1. SSUSH1 The student will describe European settlement in North America during the 17th century
a. Explain Virginia’s development; include the Virginia Company, tobacco cultivation, relationships with Native Americans such as Powhatan, development of the House of Burgesses, Bacon’s Rebellion, and the development of slavery.

2. The Virginia Company
The King of England granted a charter to the Virginia Company which established Jamestown as their settlement in 1607.
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3. Tobacco
At first the Virginia Company failed to produce a cash crop and the Jamestown colony nearly failed.
John Rolfe established a blend of tobacco that was sold in England and produced a cash crop that made the colony prosper (1614).
The original colonist to Jamestown tried to produce glass, and naval stores as a means of raising cash, but met with little success.

4. The House of Burgesses
The Virginia Company established a representative body to help run the colony in 1619.
The House of Burgesses was made up of a governor and 20 representatives, or burgesses, from the colony’s 10 towns.

5. Relations with the Natives
The local natives, the Powhatan, had an uneasy peace with the Virginia Company settlers and traded them food, helping the colony to survive for the first few years.
Relations eventually deteriorated and in 1622 the Powhatan attack Jamestown, killing many settlers.
The uprising is put down, but causes the King to revoke the Virginia Company’s Charter, turning Virginia into a Royal colony led by a governor appointed by the King.
The colony nearly failed in 1608 and had only 53 colonist left. 400 new settlers arrived in The colony nearly failed again during the winter of when the population dwindled down to 60 settlers after most of the settlers died from starvation, disease, or attacks from the local Natives
Relations with the Natives

6. Bacon’s Rebellion
Nathaniel Bacon: -a frontier farmer who was upset with the way the Governor was ruling the Virginia colony . -Governor took away many voting rights and failed to protect frontier farmers, who wanted more western land, from Native attacks.
Governor William Berkeley believed that only the wealthy should vote, and established rules which allowed him and his councilors not to pay taxes

7. Bacon’s Rebellion
Bacon raised a militia and took over Jamestown in 1676
The Governor retook the colony later that year after Bacon became ill and died

8. Slavery comes to Virginia
The first Africans came to Virginia in 1619 and were not used as slaves but as baptized servants.
By the 1680s slaves began to replace indentured servants as workers in Virginia.
The Africans were brought on a Dutch ship. English law prohibited the use of baptized Christians as slaves, and they were purchased by the colony as servants. In 1672 England granted a charter to the Royal African Company making easier for the English colonies to acquire slaves

9. Questions
What role did the Virginia Company and tobacco have in saving the Virginia colony?
What type of government did the House of Burgesses form?
What was the relationship between the Powhatan and the colonists? How did it change and why?
Why did Nathaniel Bacon lead a revolt in Virginia?
What role did the first Africans play in the development of Virginia?