1. Early English Settlements
Chapter 3, Lesson 2

2. England in America
England and Spain had been heading toward war for years.
King Philip II of Spain (Ruled from ), strongly defended the Catholic faith and wanted it returned to England.
Did not consider Elizabeth (Protestant) to be the rightful ruler of England.
Attacks on Spanish ships and ports by English Adventurer (read: Pirate) such as Sir Francis Drake angered Philip.
Felt that Drake should be punished for his raids.
Drake was instead honored with knighthood.

3. England in America
Philip would send the Spanish Armada to conquer England.
In 1588 he sent an Armada, or war fleet, of 132 ships to England.
It had 30,000 troops, and more than 2,000 guns.
The Spanish Armada was the mightiest Navy in the world at that time.

4. England in America
The Smaller English ships quickly gained the upper hand.
The defeat of Spain meant they no longer controlled the seas.
Now the way is clear for England to start colonizing North America.

5. King Philip II
Sir Francis Drake
King James I

6. The Lost Colony of Roanoke
The English had been trying since before their victory against the Spanish to try and establish a settlement on the other side of the Atlantic.
Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland for Queen Elizabeth in 1583.
Sailed along the coast searching for site but would die at sea.
Sir Walter Raleigh was given the right to claim land in North America.
His scouts return with a promising report of Roanoke Island, off the coast of present-day North Carolina.

7. The Lost Colony of Roanoke
In 1585, Raleigh would send about 100 men to settle Roanoke Island.
John White would explore and draw the area they were in
After barely surviving a difficult winter they decide to return to England.
In 1587, Raleigh tried again.
Sent 91 men, 17 women, and 9 children to Roanoke.
White would return with this group with his daughter and would lead them.

8. The Lost Colony of Roanoke
White’s daughter gave birth shortly after arriving on the island.
Her daughter, Virginia Dare, was the first English child born in North America.
They begin to build a colony but are in short supply of materials resulting in White returning to England for them as well as new settlers.
Although he hoped to be back in a few months, the war with Spain delayed his return for 3 years.

9. The Lost Colony of Roanoke.
When he finally returned, the colony was gone.
The only clue left behind was the word “Croatoan” carved on a gate post and tree.
He believed they may have been on Croatoan Island 50 miles south.
Bad weather would not permit him to investigate.
The Colonist were never seen again.

10. Humphrey Gilbert
Sir Walter Raleigh
Croatoan

11. Jamestown Settlement
Roanoke was Raleigh’s last attempt to establish a colony.
This failure discouraged many others from attempting to establish a colony.
In 1606, several merchants sought charters.
Charter – The right to organize a settlement in an area. In this case from King James I.

12. The Virginia Company
The Virginia Company of London received a charter in the area commonly known as Virginia.
This company was a Joint-Stock Company.
You bought a stock, or part ownership, of that company in return for a share of its future profits.
In December 1606, It sent 144 settlers in 3 ships to build this new colony.
40 of them died on the voyage to the colony.
The goal was to look for gold and establish trade in fish and furs.

13. The Virginia Company
In April 1607, the ships entered Chesapeake Bay and sailed up a river flowing into the bay.
This river would be named the James and the town, Jamestown, to honor their king.
Jamestown was built on a peninsula to better protect it from attacks but had some sever drawbacks.
Swampy land had mosquitoes that carried disease.
It also did not provide good farm land.

14. The Virginia Company
The colonist were also not used to difficult labor.
The London investors wanted to seek a return quickly so they focused primarily on looking for gold and silver.
They should have been growing food.
Disease and hunger took it’s toll as well.
In 1608, when ships arrived with supplies and more settlers, only 38 of them remained.

15. Jamestown Colony
Virginia Company Logo

16. Captain John Smith
The biggest obstacle the colonists faced was the governing of Jamestown.
The colony survived its first two years thanks to Captain John Smith.
He was an experienced soldier and explorer.
Forced the settlers to work and managed to get corn from the Native Americans led by Chief Powhatan.
In 1609, 400 new settlers would arrive.
John Smith returned to England two months later.
Without his leadership, the colony began to fail.

17. Captain John Smith
Without his strong leadership, the colony was unable to feed so many people.
The winter of became known as, “the starving time.”
Fighting also broke out with the Native Americans.
When more settlers arrived in the spring only 60 settlers were left.

18. Captain John Smith
Chief Powhatan

19. Farming the Land
The Virginia Company never found gold, but they did find another way to make money for investors.
John Rolfe learned to grow tobacco using seeds from the west indies.
First sold in England in 1614.
Planters along the James river would soon be raising this crop, making Virginia prosper and grow.
Relations also improved with the Native Americans when Rolfe married Pocahontas, Chief Powhatan’s daughter.

20. Farming the Land In 1614, they were allowed to rent plots of land.
Most of what was grown on those plots were their own.
Private ownership encouraged them to work harder to grow crops to sell.
Private land ownership was expanded in 1618.
Colonist who paid their way to America would receive 100 Acres of land.
To bring more colonists, the company gave 50 acres to those who paid their own way.
You would also receive 50 acres for every family member over 15 years old and for each servant.

21. John Rolfe and Pocahontas
Farming the Land
This system convinced thousands to move to Virginia.
John Rolfe and Pocahontas

22. Representative Government
At first nearly all of the Jamestown settlers were men.
Working for the Virginia Company under strict rules.
As they grew they complained about taking orders from the company in London.
This resulted in the company allowing the colonists to have some say in their government.
Ten towns sent two representatives called burgesses to an assembly.
They were given the right to make local laws for the colony and met for the first time on July 30, 1619 in a church as the House of Burgesses in Jamestown.

23. New Arrivals in Jamestown
In 1619, The Virginia Company sent 90 women to Jamestown.
Wanted to help the colony flourish by establishing families.
In order to marry one of these women you had to pay 120 pounds of tobacco.
Men greatly outnumbered the women.
A Dutch ship would also bring a group of servants (twenty Africans) to labor in fields. May not have been slaves.

24. New Arrivals in Jamestown
Until 1640, some African laborers in Jamestown were free and even owned property.
William Tucker – First African born in the American colonies was a free man.
In the following years though, the Africans who came would be sold as slaves
First recognized by Virginia law in the 1660s.
In the early 1620s, suffered financial hardship.
It had invested so much into the colony but saw little return in profit.
Also suffered an attack by the Native Americans.

25. New Arrivals in Jamestown
This resulted in King James canceling the charter and converting Jamestown into the first royal colony for England in America in 1624.