Chesapeake Colonies 1606 Virginia Company received a grant from King James I  settlement Jamestown Lawlessness, sickness, food shortages occurred Late 1607 Captain John Smith bartered goods for food with the Powhatan Confederacy

Too many settlers for the food supplies Powhatan cut off trade with the colony Winter = “the starving time” settlers went to extremes to survive Survivors abandoned the colony and went downriver

Jamestown and Tobacco Jamestown had to make a profit for the Virginia Company  cash crops…tobacco! John Rolfe developed new method to cure tobacco To make profit had to be planted on a large scale  plantations  required large labor force First successful cash crop in the South, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina

Indentured Servants Indentured servants: a person would buy a servant’s contract- provide the $ of getting to America, food, clothing, shelter- in return, the servant would work for a set # of years- about 4-7 yrs

Virginia House of Burgesses Jamestown first general assembly met in Jamestown church on July 30, 1619 Governor- six councilors- 20 representatives- two from each of the colonies 10 towns Representatives called Burgesses First representative democracy in America

Headrights System of headrights: settlers who paid own way to Virginia got 50 acres of land for each member of the family over 15 and for each servant transported to Virginia

Jamestown and Slaves 1619 a Dutch slave ship sailed up the James River to Jamestown for supplies Jamestown residents purchased 20 African men as “Christian servants” not slaves  more enslaved West Africans being brought to settlement for purchase

Frontiers of Exclusion Little need to incorporate Native Americans into the English population as workers or marriage partners

Settlement and the Powhatans The Powhatans were pushed to give up more land to the colonists, instructed followers to reject English and their way of life 1st of many Native resistance movements led jointly by strong political and religious figures Nemattanew, native shaman, murdered by colonists March 1622  uprising killing almost 1/3 rd of VA’s colonial pop.

10 year war of attrition sent the Virginia Company into bankruptcy 1624: VA= royal colony with civil authorities appointed by the crown Continued the practice of property-owing colonists electing reps to the House of Burgesses (power over taxes and finances)

Maryland George Calvert Lord Baltimore (Catholic) to found a colony in America as a refuge for Catholics 1632 King Charles granted Calvert land NE of VA Calvert owned Maryland = proprietary colony  virtually unlimited power over the colony Religious differences  conflict  the Toleration Act 1649  religious toleration for all Christians

Pilgrims and Puritans Separatists- Anglican Church too corrupt to reform- formed their own congregations Pilgrims: group of English Separatists who escaped to Netherlands but left due to loss of children’s cultural identity- set sail for America in 1620

Plymouth Colony September 16, passengers set sail for America onboard the Mayflower for VA Settled in area called Plymouth Prior to landing male members of the voyage set up a civil govnt- where all male members held the right to meet, discuss and vote on laws and ordinances

Established the first direct democracy in the Americas- meet annually in town meetings William Bradford, leader of the colony Plague hit the colony- only 50 survived The survivors would have died except Squanto (Wampanoag) showed settlers how to plant corn, where to find fish, and get commodities Next autumn, Pilgrims joined with the Wampanoag- 3 day festival to celebrate the good harvest and thanks to God – basis of Thanksgiving