James, a red coat, and a copper chain (426-427). These articles signaled a new phase in the colony’s life and an opportunity for the Virginia Company to claim success in America. James Horn argued that “the entire complexion of the colony changed” (Horn, 224). Dale’s brilliance was exhibited in how he took the colony from disaster to prosperity by way of the first strategic process: bring order to the people; plant crops and fight off Indians; create a lasting peace and explore and claim resources that the land had to offer.
If we are to believe John Smith’s belief that ineffective leaders value financial gain above all else, Dale becomes a shining example of a leader who put Jamestown’s success above is personal gains. Dale chose to stay in Virginia beyond his original commission for a total of five years. Dale wrote to 1614 that he feared leaving Virginia and abandoning “his efforts prematurely would bring dishonor to England” (Scarboro 189). These are not the words of a man whose sole priority is personal financial gain. Instead, we see in Dale a stern leader who values honor and success above all else. Later in Dale’s life, these same attributes would be applied to a new endeavor that would eventually end his life. In 1617, Dale was hired by the East India Company for a naval expedition to the East Indies. Under his leadership, England would capture opposing ships and explore new lands with the same “audacity” of Hawkins and Drake during the Elizabethan era (466).
By using John Smith’s digression as an explanation for poor leadership, we can reverse that thinking and consider what good leaders look like during the early days of Jamestown. Because history has viewed Dale as a controversial figure in the seventeenth century, we must consider the times in which he lived and led. The seventeenth century was a period where hopes of adventure and exploration required individuals who would commit and follow through with total dedication. He was a man of great faith and intolerant of laziness. Like many men during those days, he believed God had predestined them to take Virginia for the Crown. He used a highly strategic thought process to bring peace and prosperity to Virginia. While Dale’s Code was a strict and punishing set of laws, it was essential for Jamestown’s success and the well-being of the settlers. If not for Dale’s leadership and tireless commitment to the cause of colonialism, the early history of American may have looked different.
Works Cited
Gleach, W. Frederic. Powhatan’s World and Colonial Virginia (Studies in the Anthropology of North American Indians). e-book, University of Nebraska Press, 2000.
Kierner, Cynthia. Inventing Disaster: The Culture of Calamity from the Jamestown Colony to the Johnstown Flood. Illustrated, University of North Carolina Press, 2019.
Kupperman, Karen Ordahl. The Jamestown Project. e-book, Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press, 2009.
Scarboro, Dewey, and Tom Davis. The Establisher: The Story of Sir Thomas Dale. e-book, Old Mountain Press, 2014.
Smith, Captain John, and James Horn. Captain John Smith: Writings with Other Narratives of Roanoke, Jamestown, and the First English Settlement of America. 1st ed., Library of America, 2007.
Tarter, Brent. “Lawes Divine, Morall and Martiall.” Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, 20 Jan. 2012. Web. 28 Oct. 2020.
Tarter, Brent and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography. “Sir Thomas Dale (d. 1619).” Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, 23 Sep. 2013. Web. 28 Oct. 2020.
Wolfe, Brendan. “Early Jamestown Settlement.” Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, 30 May. 2014. Web. 28 Oct. 2020.