Second Virginia Charter Explained

The Second Virginia Charter, also known as the Charter of 1609 (dated May 23, 1609), is a document that provided "a further Enlargement and Explanation of the said [first] Grant, Privileges, and Liberties", which gave the London Company adventurers influence in determining the policies of the company, extended the Company's rights to land extending "up into the Land throughout from Sea to Sea", and allowed English merchant companies and individuals to invest in the colonization effort.[1] [2] The charter includes a detailed list of the names of some 650 noblemen, gentlemen, officials, companies, and individuals who subscribed as investors.[3]

Land granted

The company was granted 400 miles of coastline, 200 north from Cape Comfort and 200 south from it, as well as all the land stretching from this coastline to the Pacific and Arctic Ocean.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale University: The Second Charter of Virginia; May 23, 1609, http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/va02.asp#1, 2008.
  2. Wesley F. Craven: The Virginia Company of London, 1606–1624, Williamsburg, Va.: Virginia 350th Anniversary Celebration Corporation, 1957.
  3. Lillian Goldman Law Library, op. cit..