1. VIRGINIA’S NEW GOVERNMENT Interactive Notes VS. 3 d

2. The settlers were instructed to find a suitable place for their colony in 1607.

3. The settlers did not follow instructions to go inland, but they did choose Jamestown for 3 reasons.

4. The earliest settlers at Jamestown struggled to survive. They had unsafe water that was salty and attracted mosquitoes that brought diseases. They didn’t have any survival skills! Many died of disease &starvation.

5. Luckily, 3 major things helped out. Supply ships from England! John Smith was Awesome. They learned how to farm (Agriculture!)

6. The Native People of VA helped as well. Chief Powhatan was a leader to his people & taught the settlers many skills. Pocahontas was a contact between the settlers & Indians. Indians traded food to the settlers for tools and jewelry.

7. So, after several years had passed, Jamestown became a successful settlement. More and more people came to Jamestown. The settlement grew and grew. Eventually, the Virginia colony consisted of 11 settlements!

8. Year 1619

9. As Jamestown grew, its system of government changed.

10. In 1619, King James sent a message from England to the colony of Virginia. He said in his message that the colonists could now begin to make their own laws.

11. This message ended the Virginia Company’s monopoly, or control over land ownership.

12. King James thought the colonists would be more motivated if they had ownership of the land.

13. When this message arrived, the governor of the colony of Virginia called for a meeting of the General Assembly to take place in Jamestown.

14. General Assembly, which was made up of the governor and two groups of men: the Governor’s Council and the Burgesses, met as one legislative (law-making) body.

15. Group #1: The Governor’s Council -- These were very wealthy and powerful men who gave advice to the governor.

16. Group #2: Burgesses -- These were representatives from each of the 11 settlements in the colony of Virginia. Each settlement had two burgesses. At the time, only certain free adult men had the right to be representatives.

17. This important meeting was the beginning of government by the people. This was exciting because the people in Virginia were used to a king telling them what laws they had to follow.

18. Year 1640

19. By the 1640s, the group of men called burgesses became a separate legislative (law-making) body called the House of Burgesses. They met separately from the Governor’s Council as one of the two legislative bodies of the General Assembly.

20. The House of Burgesses was the first elected legislative body in English America. It gave the settlers control of their own government. This was a brand new kind of government because the people now had the power to control their own government for the first time!

21. The Virginia General Assembly which is our legislative body today goes back to the establishment of the House of Burgesses at Jamestown in 1619.