English Settlement of North America

1
English Settlement of North America
Jamestown
2
Geography
Jamestown Colony
3
Geography

• Flat, marshy land
• Fertile soil
• Long growing season

Landscape

• Wide, slow moving waterways
• Good for fishing/shipping

Waterways

• Swampy land makes area full of mosquitoes
• Spreaders of disease

Problems
4
Climate
Summer
Winter

• Mild
• Average lows about 35-40 degrees Fahrenheit
• Sometimes snows

• Hot temperatures
• VERY Humid
• Highs into the mid-80s Fahrenheit

5
English Failure

• Last English attempt at colonization had been the
  Lost colony of Roanoke in 1587
• Had been a large financial loss for Sir Walter
  Raleigh

6
Joint Stock Companies

• In an effort to avoid the large financial losses
  that financers had suffered before, English
  investors formed Joint Stock Companies

Shares of a the company are sold to investors,
who expect a profit in return
What advantages does a Joint Stock Company offer
over a single investor
7
Joint Stock Companies

• The Virginia Company approached King James I of
  England in 1606

• Requested charter that would allow creation and
  settlement of two colonies along the N. American
  coast

8
Who Will Go to Virginia?
The VA. Company will promise things to encourage
men to go to N. America

• Guaranteed same rights as Englishmen, as if they
  had stayed in England
• Creates belief that even in the Americas, they
  had the rights of Englishmen

9
Jamestown is Born

• These ships arrive in Spring of 1607
• The first ships arrive at the mouth of the
  Chesapeake bay, but continue on after being
  attacked by Indians
• On May 24, 1607, about 100 colonists land at what
  would become Jamestown, on the James River

10
Jamestown The First Settlers

• Go to the following website
• http//www.preservationvirginia.org/rediscovery
• - Under What have we found click Jamestowns
  History
• - Scroll to the very bottom of the page and
  click on Lists of the early settlers and their
  occupations

11
Jamestown The First Settlers

• With a partner, discuss the following things (Be
  prepared to share)
• Look at the occupations. What occupations will
  be helpful, what will not be? What is missing?
• What are the colonists going to be able to
  accomplish? What will they not be able to
  accomplish?
• Decide if you think the original Jamestown colony
  will be successful or not.

12
Jamestown Fort and Settlement Map
13
Jamestown Settlement 1607

• Colonists built a fortified settlement
• Immediately begin hunting for Gold
• Gentlemen colonists refused to work for
  themselves
• Spent little time hunting or planting
• By January 1608, only 38 colonists were still
  alive

14
John Smith

• Member of the first group of settlers
• Listed as one of the seven council members chosen
  to govern the colonies.
• Was captured by Natives in December of 1607, and
  taken to their Chief as a captive

15
Fact vs. Fiction
So, we all know that John Smith and Pocahontas
fall in love and live happily ever after
right.?
16
Smiths True Contributions

• After release from the Powhatan, Smith took
  control of Jamestown
• Imposed military discipline
• Organized settlers into work gangs
• Decreed he that will not worke shall not eate
• Helps the colonists survive during first year

17
Near Demise of Jamestown
The Starving Time
104 Colonists Arrive
300 more immigrants
1609
1607
By Spring 1608- 38 Survive
By Spring 1610- 60 Survive
10,000 Immigrants
Adult Life expectancy 40 years old
Infant Mortality Rate (before 5) 80
1610-1624
1624 Population- 1,000
18
1619 An Important Year For Jamestown

• Three Important Changes
• During 1619

19
Relationship with the Natives

• Jamestown was settled right in the middle of the
  land controlled by Indian leader Powhatan

• Chief of confederacy of approx. 30 tribes
• Originally sent food to colonists, assuming that
  if they accepted the food, they were admitting
  their dependence on him

• Mistaken- Colonists began to seize corn forcibly
  
• Father of Pocahontas
• Peace between colonists and Natives sealed by
  marriage of Pocahontas to Englishman John Rolfe

Colonists mistakenly called all the natives
Powhatans.
20
Relationship with the Natives

• Pocahontas had died in 1617
• Severed the tie between the English and Natives
• Powhatan will die in 1618
• His younger brother will take over as leader
  (dislikes English Settlers)
• Natives attack settlements, killing 347 settlers
  within one day (1/4 of settlers)
• Begins a five year war.
• Will end in 1623

21
Lasting Result of War with Natives

• The Virginia Company is BROKE!

Royal inquest into attacks finds that ten times
more colonists had died from starvation and
disease than at the hands of Indians
House of Burgesses is allowed to continue to
self-govern, but their actions are monitored by
the crown and its advisors
King James dissolves VA Company in 1624
Virginia becomes a royal colony in 1625
22
Tobacco The Key to Survival

• Settlers had been searching for a marketable
  product
• Will begin growing tobacco after 1610

• Huge Demand for Tobacco made it profitable

• Native VA. Leaf was of poor quality, so didnt
  sell

23
Tobacco The Key to Survival

• John Rolfe will introduce seedlings from the
  Caribbean
• These seeds will grow crops of better quality,
  creating a demand for Virginia tobacco

24
Tobacco The Key to Survival

• Tobacco was immediately planted everywhere in
  Jamestown- Even the Streets!

25
Labor Force in Jamestown

• Increasing demand and drop in prices meant that
  Jamestown settlers needed to grow more and more
  tobacco.
• Began to rely on Indentured Servants meet demand

26
Indentured Servitude

• An indentured servant was a worker who agreed to
  a fixed term of labor (4-7 years) in exchange for
  free passage to Virginia
• The master provided food, shelter, clothing
• Indentured Servants came by the thousands
• Died in large numbers
• Commonly mistreated
• Will eventually rebel, causing planters in VA to
  turn to slave labor instead of Indentured
  servants (Bacons Rebellion)