Early Colonies Have Mixed

SuccessChapter 3, Section 1

Bell Ringer:1. Look at the map on p. 87. When and

where was the first English settlement?2. Judging by the dates on the map, how long

did the settlement last?

Joint-stock company – a business in which investors pool their

wealth in order to turn a profit Charter – a written contract issued by a government giving the

holder the right to establish a colony Jamestown – the first permanent English settlement in North

America John Smith – a soldier and adventurer who instilled discipline and

made everyone work Indentured servant – a person who sold his or her labor in

exchange for passage to America House of Burgesses – created in 1619, the first representative

assembly in the American colonies Bacon’s Rebellion – a revolt against powerful colonial authority in

Jamestown by Nathaniel Bacon and a group of landless frontier settlers that resulted in the burning of Jamestown in 1676

Key Terms

• Explain why England wanted to establish colonies in North America.

• Describe the experience of the settlers who founded the first permanent English colony in Jamestown.

Objectives

How did the English set up their first colonies?

The Colonies would provide new markets for English products and raw materials for English industries.

England was a monarchy, but the powers of royalty were limited by law and by Parliament.

The king granted charters to groups of people who wanted to establish colonies.

Some colonists came for land, others for gold, and still others for religious freedom.

In the late 1500s, the English began to establish colonies on the east coast of North America.

Spain had many colonies in the Americas; England had none

Richard Hakluyt English geographer

1. Why did he favor founding English colonies in the Americas? Mercantilism

Market for English exports Source of raw materials

2. Why did the English want to go to America? Economic opportunity and religious freedom

The English Plan Colonies

Two Early English Colonies

First Roanoke Colony

• The first colony at Roanoke Island, off the coast of present-day North Carolina, was established in 1585.

• It was abandoned a year later.

Second Roanoke Colony

• The second colony at Roanoke Island was established in 1587.

• Because of a war with Spain, England was unable to send a ship to visit the colony until 1590.

• By then, the colony had disappeared without a trace.

Sir Walter Raleigh

Soldier, statesman, adventurer 3. What part did Sir Walter Raleigh play

in the first English settlement? Received permission to sponsor a

colony What did he name the colony?

Virginia (1585) on Roanoke Island

4. Why did the Roanoke colony fail? Colonists relied on the Native Americans for food Native Americans realize that the English want their

land, so they cut them off Survivors went back to England

Two Early Colonies Fail

Who was John White? Artist; settler at 2nd Roanoke colony

What happened to the colonistsat Roanoke? No one knows! Possibly moved to a different area,

or killed by Native Americans

Where was the Sagadahoc colony located? Why did it fail? Maine Arguments, harsh winter, food shortages, fights with

Native Americans

Roanoke, take 2

The merchants, who formed the Virginia Company of London, were eager to gain a share of the wealth of the Americas.

In 1607, England’s King James I granted a charter to a group of merchants to establish a colony called Virginia in North America.

5. What did a joint-stock company have to do

with colonial settlement? One person could not finance a colony (like Raleigh) What is a joint-stock company?

Backed by investors, people who put money into a project to earn profits

Each investor received pieces of ownership Shares of stock enabled investors to share profits and

divide losses

Virginia Company of London Virginia Company of Plymouth

Both companies were given charters by the King in 1606

Financing a Colony

They built a fort they called Jamestown, which proved to be England’s first permanent settlement in North America.

The first colonists—about 100 men—arrived in Virginia in the spring of 1607.

Jamestown barely survived its first year because many colonists:

• died of diseases such as malaria

• wanted to look for gold, not farm

Local Native Americans, led by a chief named Powhatan, gave the colonists some food.

By the spring of 1608, only 38 of the original colonists were still alive.

Under his firm leadership, the colonists planted crops and built buildings.

That fall, John Smith was sent from England to lead the colony.

Meanwhile, hundreds of new colonists—including the first English women to settle in Jamestown—arrived.

In the fall of 1609, Smith returned to England after being injured in an explosion.

To get more food, Smith raided Native American villages, which angered Powhatan.

