Editing Hampton, Virginia (section)

===Colonial history===
In December 1606, three ships carrying men and boys left England on a mission sponsored by a proprietary company. Led by Captain [[Christopher Newport]], they sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to North America. After a long voyage, they first landed at the entrance to the [[Chesapeake Bay]] on the south shore at a place they named [[Cape Henry]] (for [[Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales]], the elder son of their king).

During the first few days of exploration, they identified the site of [[Old Point Comfort]] (which they originally named "Point Comfort") as a strategic defensive location at the entrance to the body of water that became known as [[Hampton Roads]]. This is formed by the [[confluence]] of the [[Elizabeth River (Virginia)|Elizabeth]], [[Nansemond River|Nansemond]], and [[James River|James]] rivers. The latter is the longest river in Virginia.

Weeks later, on May 14, 1607, they established the first permanent English settlement in the present-day United States about {{convert|25|mi|km}} further inland from the Bay which became the site of fortifications during the following 200 years.

Slightly south, near the entrance to [[Hampton River]], the colonists seized the [[Native Americans of the United States|Native American]] community of [[Kecoughtan, Virginia|Kecoughtan]] under Virginia's Governor, Sir [[Thomas Gates (governor)|Thomas Gates]]. The colonists established their own small town, with a small Anglican church [[St. John's Episcopal Church (Hampton, Virginia)|(known now as St. John's Episcopal Church)]], on July 9, 1610. This came to be known as part of Hampton. (With Jamestown having been abandoned in 1699, Hampton claims to be the oldest continuously occupied English settlement in the United States.)<ref name="tormey">{{cite book |last=Tormey |first=James |title=How Firm a Foundation |publisher=Diets Press |location=Richmond, Virginia |page=184 |date=April 2009 |isbn=978-0-87517-135-7 }}</ref> Hampton was named for [[Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton]], an important leader of the [[Virginia Company of London]], for whom the [[Hampton River]], [[Hampton Roads]] and [[Southampton County, Virginia|Southampton County]] were also named. The area became part of [[Elizabeth City (Virginia Company)|Elizabeth Cittie]] {{sic}} in 1619, [[Elizabeth River Shire]] in 1634, and was included in [[Elizabeth City County, Virginia|Elizabeth City County]] when it was formed in 1643. By 1680, the settlement was known as Hampton, and it was incorporated as a town in 1705 and became the seat of Elizabeth City County.

In the latter part of August 1619, the ''[[White Lion (ship)|White Lion]]'', a [[privateer]] captained by [[John Colyn Jope]] and sailing under a Dutch [[letter of marque]], delivered [[First Africans in Virginia|approximately 20 enslaved Africans]], from the present-day region of [[Angola]] to [[Old Point Comfort|Point Comfort]]. They had been removed by its crew from a Portuguese [[slave ship]], the "São João Bautista". These were the first recorded slaves from Africa in the [[Thirteen Colonies]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/magazine/2019/07-08/virginia-first-africans-transatlantic-slave-trade/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221100018/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/magazine/2019/07-08/virginia-first-africans-transatlantic-slave-trade/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 21, 2019 |title=400 years ago, enslaved Africans first arrived in Virginia |date=August 13, 2019 |website=History Magazine }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://time.com/5653369/august-1619-jamestown-history/ |title=Where the Landing of the First Africans in English North America Really Fits in the History of Slavery |magazine=Time |access-date=August 25, 2019 |archive-date=August 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190825070734/https://time.com/5653369/august-1619-jamestown-history/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[John Rolfe]], the widower of [[Pocahontas]], wrote in a letter that he was at Point Comfort and witnessed the arrival of the first Africans. The [[Bantu people|Bantu]] from Angola were considered [[indentured servants]], but in effect, were to be slaves. Two of the first Africans to arrive were Anthony and Isabella. Their child, the first of African descent born in North America, was born baptized January 1624.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}