In the beginning was Jamestown.... This is the wondrous story of the genesis of America told through this cradle to the grave account of the life of one man. Richard Pace was a simple London carpenter who became an Ancient Planter - a name given to the earliest colonial settlers. It was his timely warning of an impending attack that saved the first permanent settlement in Virginia from annihilation. Richard's heroic act had profound consequences:

• Survival provided a breathing space that would eventually bring about a total victory over the indigenous tribes as the colonists gained time to re-group and then went on to the offensive
• Richard's warning which foiled a Jamestown massacre meant that by their failure to wipe out the settlers the Powhatan Confederacy had effectively signed their own death warrant. The fate intended for the interloping white man was in fact visited on the attackers for in the following years the native population suffered subjugation, marginalisation, suppression of their culture and were pressed from their tribal lands
• To the victor the spoils for the settlers secured undisputed occupation and control of the territory. Virginia prospered under individual enterprise balanced by institutions which ensured justice, the rule of law and participative governance. The colony organised round this combination of individualism, free markets and democratic self government, presaged what America would become