Unit 3: British Colonization Lesson 1: Roanoke & Jamestown

England’s 1 st attempt at American colonization:  Roanoke  Why did they come?  It was an attempt, thought up by Englishman Sir Walter Raleigh,  to expand the British Empire (empire expanding)

 Raleigh’s older half- brother, Humphrey Gilbert, had previously claimed Newfoundland, Canada for the British  So Sir Walter Raleigh wanted to continue that job

By the way…  where have you heard the name Raleigh before?  Roanoke Island is located in modern- day North Carolina, but back then this was considered part of Virginia

Attempts to Settle Virginia  Attempts were made between 1585 & 1590, the most famous of which took place in 1587  150 colonists, including women & children, settled at Roanoke, along the outer banks of North Carolina

Not to depress you, but…  Despite the fact that the original colony was a miserable failure and (we think) all the settlers died, Roanoke Island today is a popular tourist destination

 Though Roanoke was to be an English colony, the colonists expected to have limited contact with England, so right away they started to make friends with  the local Native Americans (Algonquians)

 The relationship between the Natives & colonists then went back & forth  Sometimes they helped each other, other times both groups became confrontational

 In 1587, settler John White left Roanoke & went to England to get goods to bring back to the colony  But when he got back to Roanoke in 1590, the people he’d left behind  were gone, leaving few clues as to what had happened to them

 Did extreme weather conditions destroy the colony?  Did pirates get them?  Did they assimilate with the Natives?  Nobody knows

 So England’s Roanoke colony was a failure, but the British still wanted to claim territory in the new world  Their next attempt to do so resulted in the settlement of Jamestown

Roanoke v. Jamestown  The settlement of Roanoke was an attempt to increase the amount of land under the British Empire  The settlement of Jamestown in 1607, however, was led by a group of businessmen, called the Virginia Company of London, who hoped to make money by discovering gold & silver in the new world make money by discovering gold & silver in the new world

 The 1 st Jamestown colonists included 104 males of various ages  Their purpose was not to establish a new life in the colony, but  to make money from what they found there

Problems in Jamestown  Built on swampy land that spread disease  Half of the settlers were nobles (elite) who didn’t want to farm, just search for gold

Did they find gold?  Nope. And soon all of their supplies were gone  Eventually about half of the colonists died from starvation or sickness

How did they save the colony?  Captain John Smith, an English soldier, sailor, & Jamestown colonist, took charge & made several changes

John Smith  Most prominently, he:  Made friends with the local Powhatan Indians  Set up working parties to build houses, plant crops, & bring fresh water

 Jamestown grew under his leadership, but in 1609, when war broke out between the Powhatan Indians & the colonists,  John Smith was injured by a gunpowder burn  He returned to England for treatment and never went back to Virginia

 Without Smith around, things started to fall apart again  The winter of became known as “the starving time,” & the population of colonists dropped from about 500 to 60

Saving Jamestown, Again  In the spring of 1610, a new governor came over from England with 3 ships full of supplies & new settlers  It was great that they got more supplies, but supplies eventually run out  What would the colonists need to do to make life better for the long-run?

Jamestown’s Next “Hero”  One new settler, John Rolfe, found that tobacco could grow well in Virginia  Tobacco was very popular in England, so he knew that if they grew tobacco in Jamestown, they could make a lot of money selling it to the British  Thus, tobacco was planted in every possible place, the settlers made money, & the settlement survived

Slavery in the Colonies  As Jamestown grew, tobacco farmers needed more workers for their farms

 At first, they used indentured servants:  People who agreed to work for free for a set # of years, in exchange for a free trip to the colonies

 When there weren’t enough indentured servants to work the farms, & the Native Americans refused to work for the settlers, they turned to Africans for labor they turned to Africans for labor

 In 1619, a Dutch ship brought 20 Africans to Virginia  These people were indentured servants, but all those who came after them were brought as slaves  Slave :  A person who is the property of another

What was Jamestown’s government like?  Kind of like England’s gov’t, in which Parliament is the lawmaking body  Look kids! Look kids! Look kids!  The settlers wanted as much independence as possible from England  So in 1619 they formed the Virginia House of Burgesses

How did the House of Burgesses work?  Free white men in each town elected representatives to be the members of the H.O.B.  Members would meet at least once a year with their royal governor to decide local laws and determine local taxation local laws and determine local taxation