Background Information
James as King of England
It was in 1603 that James became the first monarch to rule both Scotland and England. During the remainder of his life he returned just once to his Scottish kingdom. James used England's wealth in an extravagant fashion, giving generous presents to Scottish friends and to the English favourites whom he soon acquired. His English subjects found that his accent was not easy to understand, and his manners seemed to his courtiers to be very coarse. James coped well with the various religious divisions that existed in England. He ended England's war with Spain and brought the country a welcome period of peace. However, some English Protestants thought him too feeble in defending their faith from attack in the dreadful war between Protestants and Catholics that raged in Europe from 1618.
The idea of union
James soon adopted the title of King of Britain and, in 1606-07, argued for union between the two kingdoms. He wanted all the inhabitants of the island to be Britons and for there to be free trade between England and Scotland. However, there was little support for the idea in England and it had to be dropped.
Virginia
James was very supportive of the setting up of this colony. Its main settlement was named Jamestown in the King's honour. Animals (such as flying squirrels) were sent back to England to be added to the collection in the King's zoo. He was very opposed to the colony's tobacco production, urging that other crops such as silk be grown. However, the silkworms sent out there in 1609 were lost at sea. England established other colonies in this period, notably the New England settlement at Plymouth founded in 1620 by the Pilgrim Fathers.
The Gunpowder Plot
This episode, in 1605, was caused by the resentment felt by some English Catholics against the harsh laws against them that were passed at Westminster. They had hoped that James might improve their circumstances, for he had a reputation for tolerance, and they were angry when he seemed unable to prevent Parliament from making their lives worse. The plotters were led by Robert Catesby and Guy Fawkes. They took over a house adjoining Parliament House from whose cellar they were able to tunnel under the Parliament building. They placed 20 barrels of gunpowder there with the intention of igniting them when the King opened Parliament on 5 November. An anonymous warning to the authorities led to a search party finding the gunpowder. The leaders of the plot were either killed immediately or arrested and executed.
