Aim: How influential was Jamestown in the foundation of

the United States?Do Now: In 1607, the English explorer John Smith arrived at the Jamestown colony in

Virginia. Soon after, Smith would find himself captured by the local Powhatan Indians, who had come into conflict with the Jamestown settlers. This encounter is best remembered in the Disney film Pocahontas. Use the short clip from the Disney film and the excerpt from

the current chief of the Powhatan tribe to answer the following questions:http://video.disney.com/watch/path-i-choose-4c2dd6daa458958a7e038dfe

Jamestown’s Foundations

• Established in 1607 in what is today Virginia, it was the first permanent English colony in America.

•The colony was established as an economic venture by the Virginia Company, a joint-stock company.

Jamestown’s Foundations

• Joint-Stock Company: A business that has “stakes” which can be bought and sold by different shareholders, allowing them a part of any profit gained by the company.

What type of people do you think early Jamestown would have attracted?

Early Jamestown: The Starving Time• Early Jamestown was plagued by disease from

unhealthy water sources, and most of the early settlers expected to “get rich quick” as the Spanish had.

•During this time, leader John Smith helped rally the colonists under the motto “work or starve”, and he formed an alliance with the local Powhatan Indians to obtain food.

• After a gunpowder accident, Smith was forced to return to England, and the Powhatan’s cut off supplies to the settlers.

Early Jamestown: The Starving Time

• The following winter, 80% of Jamestown’s colonists died of starvation or disease.

“Brown Gold”• By 1610, the colony had recovered and had

begun an economic boom thanks primarily to the new cash group, Tobacco.

•Native to the Americas, tobacco was found to be in high demand in Europe and Virginia proved to be fertile grounds for growing this new crop.

• Thanks to tobacco, the population and economic fortunes of Virginia began to increase dramatically.

Democratic roots in Virginia• In 1619, the Virginia House of Burgesses met

for the first time. •It was made up of elected representatives from the colony, and passed acts that:• Helped regulate relations with Native

Americans• Regulated rules for colonists interacting with

each other (theft, property rights, etc)• Established a public warehouse for Tobacco

storage

• What type of people do you think served in the House of Burgesses? Based on this, do you feel it appropriate that this institution is often called the “birthplace of American Democracy?”

Tensions Erupt in Virginia• In an attempt to draw more colonists,

especially indentured servants, to the colonies, the Virginia Company instituted a program known as the “headright system”

•Headright System: A system in which anyone coming to the new colonies would be granted land in the Americas. If the new immigrant was an indentured servant or a slave, the land would be granted to the person paying for the tripWhat sort of problems do you imagine emerging from this system?

Tensions Erupt in Virginia• By the 1670’s, most free men in Virginia were

former indentured servants, forced to live on less fertile land away from the shore, which drove them into conflict with the Native Americans.

• The Virginia House of Burgesses, made up of wealthy landowners, refused to help the poor farmers eradicate the Native Americans, and a farmer named Nathaniel Bacon soon rose up in rebellion against the governor, William Berkeley.

Instructions: Use the Declaration by Bacon as well as the response from Governor Berkley below to answer the following questions

VS.