Jamestown Virginia Company
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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.
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Let’s take a look at a few
sources!!!!!
• What was the House of Burgesses?
A.
B.
C.
D.
The home of Puritan leaders
Home of the governor of Virginia
The Parliament of Virginia
An elected governing body in Virginia
• Why was the House of Burgesses significant?
A.
B.
C.
D.
It sat as court in the Salem Witch Trials.
It created a series of trade laws for the colonies.
It imposed and collected British taxes.
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.
B.
C.
D.
The Albany Plan of Union
The Continental Congress
The Sons of Liberty
The Virginia House of Burgesses
• The first successful British colony in North
America was
A.
B.
C.
D.
Jamestown, Virginia
Quebec, Canada
Jamestown, Massachusetts
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.
B.
C.
D.
Slaves.
Contract laborers.
Nativists.
Indentured servants.
• Which colonial region was most known for
plantations, large numbers of slaves, and the
production of rice and tobacco?
A.
B.
C.
D.
New England
Southern
Middle
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.
B.
C.
D.
Thomas Jefferson
George Washington
John C. Calhoun
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