Building Jamestown Colony Section 4 Building Jamestown Colony

I. First English Colony A. 1585 Sir Walter Raleigh sent 100 men to North America Landed on Roanoke Island off the coast of North Carolina Lasted only a year due to low food and fights with Indians. B. 1587 Raleigh sent John White back to Roanoke with 117 colonists. Women Children Men

II. Roanoke Colony (Lost Colony) A. Supplies ran low, John White sailed back to England to re- stock. Planned to return in 3 months B. England began a war with Spain which delayed White’s trip back for 3 years C. White returned to an empty settlement. D. The word CROATOAN was the only thing White found.

III. Jamestown 20 years after Roanoke England tried again. 1606 Virginia Company of London received a charter from King James I. Charter- legal document giving certain rights to a person or company. Virginia Company could settle lands between present day North Carolina to the Potomac River. Settlers would have same rights as English citizens.

IV. Disastrous Start In 1607, 105 colonists arrived in Virginia Named colony Jamestown after the King. Jamestown was set up in the middle of a swamp. Unhealthy water Mosquitoes spread malaria Many died of diseases D. Thirteen-member council sent to govern the colony was always fighting. -Did little to plan for the future. E. 1608- Colony was near failure.

V. John Smith (Our Hero) Settlers did not plant enough crops The focus was on searching for gold. John Smith forced the Settlers to work. Policy- “You don’t work, you don’t eat.” Met with Powhatan, who agreed to provide corn. Peaceful relations with the Natives did not last. If Natives did not provide food, they English would take it from them. John Rolfe married Pocahontas and peace was restored briefly.

Pocahontas AKA “Rebecca”

John Rolfe

VI. Jamestown Near Failure Jamestown did not prosper. Settlers began eating dogs, cats, snakes, and mushrooms, even the dead. 1612- Jamestown prospered after growing tobacco. 1620- England imported nearly 30,000 pounds of tobacco.

VII. Government of Jamestown 1619- a new government was put into place. Male settlers elected burgesses Burgesses- representatives to the government Met in an assembly called Houses of Burgesses. C. House of Burgesses began the representative government. Representative government- voters elect representatives to make laws for them.

P.S. The idea of representative government stemmed from the Magna Carta- a document that limited the king’s power by law. King John signed this charter in 1215. Over time, the idea of a representative government developed into a Parliament. Divided into House of Lords and House of Commons Even monarchs had to obey the law.

VIII. New Arrivals Women in Virginia First women arrived in 1608. Brought to help the colony’s men become “more settled.” Did better than the men (men were twice as likely to die) Perhaps because they worked primarily inside? B. By 1624, there were fewer than 300 women in the Jamestown colony.