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The London Company (also called the Charter of the Virginia Company of London) was an English joint stock company established in 1606 by royal charter by King James I with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America. The territory granted to the London Company included the coast of North America from the 34th parallel (Cape Fear) north to the 41st parallel (in Long Island Sound). As part of the Virginia Company and Colony, the London Company "owned" a large portion of Atlantic and Inland Canada. The company was permitted by its charter to establish a settlement within this area. The portion of the company's territory north of the 38th parallel was shared with the Plymouth Company, with the stipulation that neither company found a colony within 100 miles (161 km) of each other. The London Company made landfall on April 26, 1607, at the southern edge of the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, which they named Cape Henry, near present-day Virginia Beach. Deciding to move the encampment, on May 4, 1607, they established the Jamestown Settlement on the James River about upstream from its mouth at the Chesapeake Bay. Later in 1607, the Plymouth Company established its Popham Colony in present-day Maine, but it was abandoned after about a year. By 1609, the Plymouth Company had dissolved. As a result, the charter for the London Company was adjusted with a new grant that extended from "sea to sea" of the previously-shared area between the 38th and 40th parallel. It was amended in 1612 to include the new territory of the ''Somers Isles (or Bermuda). The London Company struggled financially, struggling with labor shortages in the Virginia colony. Its profits improved after sweeter strains of tobacco than the native variety were cultivated and successfully exported from Virginia as a cash crop beginning in 1612. In 1624, the company lost its charter, and Virginia became a royal colony. (Its spin-off, The London Company of The Somers Isles, operated until 1684). ==History== In Renaissance England, wealthy merchants, eager to find investment opportunities, established a number of companies to trade in various parts of the world. Each company was made up of individuals who purchased shares of company stock. The Crown granted a charter to each company with a monopoly to explore, trade or settle a particular region of the world. Profits were shared among the investors according to the amount of stock each owned. Between 1585 and 1630, more than 6,300 Englishmen and women invested in joint stock companies trading with Russia, Turkey, Africa, the East Indies, the Mediterranean and North America. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「London Company」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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