Jamestown Colony

By: Jason Phu, Camille Kinect, & Ming Ming Chan

Key Terms & PeopleTerms

• House of Burgesses

• Charter

• Cash Crop

• Tobacco

• Indentured Servants

• Virginia Company

• Starving Time

• First Anglo-Powhatan War

• Indian Massacre of 1622

• Enclosure Acts

• Royal Colony

People

• Governor George Yeardley

• John Rolfe

• Powhatan Indians

• John Smith

• King James I

• Pocahontas

• Lord De La Warr

History/Founding• Founding of 1st permanent English settlement in

North America• Why Jamestown?

Gold & SilverWanted to compete with SpainSponsored by Virginia Company

• Beginning of democracy1st Charter of Virginia from King James I

Guaranteed settlers rights of Englishmen

Charter ColonyShifting to Royal Colony• Hardship

1609-1610 “Starving Time”Disease Malnutrition

Government• Marshal Law abolished• Creation of legislative assembly

• 1619 Governor George Yeardley recommended 2 burgesses from each settlement to be elected to represent the citizens. Included 6 men chosen by company representing 11

plantations.Male property voters• 1st meeting of the House of Burgesses was on July 30 –

August 3 1619.• Formed the basis for the Representative Government.• Laws past involved tobacco & taxes

English Laws didn’t recognize hereditary slavery.

Economic• Business men granted a charter, arrives to

JamestownNo Gold or SilverNot able to gather food

“Starving Time”Barely made profits for company investors

through trades with Powhatan Indians.• Economic struggles early

No Gold or SilverNo food

“Starving Time”

• Barely made profits through trades with Powhatan Indians for company investors

Economic• 1612 John Rolfe founded & established 1st

successful cash crop : TOBBACO Colonists hungered for land Poor man’s crop

• Mass production of tobacco required laborIndentured Servants

Worked 4-5 years in the fields before granted freedom

African Slaves• Tobacco trade ensured Virginia’s survival & economyTobacco prices increased but

collapsed in 1630

Religious• Bring religion from England to

JamestownProtestant ChristianityBook of Common Prayer

• Building churchesLord De La War repair church &

governorCaptain Samuel Argall built

another version of church• Anglicans mistrusted religious views of Native Americans & Africans

Culture/Social• Life at Jamestown was hard

Depended on Powhatan Indians• Decrease in population

Starving TimeWinterDiseases & Illnesses

• Captain John Smith became leader of Jamestown“He who shall not work, shall not eat“

• Expansion of Colony• Men were responsible for “outdoor” duties Tobacco production

• The women were responsible for “indoor” duties

Native American Relation• Powhatan Indians had mixed feelings about English men

HostilityAttacked English ships before the they’ve actually landed.

• Yet the Indians soon began to offer food and traditional Indian hospitality to the newcomers.

• They grew dependent on the Indians for food.Neglected planting corn & other work necessary to make

their colony self-sufficient. • Traded with Powhatan Indians

Native American Relation

• 1610 First Anglo-Powhatan War1610 De La Warr declaration of warBoth sides committed atrocities against the other

Destroyed Indian corn crops even though starving“Irish Tactics”Powhatan was finally forced into a truce

• “Peace of Pocahontas”Married John RolfeSolved conflict between Powhatans & English men

• Indian Massacre of 1622

Review Events/People

1607: 107 colonist arrive sponsored by the

Virginia company. Investors hoped to

make profit from new world.

1608: Captain Christopher Newport,

commander of the 1607 Jamestown expedition who had sailed back to England, returned to

Virginia in January with settlers and goods.

John Smith was elected president of the

governing council. Smith left for England the next fall (1609) to recover from a wound

caused by a gunpowder explosion & never

returned to Virginia.

John Smith was

kidnapped & rescued when

Pocahontas interposed her head between

John Smith’s and the war clubs of his

captors.

1610 First Anglo-

Powhatan War. Both

sides committed atrocities

against the other.

Pocahontas married John Rolfe and an eight-year period of

peace between the

English colonists and

Powhatan Indians ensued.

1612: 1st sample of tobacco

cultivated by John Rolfe was

shipped to England.

Tobacco was the “golden weed” that ensured the economic

survival of the colony.

1619: House of Burgesses

assembly met at Jamestown on

July 30. The 1st documented

people of African origin in Virginia arrived in late summer

aboard an English ship flying Dutch

colors.

1624: King James

revoked the charter

of the Virginia

Company, and

Virginia became a

royal colony.

Works Cited• http://www.jamestown1607.org/democracy_v2.asp

• http://www.historyisfun.org/jamestown-settlement/history-jamestown/

• http://www.ushistory.org/us/2f.asp

• http://www.ushistory.org/us/2d.asp

• http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/colonial/indians/

• www.historyisfun.org

• www.nps.gov

• www.history.org

• www.nationalhumanitiescenter.org