Jamestown The Virginia Colony

Coming to Jamestown In 1607, 105 men and boys from England headed to America They came with one thing in mind: becoming rich! The settlers hoped to find gold, silver, or other riches

Location, Location, Location! Chose Jamestown because it was located on the James River in Virginia –The River could… Protect from ocean attack Provide an easy escape route (if needed) Carry goods

The Men Soldiers, adventurers, or men who wanted to make $ quickly and return to England. Many were from the upper class Weren’t used to working with their hands  didn’t want to spend time building houses or growing crops

Relationships with the Indians The settlers didn’t want to take time to grow crops so they stole them from the Native Americans. Caused a poor relationship between the colonists and the Native Americans.

Jamestown is failing No gold Swampy land = bad farming = no food Disease (8,000 of 10,000 settlers died of Malaria) Running out of available land Poor relationship with the Natives

Jamestown’s Hero: John Smith John Smith= soldier and settler Tried to fix the relationship with the natives by becoming friends with Chief Powhatan of the Algonquin tribe –Traded tools, beads and copper for corn and beans to feed settlers –Made all colonists share the work and told them “those who don’t work, will not eat.”

More Success! The House of Burgesses was created – 1 st govt. in America where a representative voted on laws for the colony Tobacco became a HUGE cash crop Women came to the colony