1. Chapter 5: The struggle to found colonies
Lesson 1:
Hard Times in Virginia

2. Hard Times in Virginia
Places
Roanoke Island
Virginia
Jamestown

3. Hard Times in Virginia People Queen Elizabeth I Walter Raleigh
John White
Francis Drake
King James I
John Smith
Chief Powhatan
Pocahontas
John Rolfe

4. Hard Times in Virginia Vocabulary Charter Stock Cash Crop
Indentured Servant
House of Burgesses

5. Hard Times in Virginia The Lost Colony of Roanoke
England’s rulers watched as Spain established vast new colonies in Americas
In the late 1500’s England began trying to establish its own colonies
Roanoke was England’s first attempt

6. Hard Times in Virginia The Lost Colony of Roanoke
Queen Elizabeth I of England and other English leaders had many reasons for wanting colonies in North America
England was hoping to find gold and other natural resources

7. Hard Times in Virginia The Lost Colony of Roanoke
Queen Elizabeth I knew that establishing a colony would be difficult and expensive and maybe even dangerous
The Spanish did not want other nations to build colonies in North America

8. Hard Times in Virginia The Lost Colony of Roanoke
Walter Raleigh, an advisor to the Queen, offered to organize the first colony
Raleigh was a soldier who explored North America in the 1580’s
Roanoke Island was off the coast of present day North Carolina

9. Hard Times in Virginia The Lost Colony of Roanoke
The first group of colonists landed on Roanoke Island in 1585
They faced a tough winter, having difficulty finding food
In 1586, the starving colonists returned to home England

10. Hard Times in Virginia The Lost Colony of Roanoke
Raleigh did not give up on starting a colony in North America
In 1587, John White led 100 men, women, and children to Roanoke Island
This colony struggled as well

11. Hard Times in Virginia The Lost Colony of Roanoke
When supplies ran out, John White went back to England for help
Upon arriving in England, John White found England at war with Spain
England could not spare any ships to send supplies to the Roanoke Island colony

12. Hard Times in Virginia The Lost Colony of Roanoke
White was unable to return to Roanoke Island until 1590
Everyone on the Island had disappeared
The only clue White found was the word “CROATOAN” carved in a tree
Croatoan was the name of an American Indian group that lived near Roanoke Island

13. Hard Times in Virginia
No one knows what happened to the Roanoke settlement
The colonists may have been captured by the Spanish or died in battles against the Native Americans
The starving colonists may moved south to live with the Croatoan people
Roanoke Island settlement is known as “The Lost Colony”
The Lost Colony of Roanoke

14. Hard Times in Virginia The Battle of the Spanish Armada
Tension was growing between England and Spain
England’s attempt to build a colony in North America angered Spain’s King Philip II
English sea captains had been raiding Spanish ships, traveling from America to Spain, of silver and gold

15. Hard Times in Virginia The Battle of the Spanish Armada
One of the most famous English captains was Francis Drake
In 1577 Drake began a voyage around the world
When Drake returned to England in 1580, his ship was full of gold captured for Spanish ships

16. Hard Times in Virginia The Battle of the Spanish Armada
Drake was considered a hero in England
The Spanish called him the “Master Thief”
In 1588, King Philip II decided to attack England
King Philip II assembled the Spanish Armada, a huge fleet of war ships

17. Hard Times in Virginia The Battle of the Spanish Armada
The Spanish had 130 ships carrying about 30,000 sailors and soldiers
The Spanish Armada met the English off the coast of England
The Spanish were confident of victory

18. Hard Times in Virginia The Battle of the Spanish Armada
The English navy had some advantages
The English ships were smaller and could move faster in the water
The English ships had more powerful guns

19. Hard Times in Virginia The Battle of the Spanish Armada
The commander of the English fleet, Lord Howard, wrote:
“Their force is wonderful great and strong, yet we pluck their feathers by little and little.”
Many of the Spanish ships were sunk by English cannonballs

20. Hard Times in Virginia The Battle of the Spanish Armada
Other Spanish ships were caught in a storm and smashed against the rocky coast of Ireland
Of the 130 ships of the Spanish Armada, 60 returned to Spain safely

21. Hard Times in Virginia The Battle of the Spanish Armada
The Battle of the Spanish Armada was a major victory for the English
The victory made England one of the world’s most powerful nations
Now the English could turn their focus back to establishing colonies in North America

22. Hard Times in Virginia The Jamestown Colony
In 1606, a group of merchants formed the Virginia Company of London
They asked King James I for a charter to set up a colony in Virginia
Charter – a document that permitted colonies to settle on land claimed by their ruler

23. Hard Times in Virginia The Jamestown Colony
The owners of the Virginia Company raised money by selling stock – shares in the company
Each person who bought stock in the company would earn a profit if the colony was successful

24. Hard Times in Virginia The Jamestown Colony
In 1607, three English ships carrying about 120 colonists reached the eastern coast of Virginia
They sailed up a river they named the James River in honor of King James I
They unloaded their ships on a peninsula in the river
The spot was called Jamestown

