Jamestown Virginia Company Clip

Jamestown

• It was started by the Virginia Company in 1607.

– This was a joint-stock company.

• Established in modern day Virginia.

• The British created Jamestown with the hope of getting rich like the Spanish. GOD! GLORY! GOLD!

• There were many difficulties early on:

– Disease

– Swampy land

– Indian attacks

– Poor leadership and focus

Mine Mine Mine Clip

Jamestown

• The colony struggled mightily due to people not working, poor leadership, and its bad location.

• At one of its lowest points, settlers were known to turn to acts of cannibalism. Quote- “"Whether she was better roasted, boiled or carbonado'd [barbecued], I know not. Such a dish as powdered (salted) wife, I never heard of."

• In the beginning, Native Americans helped the colonists survive, Powhatan and Pocahontas, but due to the British’s attitude towards the Native Americans, the relationship fell apart and became adversarial.

• The only thing that kept the colony from completely failing was tobacco.

– Tobacco became a very important cash crop for the colonies.

– Colonists in the South became extremely wealthy cultivating tobacco for European consumers.

Early American Government

• The Virginia Company allowed the colonists to govern themselves.

• The colonists in Jamestown created the House of Burgesses.

– It is the first representative government established in the colonies.

– You had to be at least 17 years old and own land to vote.

– The House of Burgesses could create laws and levy taxes.

The Development of Slavery

• During the late 1600s, England economy started to improve.

• This improvement meant that there were fewer indentured servants to come to the colonies to be used for labor on the tobacco farms.

• What are indentured servants?

• This will lead to the increase of importation of African slaves.

history on slavery

Indentured Servants

Indentured servants became the first means to meet this need for labor. In return for free passage to Virginia, a laborer worked for four to five years

in the fields before being granted freedom.

Native American Relations

• As Jamestown continues to expand, and gain in population, relations with local tribes began to sour.

• The Native Americans tried many times to fight the colonial expansion. – The Algonquin Tribe, Powhatan’s tribe, was nearly eradicated by

English efforts.

• Ultimately, the Native Americans lost and were forced to either leave the land or be placed on reservations. – This will become a common theme in American History.

Savages Clip

Let’s take a look at a few sources!!!!!

• What was the House of Burgesses?

A. The home of Puritan leaders

B. Home of the governor of Virginia

C. The Parliament of Virginia

D. An elected governing body in Virginia

• Why was the House of Burgesses significant?

A. It sat as court in the Salem Witch Trials.

B. It created a series of trade laws for the colonies.

C. It imposed and collected British taxes.

D. It was the start of representative government in Virginia.

• The Virginia House of Burgesses

A. Established a model of representative government

B. Was established by King James I

C. Provided a way for people to secure religious freedom

D. Was put in place in 1607 as a temporary government

• What was the name of the first representative body in the American colonies?

A. The Albany Plan of Union

B. The Continental Congress

C. The Sons of Liberty

D. The Virginia House of Burgesses

• The first successful British colony in North America was

A. Jamestown, Virginia

B. Quebec, Canada

C. Jamestown, Massachusetts

D. New Amsterdam, New Netherlands

• The Virginia colony was built largely due to the labor of people who agreed to work for a master for a set number of years in exchange for that master paying their way to North America. These laborers were then promised land once their time of servitude was over. Such workers were known as A. Slaves.

B. Contract laborers.

C. Nativists.

D. Indentured servants.

• Which colonial region was most known for plantations, large numbers of slaves, and the production of rice and tobacco?

A. New England

B. Southern

C. Middle

D. Atlantic

• Who was Powhatan? A. A native American chief who made peace with the

Pilgrims and helped them through their first winter.

B. A Native American chief who ruled over much of the Virginia territory when English settlers arrived.

C. A Native American chief who was shot and killed by New Englanders in Rhode Island.

D. The first African slave to arrive in Virginia by way of the Middle Passage.

• What role did tobacco play in the history of Jamestown? A. It was the main crop the founders of Jamestown hoped to

grow when the first established the colony.

B. It caused fighting when the colonial government outlawed the crop and would not allow it to be imported.

C. It turned out to be the cash crop that saved the colony.

D. Although Virginians tried to raise tobacco, the crop failed miserably.

• He led a rebellion in 1676 that forced Virginia’s leaders to recognize the growing discontent among small landowners. The uprising he led also showed the need to do something about shortages of land and led to slavery serving as the colony’s primary labor system. Who was he?

A. Thomas Jefferson

B. George Washington

C. John C. Calhoun

D. Nathaniel Bacon

• Which of the following list is associated with the southern colonies?

A. Subsistence farming, slavery, profitable shipping industry, Puritan faith

B. Commerce, diversity, originally home to Dutch settlements

C. Tobacco, rice, plantation system, large numbers of slaves

D. Fur trade, with trials, Mayflower Compact