1.3 The English Come to Stay Pgs. 10-12

The English Come to Stay The English had begun to explore the eastern coast of the United States before they beat the Spanish Armada. John Cabot had laid claim to the Atlantic coast of North America in 1497-98.

The English Come to Stay In less than a century Englishmen were interested in founding an English colony on this new land.

The Lost Colony Sir Walter Raleigh, an English nobleman organized several colonizing expeditions to North Carolina. The first attempt in 1585 failed because of poor leadership. After one year, settlers returned home. In 1587, Raleigh tried again by placing John White in charge of the new group.

The Lost Colony Shortly after they landed, White returned to England for supplies, but his return to the Americas was delayed 3 years due to the war with Spain. When White returned, the colony was gone. His daughter and granddaughter were missing.

The Lost Colony Some believe the Croatan Indians had taken them captive, but there is no evidence. To this day, no one knows what happened to the lost colony.

Jamestown Nearly 20 years later, the English established their first permanent colony. In May 1607, 3 small ships sailed into Chesapeake Bay. They had been sent by London merchants to establish a moneymaking colony. They sailed up the James River, and selected a site near the Virginia coast to build a settlement. They named it Jamestown after King James I.

Jamestown The settlers had problems right away. Many were noblemen who considered themselves too good to work. They wanted to search for gold. All farmers had their crop placed into a common storehouse.

Jamestown They became discouraged and stopped working. Their drinking water was impure, and mosquitoes carrying malaria bred in the swampy areas around Jamestown.

Jamestown John Smith helped Jamestown survive. He was a working soldier and declared if you didn’t work, you couldn’t eat. Soon everyone was back to work. Jamestown

When Smith was injured in a gunpowder explosion, he had to return to England, and problems mounted once more. Jamestown

Jamestown There were conflicts with Natives, fires, and diseases. The most devastating thing was the famine that plagued them in the winter of 1609-10. It was “starving time” because so many men died.

Jamestown The colonists ate anything they could find: horses, dogs, snakes, and mice. In the first year and a half there were 1600 men who settled at Jamestown. After “starving time” only 60 remained.

Jamestown In the spring of 1610, the settlers had decided to return to England, however before they could leave, ships from England arrived with supplies, which encouraged them to stay. They learned how to plow and plant crops. The tobacco crop proved to make a lot of money for the colonists.

Jamestown Life wasn’t perfect, as there were still conflicts with Indians and diseases, however the colony was growing. In 1608, Mistress Forrest and her maid Ann Burras became the first women colonists. Eventually there were families there.

Jamestown With families came stability and morality that the colony didn’t have before. Jamestown was the first success and the English would soon planted many more colonies.

Jamestown The Virginia House of Burgesses, the first representative government in America, began meeting in Jamestown in 1619. They passed laws for the good of the colony. This was the beginning of the American republic.

1619 was also the first landing of African slaves in the English colonies Jamestown

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