The 13 Colonies Between the founding of Jamestown (Virginia) in 1607 and the founding of Georgia in 1733 a total of 13 distinctly different English colonies developed along the Atlantic Coast Every Colony received its identity and authority to operate by means of a Charter from a English Monarch Unlike the Spanish and English Colony colonies in Americas, the English Colonists brought with them a tradition of Independence and representative government They were accustomed to holding elections for representatives to government to speak for the people

Jamestown 1606 a joint stock company known as the Virginia Company of London was granted a charter from King James I The main attraction was the promise of gold combined with a strong desire to find a new passage to the Indies. This Charter was significant in that it granted the overseas settlers the same rights of the Englishmen that would have enjoyed if they had stayed at home. This set precedent for all English colonists and set the foundation for the American Colonists to fight for their rights,

Jamestown Continue 1606-Three ships of the Virginia Company landed near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay---they were immediately attacked by Indians. The settled on the James River--the site was easy to defend but it was mosquito infested and devastatingly unhealthy. 100 settlers (all men) disembarked and named it Jamestown On shore the settlers died by the doze (from disease, malnutrition and starvation) Many of the “greenhorn” settlers were gentlemen unaccustomed to fending for themselves They wasted valuable time grubbing for nonexistent gold when they should have been gathering provisions.

Saving of Jamestown Captain John Smith saved Jamestown from utter collapse by one rule “He who shall not work shall not eat” John Smith was captured by the Powhatan Indians and subject to death before being saved by Pocahontas. Pocahontas became an intermediary between the colonists and natives, helping preserve the shaky peace and provide needed food items Still colonists died by the handful These living skeletons were driven to desperate acts. (eat dogs, cats, rats, mice and would dig up corpses for food. One account a Hungary man killed, salted and ate his wife---for which he was executed for.

Jamestown Continued Of the 400 settlers who managed to make it to Virginia by by 1609 only sixty survived the “starving time” winter of 1609-1610. Lord De La Warr, met the colonists in spring of 1610 with a relief party He imposed a harsh military regime on the colony and took aggressive military action against the Indians. By 1625 Virginia contained only some 1200 survivors of the 8,000 adventurers who had tried to start a new life in the ill-fated colony