6. When and where was the first permanent English

colony founded? In 1607 at Jamestown

On the James River; named in honor of King James

7. What hardships did the colonists face in the early years of settlement? Site of the colony was swampy, full of malaria-carrying

mosquitoes Became ill from drinking river water Searched for gold instead of building houses and growing

food Climate

Jamestown is founded in 1607

With Smith gone, conditions quickly worsened.

The terrible winter of 1609–1610 is called the “starving time,” because by the spring, only 60 colonists were still alive.

Powhatan decided to drive the English away, and he began by refusing to give them more food.

Jamestown Survives

Efforts of the Virginia Company

• The company sent new colonists, offered free land to existing colonists, and sent new leaders to restore order in the colony.

Efforts of the Colonists

• The colonists found a dependable source of income to sustain the colony: tobacco.

• By the 1580s, smoking tobacco had become popular in parts of Europe.

• The colonists’ success in growing and selling tobacco drew new colonists from England.

Despite the hard times, Jamestown began to prosper.

John Smith “He that will not work

shall not eat.” What caused the “starving time?”

Native Americans stopped trading food andattacked the settlers.

8. If you had been John Smith, how would youhave forced the colonists to work?

John Rolfe Introduces tobacco 9. How did the colonists’ decision to grow tobacco change

Jamestown? VA Company thought of colonists as employees; colonists wanted a share

of profits Company let settlers own land; offered land grants

Jamestown Grows

In 1619, a Dutch ship arrived from the West Indies and sold 20 Africans to the Virginia colonists as slaves.

Permanent slavery for Africans was not established in Virginia until the late 1600s.

In the early days of the colony, enslaved people had a chance to earn their freedom after working a certain number of years.

The colonies developed a tradition of representative government.

The House of Burgesses marked the start of representative government in North America.

In 1619, Virginia’s lawmaking body, the House of Burgesses, was elected.

Indentured servants

House of Burgesses (1619) Burgesses - elected representatives; they

would meet once a year in an assembly First representative assembly in the American

colonies

11. Why did the colonists create the House of Burgesses? Annoyed at strict rule of the governor. To provide more local control

Jamestown Grows

10. What were the causes of conflict?

Cultural differences; colonistswanted land for expanding tobacco plantations

How were relations improved? John Rolfe married Pocahontas (1614) Powhatan helped colonists grow corn,

catch fish, and capture wild fowl

What happened in 1622? Powhatan killed hundreds of Jamestown

colonists over land disputes

Conflicts with the Powhatan

Virginia’s population grew gradually, but by 1670, 40,000 people lived there.

By the 1670s, there were more women in Virginia, and more children as well, because fewer were dying at a young age.

But as Virginia’s white population grew, the Native American population shrank.

White Population

Native American Population

In 1607, there had been 8,000 Native Americans in Virginia, but disease and violence took their toll.

By 1675, only 2,000 Native Americans were left.

In 1622 and 1644, violence broke out between farmers who wanted more space to plant tobacco and Native Americans trying to defend their land.

In 1675, Nathaniel Bacon organized 1,000 settlers to kill Native Americans for their land.

Virginia’s governor declared the settlers rebels, and in retaliation Bacon burned Jamestown.

Bacon’s Rebellion collapsed when Bacon died, but the governor still could not stop settlers from moving onto Native American lands.

Causes of Bacon’s Rebellion

Land and Voting Rights

• Poor young white men could not get farmland near the coast because wealthy Virginia tobacco planters bought it all.

• Without property, men could not vote.

• Many poor colonists moved inland to find good farmland, but they had to fight Native Americans for it.

Politics • Poor colonists asked the governor to force the Native Americans to give up their land.

• The governor did not want to disrupt the fur trade with Native Americans.

12. What were the

causes of Bacon’sRebellion? Landless colonists opposed Governor

William Berkeley High taxes, favoritism toward plantation owners Wanted Governor to approve a war; he refused

What was the outcome of Bacon’s Rebellion? The King appointed a new governor House of Burgesses passed laws to prevent a royal

governor from assuming too much power (a step toward self-government)

Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676