# Ep. 84: America was Founded by Runaways \& Renegades, with Joseph Kelly, Part 1 **URL:** **By** Anthony Comegna **Published:** December 11, 2018 --- Professor Joseph Kelly tells us the forgotten story of Stephen Hopkins and how the Virginia Company lacked real leadership \& direction. Professor Joseph Kelly joins us today to talk about his book _Marooned_ and how much of our understanding about the beginning of the New World is simply names of people and approximately when they died. Stephen Hopkins, a passenger on the Sea Venture which shipwrecked in Bermuda in 1609, is an exception to that trend. Who is America's real founding father? What did the Virginia Company do in 1608-1609? Was Jamestown a utopia or a dystopia? Did the Virginia Company have any leadership to guide it? Did they have any real power? What was the difference between colonial Virginia and colonial Bermuda? What is a doctrine of mutual consent? ## Further Reading: [Marooned: Jamestown, Shipwreck, and a New History of America’s Origin](https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=marooned+joseph+kelly&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=313614150905&hvpos=1t1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8580037134325641267&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9061285&hvtargid=kwd-575323143254&ref=pd_sl_ongmgipc2_b), written by Joseph Kelly [The Thanksgiving Story You've Probably Never Heard](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/21/opinion/thanksgiving-pilgrims-puritans-democracy-.html), written by Joseph Kelly ## Related Content: ["Virginia is Horrible; Send Cheese": An Indentured Servant Writes Home](https://www.libertarianism.org/essays/virginia-is-horrible-send-cheese-indentured-servant-writes-home), written by Richard Frethorne [The Roots of Modern Libertarian Ideas](https://www.libertarianism.org/essays/roots-modern-libertarian-ideas), written by Brian Doherty [The Horrifying Lives of Early Virginians](https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/liberty-chronicles/ep-08-the-horrifying-lives-of-early-virginians), Liberty Chronicles Podcast