It was founded in 1607 by John White. By: Mason and Reese

The Virginia Colony was built on land first settled by Indians. They hunted and gathered food in many forests. The Susquehanna farmed and fished in the Northern part of Chesapeake Bay. The Cherokee hunted and farmed in the mountains. The Powhatan Indians were one of the largest in the Colony and it was made up of 30 tribes. These tribes formed the Powhatan Chiefdom. They hunted deer and grew crops. In 1607, English settlers came to the colony and the Indians were uneasy about it. The Powhatan eventually accepted a friendship with the English, until the English took their lands.

The first European settlers were the English colonists, and they arrived in ships owned by the Virginia Company who hoped to find gold.100 plus men and boys boarded ships and agreed to work and in exchange got food and a chance to own land. For four months they were at sea, and when they arrived they built Jamestown, named after King James I. Jamestown's first settlers struggled to survive, since many didn’t know how to farm. As a result only 38 settlers survived the first year. In 1608, a new group of settlers and supplies arrived, but a drought came and destroyed all the crops as many starved to death.

The Colony struggled, and settlers died from a disease called Malaria or died in battles with the Native Americans. Conflicts soon came between the Powhatan Tribe and the settlers, even though they traded goods, but other times they would get in fights over the land. The colony still grew and the settlers took land to make plantations. The Powhatan’s had lost most of their land so they were forced to sign a peace treaty, which put them on reservations.

As the colony grew the houses changed, during the early they built homes from pine and oak trees that were one room houses. By the 1700s colonists grew wealthier and built some large homes with bricks and a lot of rooms. The richest people owned mansions, which included libraries. In the early years they ate what they could find which was mainly corn, turtles, and fish.

As more people came many of the settlers grew weak from hunger, but new people brought supplies. The colony had few schools, some rich colonists sent their children to school or hired tutors. Boys often had more schooling than girls, and they learned how to read, write, and also studied math, history, Greek, and Latin. Girls often learned how to sew, cook, and take care of the house.

In 1612, John Rolfe brought new tobacco seeds to the West Indies and it grew well in Virginia. It quickly became the biggest crop. The demand grew for tobacco so planters needed help to grow the crop. In 1619, a Dutch ship came to Virginia with Africans used to work on the plantations as slaves. As plantations grew the colony needed more workers, indentured servants worked on the plantations, were normally poor men and woman.

By the end of the 1600s they started using slaves instead of indentured servants who where shipped from Africa to work. The tobacco growing season lasted almost all year. January- slaves and farmers prepared the fields. Spring- Slaves planted the seeds. Fall-They harvested the tobacco an shipped it to England.

Agricultural Exports: Tobacco- sold well in England and brought wealth to Virginia and other Southern Colony. Corn Wheat Industrial Exports: Iron

King James I of England couldn’t easily control the colony’s early business, so in 1619, he created The House of Burgesses. The House of Burgesses met with the governor, and together they made laws for the colony. They also created taxes to pay for the government. The colonists and Virginia paid more than just government taxes, they also paid church taxes, and taxes on goods from England. By the mid 1700s, colonists were tired of paying taxes for Great Britain, they were also angry over the Navigation Act, which stopped them from trading with different countries.

They decided they wanted to make their own laws and choose their own representatives. By the 1750s, a lot of colonists didn’t support the Church of England and they wanted to follow other religions. Baptists and Methodists Preachers began to travel in Virginia and some settlers found that they preferred the Teachings of their religions. The Major Religion in the colony were Anglican, Baptist, and Methodists.

By the mid 1700s, Virginia’s population grew to 230,000. Since the colony was crowded the colonists moved north along the rivers and into the Appalachian Mountains trying to find new land for plantations. Both the British and the French wanted to control more land in North America. In 1754, British soldiers came to Virginia. They fought the French to gain land on the West of the colonies, which was called the French and Indian War. The British won the war but at a great cost so they had to pass the Stamp Act. Colonists in all 13 colonies were angry at the Stamp Act. In 1774, the colonies sent representatives to the Continental Congress. And the following year, the first battle of the Revolutionary War broke out. In July 1776, congress signed the Declaration of Independence. But Britain didn’t give up until the United States won the War in 1783.

On June 25,1788 Virginia became the 10 th state to join the USA.

The population of the colony in 1775 was 500,000 people! It was located in the Southern Colony. The First Settlement in the colony was Jamestown. By the 1660, Colonists in Virginia had shipped 10 Million pounds of tobacco to England.

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