Governor William Berkeley
By: Brenda Huerta, Jake Anderson and Matthew Storie
Biography
1. Sir William Berkeley had a mother Elizabeth Killigrew, a father Sir Maurice Berkeley, 4 blood brothers Maurice, John, Henry, and Charles Berkeley. Berkeley also had two blood related sisters Jane and Margaret. His family tree continues to extend to his step father Sir Jonathan Trelawny. Sir William Berkeley had a step brother Sir John Trelawny.
2. After studying at Oxford Sir William Berkeley had worked his way into the circle around King Charles I. Since Berkeley naturally drifted towards royalties he started becoming a very loyal citizen to England and most of importantly the King. In 1632 Berkeley secured his appointment as a gentleman of the king's privy chamber. Allowing him access to entrée to the kings servers and an opportunity to create better and more useful relationships near the top. After winning a diplomatic posting Berkeley convinced King Charles I to allow him to become the Governor of Virginia.
3. When Sir William Berkeley arrived in Virginia in 1642 he was known as the newest Captain General and Governor of the colony Virginia. Although his dedication to England was great, he grew an amazing appreciation and genuine hunger to help Virginia excel economically. He believed that for the colony to be successful he would need to diversify the economy, free trade, a close-knit colonial society, and autonomy from London. Later Berkeley led the military against the Native Americans and also built a defence that kept the Dutch from landing on the Virginia shore line.
Citizenship
Definition:
1. The state of being vested with the rights, privileges and duties of a citizen.
2. The character of an individual viewed as a member of society; behavior in terms of the duties, obligation and functions of a citizen.
Integrity
1. the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.
Governor William Berkeley did show integrity. When King Charles appointed Berkeley as governor of Virginia he was told to make Jamestown a thriving city and Berkeley accomplished this through trade. At the time there were many conflicts with the puritans and the Indians and the other colonial people but Berkeley put their differences aside and made peaceful trade with both the Indians and the Puritans. As a governor, Berkeley could have easily monopolized the Indian Trade, but he shared the profits with experienced traders and kept only a small portion of their profits. William Berkeley also knew that his political survival was to satisfy both the Puritans and the king's commands. Tirelessly, he was able to please the Puritans and the king.
Bibliography
http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Berkeley_Sir_William_1605-1677
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/citizenship
http://www.shmoop.com/jamestown/william-berkeley.html
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAberkeley.html
http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/people/berkeley-sir-william.html
http://www.virtualjamestown.org/essays/billings_essay.html