First Successful English Colony,
1607
THE PASSAGE
 Small ships (105 capacity)
 Dirty water and “hardtack” for food
 Sickness, boredom, no privacy, no
women, stuck below deck
1607
 Landed on a narrow peninsula on the
James River.
HARDSHIPS
#1 Bad location-swampy, mosquitos, malaria. Many
colonists died from disease.
#2 Bad governing- no one wanted to work. Colonists
lacked farming knowledge and they were focused on
finding gold.
#3 Starvation-there were plenty of resources but the
colonists were not used to living in the wilderness.
TRADE
English
Powhatans
Guns
Pots
Tools
Food/Ag techniques
Leather
Furs
TOBACCO
Introduced by John Rolfe in 1612.
 Improved Jamestown’s economy.
 Most profitable cash crop in Virginia Colony.
SURVIVAL because of 3 events:
A Leader Emerges
John Smith
 Initiated trade with Indians
 Created forced work program
#1 Strong Leadership-John Smith and the forced work
program.
#2 Arrival of 2 supply ships.
#3 Self-sustaining agriculture.
1620 Arrival of…
WOMEN & AFRICANS
J&P
Pocahontas saved John Smith. She believed
English and Native Americans could live in peace.
-Bride ship paid for by me
-slave or indentured servant
-Cook, sew, house work
-forced work or work 3-5 years for
-made settlement more permanent passage
-farm workers
-made settlement profitable through
cash crop