1. Jamestown

2. Founding Jamestown
In 1607 a group of wealthy people pooled resources together to establish an English colony in North America
Virginia Company of London
Gold and silver
Trade with the Indians for furs
Lumber cut and sold
Produce silk
All to be sold in England for a profit!

3. Founding Jamestown
King James I granted a charter to establish a colony called Virginia
Charter: a document issued by a government that grants specific rights to a person or company
First colonists arrived in spring of 1607
100 men sailed into Chesapeake Bay and built a fort called Jamestown
England’s first permanent settlement in North America

4. Founding Jamestown Barely survived first year
Located on a peninsula where insects thrived
Colonists caught many diseases such as malaria
Many colonists had no intention of doing hard farm work
Looked for gold
Tried to trade with Indians
They gave some food
In 1608 only 38 of the original colonists were still alive!

5. John Smith 1608 John Smith was sent from London to lead the colony
Tough rules
“He who works not, eats not”
Hundreds of new colonists,first English women
Returned to England after being injured in an explosion
Conditions quickly worsened
Powhatan stopped giving food

6. Jamestown Prospers New colonists continued to come
Offered free land
New leaders from England
Found a way to sustain the colony
Tobacco
Colonists started to plant and sell

7. House of Burgesses
Developed representative government: the form of government in which voters elect people to make laws for them
1619 House of Burgesses was elected and met for the first time
Pass laws
Set taxes
Shared power with
governor who could
veto

8. Africans come to Virginia
1619 Dutch ship arrived with 20 Africans
Captured and taken
Sold to Virginia colonists as slaves
Early days of the colony slaves had chance to earn their freedom after working a certain number of years
Permanent slavery becomes established in the last part of the 1600’s