The Beginners of a Nation

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About this book

The Beginners of a Nation, by Edward Eggleston, describes the source and rise of the earliest English settlements in America, with special reference to the people's life and character. The account of Frobisher's gold says refining works at Deptford produced no profit and conflicting reports leave uncertainty over whether the ore contained any gold. The discussion of early Virginia gold-hunting attributes the main causes of suffering during Jamestown's first winter to wasted time and consumed supplies while ships were loaded with glittering mica.

The account says Lord De la Warr sent an expedition to seek gold on the upper James despite sickness wasting the colony in 1610, but upriver tribes drove the prospectors back. The discussion of colonial government attributes three primary steps toward free government in America to Englishmen who did not themselves cross the sea.

About the author

Edward Eggleston

Edward Eggleston (1837 to 1902) was an American historian and novelist, best known for The Hoosier Schoolmaster. A former Methodist preacher, he wrote realistic fiction about ordinary American life and later turned to writing social history.