The English in the Chesapeake

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts from the lecture notes on the English in the Chesapeake, focusing on early settlement, Native American relations, the tobacco economy, and the development of slavery.

English Colonizers in the Chesapeake (Initial Motivation)

Primarily sought riches like gold, a passage to the Pacific, and to find the Roanoke colonists, not freedom from persecution.

Rights of Englishmen

Rights guaranteed by each English colony's charter, mainly involving rights afforded to criminal defendants, limits to authority, and concerns with taxes.

Tsenacommacah

The name for the densely inhabited land in the Chesapeake area, controlled by the Powhatan confederacy.

Powhatan Confederacy

Composed of about 30 Algonquin-speaking tribes in Tsenacommacah, controlling approximately 15,000 people under Powhatan's supremacy.

Powhatan

The leader who established supremacy over the Powhatan Confederacy through intimidation, warfare, diplomacy, and marriage.

Founding of Jamestown

English settlement established in 1607.

Early Difficulties in Jamestown

Characterized by difficult early years and high death rates.

Jamestown's Relations with Native Americans

Marked by tense relations with Native Americans.

Initial Composition of Jamestown Settlers

A third were gentlemen.

Later Jamestown Settlers (Skills)

Later arrivals included skilled workers unsuitable for New World conditions, leading to lack of discipline and preparedness.

Pocahontas (Real Story)

A Native American woman whose life story, including kidnapping and marriage to John Rolfe, illustrates the power dynamics and development fueled by tobacco in early colonial Virginia.

John Smith's Kidnapping (Powhatan's Perspective)

For Powhatan, it was a display of dominance, yet the colonists did not accept his supremacy.

Rebecca (Pocahontas)

The Christian name given to Pocahontas after her baptism, before she married John Rolfe.

Context of Pocahontas and John Rolfe's Marriage

Occurred after Pocahontas's year as an English captive.

Symbolism of Pocahontas and John Rolfe's Marriage

Symbolized a truce or alliance between the Powhatan and English.

Tobacco

The cash crop that came to define the Chesapeake colony and region, shaping conflict with Native Americans, government policies, and labor practices.

John Rolfe's Role in Virginia Tobacco

Began growing West Indian tobacco in Virginia.

Characteristics of John Rolfe's Tobacco

A milder variety that appealed to European tastes.

Consequence of John Rolfe's Tobacco

Initiated the tobacco boom.

What was the Tobacco Boom?

A period of significant increase in tobacco cultivation and exports from the Chesapeake.

Cause of the Tobacco Boom

Driven by John Rolfe's introduction of a milder variety.

Effect of the Tobacco Boom

Led to massive imports of tobacco by England.

Cause of Deterioration in Tobacco and Native American Relations

Colonists sought more land for tobacco cultivation.

Turning Points in Tobacco-Native American Relations

Pocahontas's death and events in 1622 and the 1640s.

Origin of English Policy Towards Native Americans (1640s)

Revival of a policy previously used in Ireland.

Components of English Policy Towards Native Americans (1640s)

Attempted to relegate native people to specific areas and restrict their movement without special identification.

What was the Headright System (Virginia)?

A policy introduced around 1618 where anyone who came to Virginia or paid for another person's passage received 50 acres of land.