1. The First English Settlements
Unit 1
Why is location important for new settlements?
The First English Settlements

2. RECAP of New World Settlements
The Spanish had established settlements in the West Indies and in Mexico
Spain was considered by many to be the best Navy at sea (Spanish Armada)
The French had established a settlement in Canada (Quebec)

3. The Spanish Armada England and Spain had become rivals
King Philip II of Spain wanted a Catholic ruler in England, not Queen Elizabeth who was a Protestant
Sir Francis Drake an English explorer attacked Spanish ships

4. The Spanish Armada continued…
King Phillip sent his Armada to conquer England
Instead, England defeats the Armada; this marked the end of Spanish control of the seas and cleared the way for English colonization

5. Colony- A group of people in a far off place ruled by a parent country

6. The Roanoke Colony
Queen Elizabeth gives a charter to Sir Walter Raleigh to establish a colony in the New World
Raleigh chooses John White to lead a group of 100 men, women and children (1587)
The plan was to establish a colony on Roanoke Island (present day NC)
Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the New World, was born days after arrival (also John White’s granddaughter)

7. The Roanoke Colony

8. The Roanoke Colony continued…
Just a few days after Virginia Dare’s birth, John White returns to England to get supplies and leaves his family on Roanoke Island
He was planning to return quickly but because England and Spain were at war, he did not return for 3 years
Upon return, his family has vanished only leaving the word CROATOAN carved into a tree
This became known as “the Lost Colony”

9. Video Clip
s-at-the-museum/video/what-happened-to- roanoke

10. Jamestown Colony
King James issues a charter to Virginia Company, a joint-stock company, that was in search of gold
144 men establish Jamestown in in present day Virginia
Jamestown settlers faced hardships, disease, hunger and conflict with Native Americans
Led by John Smith, the colonist were forced to work and Jamestown survives

11. Jamestown

12. Jamestown

13. Jamestown Expands In 1612, John Rolfe plants tobacco in Jamestown
Relations with the natives also improve when John Rolfe marries Pocahontas, daughter of the Powhatan chief
Pocahontas helps with tobacco
Slaves arrive in Jamestown; slaves are needed for tobacco

14. Jamestown Expands continued…
Land ownership expanded with the headright system
Headright System- a land grant; 50 acres was given to settlers who paid their own way to the colony
Colonists participated in government
The House of Burgesses became the first legislative government in the American Colonies

15. Jamestown Tobacco