25. Hard Times in Virginia The Jamestown Colony
One of the settlers, John Smith, called Jamestown
“A very fit place for erecting a great city”
He was wrong
The land was low and swampy
The air was full of disease-carrying mosquitoes

26. Hard Times in Virginia The Jamestown Colony
The river water was not healthy to drink
The water made the people sick
As soon as they arrived in Jamestown, many of the settlers began to die

27. Hard Times in Virginia
Map Adventure
Be sure to read page 159 in class

28. Hard Times in Virginia John Smith and the “Starving Times”
Some Jamestown colonists expected to find gold in Virginia
Instead of building shelter and planting crops, they spent days searching for this gold
Some thought they found gold but it wasn’t gold

29. Hard Times in Virginia John Smith and the “Starving Times”
Soon, men began dying of starvation and disease
By the end of the first year, there were only 38 settlers remained
The little wheat they had left form the voyage was full of worms

30. Hard Times in Virginia John Smith and the “Starving Times”
John Smith was elected leader of the colony
He issued an order to the surviving men based on the Bible:
“He that will not work, shall not eat.”

31. Hard Times in Virginia John Smith and the “Starving Times”
Under John Smith’s leadership, the colonists built houses and dug wells for fresh water
The colonists planted crops and fished in the river
Smith began trading with the leader of Powhatan people, Chief Powhatan

32. Hard Times in Virginia John Smith and the “Starving Times”
Corn from the Powhatan helped keep the colonists alive
Relations between the English settlers and the Powhatan were peaceful for a moment
Pocahontas, Chief Powhatan’s young daughter would visit Jamestown often

33. Hard Times in Virginia John Smith and the “Starving Times”
John Smith wrote that when he first met Chief Powhatan, he was taken prisoner
Smith was about to be executed when 12 year-old Pocahontas saved his life
She persuaded her father to let Smith go free
Smith returned to England in 1609

34. Hard Times in Virginia John Smith and the “Starving Times”
The colony suffered without John Smith’s leadership
So many people died of hunger
This period was known as the “Starving Times”
Jamestown was nearly abandoned with the population dwindling

35. Hard Times in Virginia John Smith and the “Starving Times”
More settlers arrived including a new leader, Lord De La Warre
The Virginia Company gave the leader new powers
Forcing colonists to work
The last survivors were saved and the colony revived

36. Hard Times in Virginia Tobacco Helps Jamestown Grow
Like corn and tomatoes, the tobacco plant is native to the Americas
Earlier European explorers and traders learned from Native Americans how to grow tobacco
By the early 1600’s tobacco was becoming popular in England and other European nations

37. Hard Times in Virginia Tobacco Helps Jamestown Grow
In 1612, a settler named John Rolfe raised a crop of tobacco in the rich Virginia soil
Tobacco soon became Virginia’s first cash crop
Cash crop – crop grown for a profit
Tobacco was soon widely grown

38. Hard Times in Virginia Tobacco Helps Jamestown Grow
King James I of England did not approve of tobacco
King James I called smoking “hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs”
Despite the King’s opposition to smoking, people in Virginia still raised tobacco

39. Hard Times in Virginia Tobacco Helps Jamestown Grow
Tobacco export to England rose rapidly
Farms were growing so quickly that more workers were needed
Thousands of English indentured servants began arriving in Jamestown

40. Hard Times in Virginia Tobacco Helps Jamestown Grow
Indentured Servants were those who agreed to work for someone for a certain amount of time in exchange for the cost of ocean voyage to North America
Most indentured servants hoped to buy their own land when they gained their freedom

41. Hard Times in Virginia Tobacco Helps Jamestown Grow
Many never lived long enough to become free
Between 1619 and 1622, many indentured servants died of disease, overwork, and mistreatment by their masters

42. Hard Times in Virginia Tobacco Helps Jamestown Grow
In 1619, a Dutch ship arrived with 20 African who were sold as indentured servants and later released
Some established their own tobacco plantations
Later Africans brought to Virginia would be enslaved

43. Hard Times in Virginia Tobacco Helps Jamestown Grow
In spite of the hardship of life in Jamestown, the colony continued to grow steadily
The marriage between John Rolfe and Pocahontas in 1614 helped to maintain peace between the English and the Powhatan people

44. Hard Times in Virginia Self-Government in Virginia
The Virginia Company of London continued to try to attract more settlers to the colony
The Leaders of the company declared that the settlers in Virginia should have
“Such a form of government…as may be to the greatest benefit and comfort of the people”

45. Hard Times in Virginia
On July 30, 1619, the Virginia House of Burgesses met for the first time
The House of Burgesses was the first law-making assembly in an English colony
Members were chosen to represent each district
The House of Burgesses helped to establish the tradition of self-government in the English colonies
Self-Government in Virginia

46. Hard Times in Virginia Click the picture to play

47. Hard Times in Virginia John Smith 1580 - 1631
Be sure to read page 163 in class
Or research John Smith on your own

48. Hard Times in Virginia Answer your study questions.
Quiz will be on Wednesday morning before moving to Lesson 2