The Jamestown Colony

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The Jamestown Colony

• Times were hard in England in the 1500s- Wanted
  to travel to America
• to bring fish, furs and timber back to England
  ()
• to find gold and silver ()
• to farm ()
• What kind of people do you think should travel
  1st to this new land?

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Virginia Company
NO ONE TOLD ME I HAVE TO WORK!

• 3 ships carried 100 colonists and supplies
• All men
• Some were farmers
• Few skilled craftsmen
• Some were servants
• MANY were gentlemen- did not do physical
  labor/work
• They believed they were going there to strike it
  rich.

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peninsula

• When the settlers chose the location in 1607,
  Jamestown was located on a narrow peninsula
  bordered on three sides by the James River.

James River
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Why settle there?

• The location could be easily defended from attack
  by sea. The English feared a sea attack by the
  Spanish.
• The water along the shore was deep enough for
  ships to dock.
• The English believed they had a good supply of
  fresh water.

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However.

• The first months were hard! Land was marshy, bad
  water, poor soil! Many became ill. Lack of food
  and supplies.

How could you get something if you didnt have
money?

• Traded with Native Americans (Powhatan) for food
• The Native Americans received metal tools and
  guns from settlers

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How could Jamestown survive without money and
help from the Native Americans?

• Tobacco! - grew wild in Virginia Colony and
  could send it to England for money.
• John Rolfe-
• Experimented with tobacco plants to make them
  sweeter.
• Married Pocahontas

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What qualifications/skills would you want your
leader to posses?

• Captain John Smith-
• knew how to survive and realized that the
  settlers had to work and farm, not search for
  gold.
• was captured by the Powhatan, but saved by
  Pocahontas.
• later traveled back to England and the Starving
  Time occurred (attacks on the settlers). Approx.
  440 died.

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• Pocahontas-
• Daughter of Powhatan chief
• helped settlers survive (brought food, trade with
  her people, prepare for battle, etc.)
• Married John Rolfe (later became Rebecca Rolfe)
• Massacre of 1622 Things start to go bad
• Regular attacks on Native Americans, their crops
  and villages.

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In spite of the conflict the colony survives.

• Tidewater plantations were expanding because
  people could make so much money from tobacco.
• Virginia planters soon saw that they would need a
  cheap supply of labor for a long time.
• The arrival of African slaves made it possible to
  expand the tobacco economy.

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Africans arrived in Jamestown against their will.
It is believed that they arrived as baptized
Christians and therefore were labeled indentured
servants for a period of 5 to 7 years.
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Governing the Virginia Colony

• Developed House of Burgesses
• Could discuss any problems
• Passed many laws
• 1st step toward self-government
• Capital moved to
• Williamsburg, Virginia.

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Plymouth, Massachusetts

• Unlike with Jamestown, the first settlers were
  prepared to live here permanently.
• Formed the Mayflower Compact to have a peaceful
  self-rule.
• One of the first set of laws in the new world.