History Module 2.1 The Virginia Colony

What three characteristics shaped the English settlements in North America?

1. Business enterprises

2. Loosely tied to the English government

3. Tried to transplant English culture

What challenges did the Jamestown colonists face during the early months of the settlement’s existence?

Poor health, lack of food and fights with the natives.

Explain the importance of tobacco to the survival and development of Jamestown:

Tobacco was the only sure means of making money. Economic stability came from the cultivation of tobacco. It was a cash crop. Virginia colony eventually began exporting tobacco back to England which earned a sizeable profit and saved the colony from ruin.

What was the structure and significance of the Virginia House of Burgesses?

First elected legislative assembly in the American colonies, nothing else like this in the new world. Two houses- A lower house- House of Burgesses and a higher house which was the Governor’s Council. Bicameral- Having two branches or chambers.

What four elements did it seem that a country that was to be successful in colonizing North America must possess?

1. Skilled colonists

2. Strong navy

3. People and supplies crucial

4. Adaptable culture

Virginia Company of London:

Sent people to colonize and it was basically a joint stock company.

Jamestown:

1607 a group of merchants established the first permanent English settlement in the New World in Virginia.

Indentured Servants:

To meet labor demands, early Virginians relied on indentured servants. An indenture is a labor contract that young, impoverished, and often illiterate Englishmen and occasionally Englishwomen signed in England, pledging to work for a number of years (usually between five and seven) growing tobacco in the Chesapeake colonies. In return, indentured servants received paid passage to American and food, clothing and lodging. At the end of their indenture servants received “freedom dues,” usually food and other provisions, including, in some cases, land provided by the colony.

Unfortunately, many were worked to death or died of disease before getting their freedom.

Who was Chief Powhatan?

Chief Powhatan stopped trading with English because of John Smith. John Smith treated Indians like savages, and raided their corn supply. Pocahontas saved John Smith.

Captain John Smith:

Jamestown colony’s governor. Asked for carpenters and farmers to be sent to the colonies, not more adventurers because there was no gold there, they needed people who could work the land and tend the livestock. Had colonists cut timber instead of searching for gold so they could trade wood with Indians. Planted 40 acres of corn so they could survive the winter.

Pocahontas:

Chief Powhatan’s daughter. Saved John Smith. Married John Rolfe. Went to England to show how natives could be turned into Christians, shortly after died from small pox.

John Rolfe:

Married Pocahontas which helped stabilize things. Experimented with different tobacco, cultivated a marketable version.

Opechancanough:

Powhatan’s brother who took over. Good Friday 1622 planned attack on English, killed livestock and people. Only 2,400 remained.

What ships were taken to the New World?

Susan Constant, Discovery and Godspeed.