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