1607

  1606-The Virginia Company (joint-stock company) of London (est. by James I) chartered the voyage  Charter guaranteed colonists their rights as English men (extended the English Bill of Rights) and became a foundation of American liberties  1607-the Va. Co., led by Captain John Smith, est. the colony: 140 men + 4 boys set out in Dec. 1606, landed in April 1607  Named after James I  After 7 months, only 32 people were left, Indians saved the remaining Initial Start

  Wealthy could pay their own way  Poor-via indentured servitude-passage paid for with agreement to work for 4-7 yrs, at the end of work, free to own/work his/her own land The Voyage

  Approx. 60 miles from the mouth of the James River, in the Chesapeake Bay Region (marshland) Settlement Area

 Advantages?  Disadvantages?

Modern view

  Diseases-site was malaria ridden (mosquitoes)- chosen for military concerns  Water was bad  Looked for gold rather than planting-ignored daily tasks to survive (Starving Time-Winter )  Many were poor and squabbled over little things  No skilled artisans/craftsman-”pretty boys”- settlers were not used to the manual labor required to est. a colony  Native Americans-growing issue as time progressed-almost destroyed the colony Major issues

 Indian massacre of 1622-by the Powhatan Confederacy

  Dec captured by the Werowocomoco tribe while exploring, released w/o harm (Pocahontas)  John Smith emerged as a leader ”no work, no eat”  Relation with Pocahontas not true (she was 11 when he met her), daughter of Chief Powhatan-never married  Had to return to England due to an injury John Smith

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 What helps to save Jamestown?

  Also had a relationship with Pocahontas, she later married him and moved back to England with him, where they had one son  1612-introduced tobacco (cash crop, staple crop)  Helped save Jamestown (a struggling settlement for approx. 10 yrs)- tobacco John Rolfe

  European demand greatly grew  Need for laborers to grow it increased as well  Landowners preferred not to lose land to indentured servants once they had paid off their debt  Move toward slavery and the African slave trade Tobacco

  1619-House of Burgesses est.-the first elected legislative body in the colonies  Made laws for the colony and helped to plan its growth and development  First representative govt. Government

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  House of Burgesses est.  Women arrive  Transfer of Africans to the settlement for work as indentured servants 1619

  1624-charter is revoked, VA. becomes a royal colony  Va. Co. goes bankrupt  By 1625, 1200 survived out of 8000 who came  Indian problems-growing need for military attention  James I distrusted legislative assembly and hated the importance of tobacco In the End- Foreshadowing

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  First successful colony  Est. Native American/British relationship that would be seen for years to come  Economy-tobacco  First representative govt. Significance

By the late 1800’s, only this 1639 ruin remained…in the 1990’s, the ruins of the original fort were found underwater in the James River