The English ColoniesHow We Came To Be

Review• 1. What event led to an increased demand in

Europe for goods produced in Asia?• 2. Rumors of what precious metal in North

America played a role in European exploration?• 3. What was the name of the theoretical water

passage through North America to Asia?• 4. Who were the people already living on the

North American continent?

The English Plan ColoniesReasons Why England

Wanted to Colonize

• Colonies would provide a market for English exports

• Colonies would serve as a source of raw materials

• Classic example of mercantilism

Reasons Why English Colonist Went to America

• Lack of economic opportunity in England led many to seek their fortunes abroad

• Stories of gold mines• Religious persecution

First Attempts At Colonies Fail

Sir Walter Raleigh financed the colony of Virginia in 1585. Those who didn’t die of starvation went back to England in 1586.

The Plymouth company sponsored the Sagadahoc colony at the mouth of the Kennebec River in what we now know as Maine. Colonists were mainly English convicts and colony failed within the year due to arguments, harsh winter, fights with Native Americans, and food shortages.

Then there was Roanoke…….

Financing a Colony

• Sir Walter Raleigh’s personal financial loss led to the creation of a joint-stock company.

• Virginia Company of London and the Virginia Company of Plymouth were granted charters by king James I in 1606.

Jamestown is Founded in 1607

• The Virginia Company financed an expedition in 1607 that led to the first permanent English settlement in North America.

• Named Jamestown to honor King James I.

Problems at Jamestown• More than 100

colonists encountered many hardships.

• Swampy conditions attracted malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

• Became ill from drinking river water.

• Spent too much time searching for gold.

• Climate was unexpected.

Problems at Jamestown

•“There was never Englishmen left in a foreign country in such misery as we were in this newly discovered Virginia.” – Jamestown colonist

Jamestown Grows• Only 38 colonists

survived in January 1608.

• Captain John Smith arrived and took control, announcing: “He that will not work shall not eat.”

• Built a wall around the colony and began a trade relationship with the Powhatan.

Jamestown Grows• John Smith returned to England in 1609 after a

gunpowder accident.• That same year, more than 800 more English

settlers arrived in Jamestown.

• Why were only 60 alive one year later?

Jamestown Grows• Attacks by the

Powhatan prevented colonists from leaving the walls of Jamestown.

• “Starving time” set in and colonists ate rats, mice, and snakes.

• Lord De La Warr and 2 ships arrived in 1610, finding only 60 colonists remaining.

Jamestown Grows

• John Rolfe created a high grade tobacco, which was in high demand in Europe.

• Virginia Company offered a 50-acre land grant for each man, woman, or child who could pay their own way to the colony.

Jamestown Grows

• Increased tobacco farms led to an increase in the demand for labor.

• First African slaves arrived in 1619.

• Indentured servants began arriving as well.

Jamestown Grows

• Jamestown was the sight of first form of colonial self-government.

• House of Burgesses, created in 1619, was the first representative assembly .

Conflict in Jamestown

Anglo-Powhatan Wars• Growth of tobacco led

to conflicts with the Powhatan

• John Rolfe married Chief Powhatan’s daughter, Pocahontas, in 1614.

• In 1622, Powhatan’s killed hundreds of Jamestown’s residents.

Bacon’s Rebellion 1676

• Nathaniel Bacon led other landless men against Jamestown when Gov. Berkeley wouldn’t approve them to war with Powhatans for land.

• Bacon burned Jamestown to the ground.

• Bacon died and his followers were hanged.

Effects of Bacon’s Rebellion

•Berkeley was removed from power by King Charles II.

•House of Burgesses passed laws to prevent a royal governor from assuming such power again.