Content  Students will understand how the first English colonies survived and began to grow, while colonist both learned from and experienced conflict with Native Americans. Skill  Students will work cooperatively to meet some of the social, geographic, and economic challenges faced by colonists in adapting to their new environment in America.

 In the late 1500s, religious and political conflict increased between England and Spain.  England began establishing colonies after it defeated the Spanish Armada in  Richard Hakluyt thought that colonies would provide a market for English exports.

 The state controls trade and attempts to transfer wealth from colonies to parent country.

 Lack of economic opportunity  Stories of gold mines  Religious persecution

 In 1585, Sir Walter Raleigh started a colony at Roanoke named Virginia.  Colonist relied on the Native Americans for food.  When the Native Americans realized that the colonist wanted their land, they cut off the food supply.  The colonist who survived returned to England in Sir Walter Raleigh

 John White persuaded Sir Raleigh to start another colony in  In 1607, English convicts were sent to start a colony in Maine.  Harsh winters, fights with Native Americans and food shortages forced colonists who survived back to England. John White

 Joint-stock company- a business in which investors combine their wealth in order to receive a profit.  King James I granted charters to the 2 companies.  Charter- A written contract to start colony. Charter

 Virginia Company of London financed an expedition to Chesapeake Bay. They sailed up the James River.  First permanent English settlement was named Jamestown, in honor of King James I. JAMESTOWN

 Land was swampy and full of malaria- carrying mosquitoes  Colonists became sick with fevers from drinking river water  Colonist spent their days looking for gold instead of building houses and planting food  Weather- hot/humid summers & bitter cold winters

 January out of 100 colonist are alive  John Smith became a leader. He said, “He that will not work shall not eat.”  He convinced the Powhatan tribe to trade their corn with the colonist.  J Smith returned to England after a Gunpowder explosion. That same year 800 more colonists arrived at Jamestown.

 Growing tension cause the Powhatan to stop trading food and attack the settlers.  Only 60 settlers were left when the 2 ships arrived in  Lord De La Warr became the new governor and imposed discipline and the “starving time ended.” Lord De La Warr

 John Rolfe developed a high-grade tobacco that the settlers learned to grow.  The colonists were thought of as employees but they wanted a share of the profits.  The company responded by letting the settlers own land. The company offer 50 acres of land to an man, women, or child who could pay their way to the colony.

 The first African Americans arrived in Jamestown in  Those who could not afford to go to the new colony were encouraged to become indentured servants.  Indentured servants- men and women who sold their labor to the person who paid their way to the colony. After they worked a number of years, they were free to farm or take up a trade of their own.

 The colonists became angry with the strict rule of the governor who held the same interest as London.  To provide more control locally, the company decided that burgesses (elected representatives) of the colonist would meet once a year in an assembly.  House of Burgesses was created in 1619 and became the 1 st representative assembly in the American colonies.

 The more colonist who arrived and wanted land caused the relationship with Powhatan to become worse.  John Rolfe tried to improve the relationship by marrying Chief Powhatan daughter, Pocahontas, in  Powhatan taught the colonist how to survive.  In 1622, Powhatan killed hundreds of the colonist because the more tobacco they grew, the more land they took from Powhatan. John Rolfe and Pocahontas

 Nathaniel Bacon started a rebellion after Governor Berkley refused to start a war with the Native Americans to win to land.  Bacon took control of the House of Burgesses and burned Jamestown.  Bacon’s sudden death ended the rebellion.  Berkley hanged all of Bacon’s followers.  King Charles II recalled the governor to England and the House of Burgesses passed laws to prevent a royal governor from assuming such power again. Nathaniel Bacon

 Why did the first settlements fail?  How did the English finance their colonies after 1606?  Who financed the first settlement?  What was the outcome of Bacon’s Rebellion?

  Go to the above website and the webpage carefully.  Click on Start the Adventure Think about these factors:  Food: How well can you provide it for your colonists?  Health: Can you keep your colonists from dying due to disease, starvation, and attacks?  Wealth: Can you make yourself and your sponsors at the London Company rich from the discovery of gold and silver?  Morale: Can you keep yourself in power by keeping everyone happy?

 You will get to compare your colony to the historical Jamestown at the end. By examining the "Now we know..." section, you can learn from the mistakes of history so you do not repeat them when you play again.  Write a summary of what you learned from this activity. Be sure to include all the factors such as food, health, wealth, and morale. What would you do differently the next time you played the game? Tell me how you adventure compared and contrasted with Jamestown.