1. The Southern Colonies Take Root
Chapter 2.1

2. England establishes colonies
Sir Walter Raleigh and others felt an American colony would solve some of England’s problems
Growing population
Stagnant economy
Increased poverty
Raleigh would go on to establish Roanoke. The first failed and the second disappeared
Roanoke

3. Why do you think early settlements were founded on or near bodies of water?

4. Jamestown
The Virginia Company obtained a charter (certificate of permission) to begin a colony
The Virginia Company was a joint-stock company
This was a group of investors who went in on a business venture together
Set up along the Chesapeake Bay – founded Jamestown
Fertile lands, good harbors, and navigable waterways

5. Powhatan
Powerful Algonquin chief who ruled the 24,000 Indians in the region
He hoped to contain the English settlers and use them against his enemies
He wanted to trade for weapons
War broke out between the English and his people resulting in his daughter Pocahontas being taken captive
She later married John Rolfe and became a Christian

6. Early problems and solutions
Colonists suffered from disease and hunger
Out of 10,000 people the Virginia Company brought to the colony only 20% were alive in 1622
Jamestown was built on a swampy island, separated from the mainland by a small winding river.
Most of the area was wetland that was unsuitable for farming.
Tobacco finally saves the colony thanks to the work of John Rolfe
Tobacco profits
Jamestown

7. Virginia Company
Virginia company offered free land through the headrights system
Anyone who paid their own passage to the colony received 50 acres of land for free
People would also receive 50 acres for wives, children over the age of 15, and servants they brought over
The wealthy were able to build huge plantations through this system

8. Virginia Company
Allowed planters to create the House of Burgesses – the first representative body in colonial America
Could make laws and raise taxes
Male landowners could elect 2 leaders known as Burgesses to represent their settlement

9. Expansion creates conflict
Colonial survivors destroyed Indian villages and their crops, leading to starvation among the Indians
Opechancanough (Powhatan’s brother) makes peace but fighting breaks out again as the colonists take more land

10. Expansion created conflicts
Nathaniel Bacon
Planter who wanted more land
Governor William Berkeley
Levied heavy taxes on planters and used the money to reward his favorites in the House of Burgesses

11. Bacon’s Rebellion
War breaks out again between the Indians and settlers in the Potomac Valley
Nathaniel Bacon creates a militia to fight the Indians – doesn’t care if they are peaceful or hostile
Made up of poor planters who are fed up with not having as much land as the wealthy

12. Bacon’s Rebellion Berkeley protests
Bacon marched his militia into Jamestown and burned it to the ground
Rebellion showed that colonists would not tolerate a government catered to the wealthy
Leaders reduce their taxes and improved their access to new land

13. Southern Colonies Virginia 1st Southern colony
Maryland established by Lord Baltimore as a refuge for Catholics
A proprietary colony

14. Southern Colonies Carolinas Georgia
Belonged to a group of aristocrats – the Lords Proprietor
1st settlement Charles Town
People reject the Lords Proprietor and want the Crown to take over
Georgia
Founded by James Oglethorpe
Started as a place for the poor and criminals to start over

15. Types of colonies Jamestown began as a charter colony
In 1624 it became a royal colony when the English Crown took over
Proprietary colonies also developed – these owned by powerful individuals or companies