Spiritual

Unlike the Pilgrims settling Plymouth in 1620, the Virginia colonists did not leave England for religious reasons. So, even though the Virginia Company had resolved that the colony’s established church was the Church of England, the unity and strength of the colonial society were more important than any particular form of worship or religious belief. Conflict was minimized by emphasizing the worship of God and moral behavior over any particular religious view. Faith became a private matter at Jamestown, which may explain why so many rosary beads, crucifixes, and religious medallions of Catholic saints have been found in early James Fort contexts.