Alison Games, ‘The Web of Empire: English Cosmopolitans in an Age of Expansion, 1560-1660’

When was the Virginia Company chartered?

By King James I on 10th April 1606

What was England’s first successful, permanent colony?

Jamestown, Virginia

Which event prompted James I to disband the company and take direct control over the colony himself?

1 deadly attack led by the Powhatan leader Opechancanough in 22nd March 1622, which killed 1/3 (or 347 people) of the English settlers

When did Opechancanough attack the English

22nd March 1622

How many english settlers died in the Powhatan attack?

1/3 or 347 settlers

When was the Treaty of Tordesillas?

7th June 1494

What did the Treaty of Tordesillas grant Spain?

Chesapeke bay

Why did the English want Chesapeke bay?

English’s Protestant faith decreed them to reject papal authority

How many natives populated Chesapeake bay?

15,000

How did the English view the Chesapeake Natives?

“a number more than sufficient to satisfy English visions of Indian tributaries” in other words the english saw the Natives as a potential source to fulfil English tribute (such as food, labor, or goods

What were mortality rates during the first year of migration?

40%

During the famine of 1609-1610, what did the population fall to?

500 to 60

Why else was population growth slow?

No reproduction - no women sent to colony until 1607, and even by 1620 men outnumbered women by a ratio of about 7:1

When were women first sent over to Virginia?

1607

What was the ratio of men to women in Virginia by 1620?

7:1

What did historian Historian Karen Kupperman say about the purpose of colonies?

Argued that “in this period a colony was a place for making gold”

Which historian argued that “in this period a colony was a place for making gold”

Karen Kupperman

When was the Virginia Company’s True Declaration written?

1610

What did the Virginia Company’s True Declaration define a colony as?

 “a Colony is therefore denominated, because they should be Coloni, the tillers of the earth, and stewards of fertility”

What did the Virginia Company’s True Declaration mean by this?

• argues that the very term colony comes from coloni (a Latin word meaning ‘farmers’ or ‘tillers of the soil’

•  Idea reinforces the English belief that colonization was a civilizing mission—transforming ‘wilderness’ into fertile, cultivated land

• Implies that the settlers had a right to the land because they would make it more ‘useful’ through farming - common justification

What were the starving times?

Natives not willing to trade for corn, forced to turn to land

Who was the governor during the starving times?

Thomas Dale

What did Thomas Dale implement during the starving times"?

Death penalty for noncompliance in planting corn 

When did tabacco dominate English trade?

1617