Jamestown was settled in 1607 by the Virginia Company of London. The Virginia Company was a joint-stock company. Joint-stock companies were like a corporation in that shares are publicly sold. The exorbitant cost of funding an expedition made it difficult to subsidize. The high price tag discouraged individuals from taking on this investment. For this reason, the concept of joint-stock companies was born.
England was interested in colonies in the New World for two reasons. First, it hoped it could challenge the empire being acquired by Spain; and secondly, it wanted to relieve the population pressures it was experiencing in the cities.
The first settlers to Jamestown were entrepreneurs that came to the New World to acquire wealth. The company was in search of gold and silver deposits but ended up profiting from tobacco. The fact that individuals, rather than governments, invested in the British colonies is an important reason for its long-term success.
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