Jamestown Colony 1607-1624

+ People were dying from starving and disease.

The Virginia Company

+ A group of merchants from England formed the Virginia Company
of London in 1606 to set up a colony in Virginia.

+ That summer almost half of the colonists died and only 38 colonists
were left after the first year.

+ A charter is a document that permitted colonists to settle on land

claimed by their ruler.
+ They sent colonists and gave them tools, medicine, weapons, and
seeds.
+ In return they needed to give the company a share of the gold found
and crops grown.
+ The Virginia Company raised money by selling stock in the
company and each stockholder would earn part of the profit when the
colony was successful.
Jamestown
+ 1607: 3 ships brought 120 colonists to the Chesapeake Bay in
Virginia.
+ They sailed up the James River, which they named after King James.
When they found what they thought was the right spot they settled on
it and called it Jamestown.
+ This land belonged to the Tsenacomacoh Indians.
Problems in Jamestown:
Land was low and swampy
mosquitoes carried diseases
water was not healthy to drink
people got sick and began to die
John Smith and the Starving Time

+ John Smith became the leader of the colony.

+ He was a strong leader that helped them survive.
People spent their time doing nothing but
looking for gold.
His rule for the colony was Those who DO NOT
work, DO NOT eat.
Under John Smiths leadership, people began
building houses, digging wells for fresh
water, planting crops, and fishing for food.
John Smith began trading with the Powhatan
Indians for food.
Corn from Powhatan helped keep colonists alive.
In 1609, Smith was hurt in a gunpowder
explosion and left for England.
The colony began to die again, and it was
called The Starving Time
At one point it was almost abandoned. The
colony barely survived.
England sent a new leader to enforce rules and
the colony was saved again.
New Virginians
+ John Rolfe began raising tobacco in 1612 which
became a cash crop (crop for profit of money) for the
colonists.
+ Tobacco farms grew so quickly that they needed indentured servants
(servants who agreed to work for someone for a period of time in
exchange for a trip to North America). The indentured servants
worked for 5 to 7 years to repay their passage and then they were
freed.

+ Many died because of disease and overwork. Many other slaves

were brought to Virginia during this time.
+ In 1614, John Rolfe and Pocahontas (Chief Powhatans daughter)
were married which brought peace between the Indians and the
Settlers.
+ In 1619, the Dutch sent 20 captive Africans on a ship to trade them
for supplies. After working as indentured servants they became
farmers and planters.
+ Colonists eventually needed more workers so they enslaved the
African arrivals and forced them to work on large farms and
plantations.
The House of Burgesses
+ The Virginia Company wanted more people to come to the colony to
settle. In 1619, they brought women to the colony hoping it would
become a place for families to live and stay.
+ In a small church a group of white men who owned land met. They
knew they needed a government.
+ The group was called The House of Burgesses. They made laws
for the colony. + It was the first law-making assembly in the colonies
giving a voice to the colonists and giving them their own government.
+ Members were chosen to represent each district of the colony.
+ Helped establish self-government in the colonies.