1. The First English Colonies
Lesson 7
Vocabulary
charter
cash crop
indentured servant
House of Burgesses
Pilgrim
sachem
What challenges did early English settlers face in North America?
Reading Skill
Teacher Notes
Essential Question: What challenges did early English settlers face in North America?
Cause and Effect

2. The First English Colonies
Why were the Roanoke settlements failures?
- The colonists lacked the supplies and skills to survive.
Why did Jamestown succeed?
- John Smith’s leadership forced the colonists to work. The soil and climate were ideal for growing tobacco, which allowed the colonists to make a profit.
Teacher Notes
Colonists needed more land to grow tobacco so they took land belonging to the Powhatan.
Powhatan’s forces lost because the colonists had guns.
The marriage of John Rolfe and Pocahontas, the daughter of a Powhatan chief, brought peace for several years.
Indentured servants were needed to work the land.
They were people whose travel expenses were paid by the merchant company so they would work in the tobacco fields for 5–7 years.
They received land and supplies to start farms at the end of their service.
The House of Burgess made laws for the colony.
It followed political traditions in England.
Only white men who owned land could vote.

3. The First English Colonies
Complete the chart to to show how the Pilgrims settled in Plymouth.
Cause
Effect
no religious freedom in England
Pilgrims plan to settle in Virginia colony.
Ship lands on Cape Cod.
Pilgrims form government.
Pilgrims are unprepared.
almost half die
Teacher Notes
Cause: no religious freedom in England
Effect: Pilgrims plan to settle in Virginia colony.
Cause: Ship lands on Cape Cod.
Effect: Pilgrims form government.
Cause: Pilgrims are unprepared.
Effect: almost half die
Cause: Native Americans teach Pilgrims how to grow and hunt food.
Effect: The colony survives.
Cause: Pilgrims and Wampanoag celebrate.
Effect: Thanksgiving tradition begins.
Native Americans teach Pilgrims how to grow and hunt food.
The colony survives.
Pilgrims and Wampanoag celebrate.
Thanksgiving tradition begins.

4. The First English Colonies
What was the importance of the Mayflower Compact?
It was a plan for self-government. It expressed the idea that the power of a government comes from its people. This idea became a part of America’s founding documents.
Teacher Notes
The Pilgrims wanted religious freedom so they left England.
They settled in America near winter and some of the Pilgrims had never farmed.
They were supposed to land in Virginia, but landed in Plymouth, MA.
William Bradford drafted an agreement to set up an emergency government.
A compact is a signed written agreement.
Write About It!
The Pilgrims celebrated their first harvest with three days of feasting and they were joined by the Native Americans.
This event is commemorated at Thanksgiving. The Native Americans showed the Pilgrims how to grow maize and trap animals for food.