1. English Colonies in Virginia
The Virginia Companies
The possibility of riches in America commanded the attention of the English. By 1600, Spain had gained a fortune from gold and silver in its American colonies. The English King, James I, could not afford to send ships and supplies to America, and English nobles were unwilling to risk their personal wealth. English merchants, however, were eager for a share in the rich new continent. In 1606 merchants in the cities of London and Plymouth came up with a new way to share the costs of starting a colony.
Joint Stock Companies
London Company of Virginia
London Company of Plymouth

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James I
Broke from fighting a war with Spain, he ushers in the new ideas of company ran colonies and Royal Charters-or land grants!
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3. The Virginia Companies
The merchants formed two companies:
Virginia Company of Plymouth
Virginia Company of London.
Each was a joint stock company that sold shares to investors. Each investor contributed just a small share of the cost. If the company succeeded, investors shared the profits. If it failed, they lost only how much money they originally invested.
Upon receiving permission from King James I, each company received a charter-a document that allowed them to settle and trade in certain areas of the Americas. The land grant was between North Carolina and the Potomac River, they called it Virginia.
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London Companies
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Jamestown 1607
In December 1606, the London Company sent three ships-the Discovery, the Susan Constant, and the Godspeed-to start a colony in North America. The 144 men, no women, faced a rough, stormy voyage. More than 40 died at sea. Finally, in April 1607 the ships reached Virginia.
They sailed into the Chesapeake Bay and up a wide river that the colonists named the James River after their King. They landed on a peninsula 60 miles up the river, and established their settlement, named Jamestown.
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6. Susan Constant, Discovery, and the Godspeed
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Jamestown Virginia 1607
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8. Jamestown Faces Problems
(1.) Jamestown’s location was a good spot to keep a lookout for Spanish ships. (2.) It was also a good spot to trade with nearby natives. It had serious drawbacks, however. (1.) The swampy land was filled with mosquitoes and lacked good drinking water. As a result, many colonists died of malaria or typhoid fever.
Jamestown faced another serious problem. (2.) Its colonists knew nothing about living in the wilderness. (3.) Many of them were gentlemen. They had come to America for gold and adventure, not to cut wood, build homes, or plant crops. By September, half of the colonists had died from the hard life, and by the next January, only 38 were still alive.
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Starving Time
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Starving Time
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A Plantation Economy
The colony’s economy did not flourish until the settlers began growing tobacco. John Rolfe began planting tobacco in Within a few years, colonists shipped thousands of pounds of Virginia Tobacco to England to earn huge profits. Tobacco farming changed farming in Virginia. Planters set up huge farms, or plantations, along coastal rivers. Growing tobacco was hard-backbreaking work. Virginia planters hired indentured servants, people who agreed to work a certain number of years-usually from 3-7-in exchange for their passage to America. Between 100,000 and 150,000 men and women came to America as indentured servants.
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Plantation Economy
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13. Newcomers from Africa/ Family
In 1619 a Dutch ship brought the first Africans-20 of them-to Jamestown. These colonial African workers were probably treated as indentured servants by the tobacco planters. Some of these servants later became free citizens.
Encouraging Family Life
The hardships of the early years discouraged many people, especially women, from coming to America. London Company officials knew that families were needed to make the colony stable. In 1620 about 100 women sailed into Jamestown on Bridal Ships to choose a husband. The company charged each man who got married 150 lbs. of tobacco. Jamestown eventually became a community with families and a growing population!
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14. Native American Neighbors
At first, mainly through the efforts of John Smith, English settlers and Native Americans were on good terms. Pocahontas married planter John Rolfe in 1614 and went with him to England where she was introduced to London society. In 1617, on her way home to America, Pocahontas died of smallpox.
Pocahontas's father, Powhatan, died the next year and relations between settlers and natives declined. The Native Americans were angry with the amount of land the English were taking for growing tobacco. Mistrust led to violence. In 1622 some Native Americans made surprise attacks on settlers. The attacks killed nearly 350 people, including John Rolfe. Later, the English would burn the natives out of their areas.
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15. Native American Neighbors
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16. Beginnings of Self Government
Under Jamestown’s charter, the London Company controlled the colony and named a council to run it. Settlers worked for the company, which owned the land. In 1619, the company sent a governor to run the colony and he began granting land to individuals. It also gave the colonists a voice in running the colonies government. Thus, the first form of Representative Government began in the English colonies.
Adult freemen could elect representatives, or burgesses, to a lawmaking body, the House of Burgesses. This assembly could make the laws to govern the colony. The House of Burgesses met for the first time in a church in July 1619!
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House of Burgesses
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