The Jamestown Settlement

Adapted from: http://www.slideshare.net/carlgreer/history-of-jamestown?qid=5903f209-ce4c-4e53-83c5-d8d01412b71f&v=default&b=&

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King James IWas king of Scotland beginning in 1567Became king of England and Ireland in 1603Son of Mary, Queen of ScotsJames believed that colonies could prove

profitable to the CrownViewed North America as the most likely

place for settlementsOnly one problem…

The Treaty of Tordesillas

Virginia CompanyCollection of businessmen and investorsGranted a charter by King James I in 1606Charter was for 6 million acres (Vermont: 5.9

million square acres, Massachusetts: 5 million)

Purpose: To establish colonies in North America that would prove financially beneficial to the Crown

London and Plymouth Companies

Plymouth CompanyColony is placed at the mouth of Kennebec

River in Maine, near present day BathSurvives for one year before being

abandonedArea is ignored as a colonization target until

1620

Jamestown SettlementFirst colonists arrive April 1607104 men and boysCombination of gentry, military men,

craftsmen/ artisans, unskilled laborersUpon arrival, secret orders from the Virginia

Company listing who was in charge were opened. Mix of gentry and military men.

Jamestown: After the ArrivalAttacked by Algonquian Indians, led by

Powhatan, on first nightSought refuge onboard shipsConstruction of a fort begins after a monthAn Algonquian attack exposes vulnerabilities &

leads to construction of a second, stronger fortWhy did they settle at the Jamestown location?

1. Water depth (good for ships to access inland)

2. Defendable

Jamestown: After the Arrival (cont.)Captain Newport returns to England for

supplies one week after fort is finishedThe Colony started to slide towards

extinctionWhy?

Problems at JamestownFamineLess than 50% of population was still alive less

than six months laterLack of farmersLack of proper equipmentDisease

1. Typhoid (fever, usually caused by the ingestion of food or water contaminated by the feces of an infected person)

2. Dysentery (gastro infection that causes diarrhea and more, lack of nourishment)Indian attacks

Divine Intervention…or Pure Dumb Luck?Powhatan intervenesJanuary 1607: Captain Newport returnsBrings supplies AND 120 colonistsOnly 38 members from the original group are

still alive (36.5%)Colonists accidentally burn fort, spend winter

months living in the ruinsHigh death rate continues for decades

Jamestown (non)Survivability RateFirst colonists: 38 of 1041609: Population declines from 600 to 60 in

SIX MONTHS.WHAT HAPPENED? https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGQ5lFck191619-1622: Virginia Company sends 3570

people to Jamestown to join 700 already there. 3000 die.

1607-1625: Virginia Company sends 6000 people to Virginia. By 1625, only 1200 remain.

Jamestown Jane

Detail of cut marks found on the girl’s jaw, or lower mandible in a stereo-microscopic photo. (Smithsonian Institution / Don Hurlbert)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHGI50ebhA0

John Smith: Savior of JamestownAdventurer (aka: mercenary)Captured and sold as slave to Turkish

noblemanEscapes, returns to England. Joins Jamestown

expeditionClashes with shipmates, clapped in irons,

threatened with executionNamed by Virginia Company to Jamestown

Council

James Smith (cont.)Explores and maps VirginiaCaptured by Algonquians during exploring

tripDisappearance allows Captain Newport and

another colonist to assume control of colonySummer 1608: Leaves settlement to further

explore VirginiaReelected to the colony council in September

John Smith (cont.)Captain Newport returns to England (Fall

1608)Colony still struggling to surviveSmith emerges as leader of the settlementPressures PowhatanNo work, or food to eatNewport returns in 1609 with supplies and

colonistsSmith loses power struggle, departs colony

October 1609, dies in 1631

John RolfeDeparted England for Jamestown in May

1609Onboard is his pregnant wife, Sara Sea Venture was captained by Captain

Newport. John Smith’s angry letter to the Virginia

Company leads them to make their third supply mission their biggest and best equipped

John Rolfe (cont.)Rolfe and other survivors are shipwrecked for

9 monthsUsing the remains of the Sea Venture, the

survivors build two ships, Deliverance and Patience in May 1610

Rolfe’s wife and infant daughter die in Bermuda

John Rolfe (cont.)Does not begin growing tobacco until 1611By 1617, Virginia colony produces 20,000

pounds of tobacco annuallyIn 1618, tobacco exports jump to 40,000

poundsRolfe marries Pocahontas in 1614

End of the Virginia CompanyRolfe’s marriage to Pocahontas results in

uneasy peace between Algonquian and the English settlers

Death of Powhatan in 1618 ends peace1622: Slaughter of settlers by Indians. Loss

of more than 25% of the settlers resultsInvestigation by Crown places blame for

deaths of colonists on mismanagement

End of the Virginia Company(cont.)Charter is revokedVirginia colony survives. Why?

YearColonial Tobacco Imports

to England(includes Virginia from 1612

and Bermuda from 1615)

European Tobacco Imports to England

1616 2,300 52,673

1617 19,388 50,906

1618 41,728 42,871

1623 134,607 66,877

1624 202,962 63,497

A Counterblaste to TobaccoKing James hated the use of tobacco by

subjects. Forbids use of it in his presence.Issues a treatise in 1604“A custome lothsome to the eye, hatefull to the Nose, harmefull to the braine, dangerous to the Lungs, and in the blacke stinking fume thereof, neerest resembling the horrible Stigian smoke of the pit that is bottomelesse.”Due to its popularity and the ability to tax it, tobacco continued to be a cash crop for the British

1620: Women Arrive in Jamestown