Period 2 (1607-1754) Chapter 2

Corporate colonies, such as Jamestown, were operated by joint-stock companies, at least during these colonies' early years.

Royal colonies, such as Virginia after 1624, were to be under the direct authority and rule of the king's government.

Proprietary colonies, such as Maryland and Pennsylvania, were under the authority of individuals granted charters of ownership by the king.

Early English Settlements: In the early 1600s, England was finally in a position to colonize the lands explored more than a century earlier by John Cabot. By defeating a large Spanish fleet-the Spanish Armada-in 1588, England had gained a reputation as a major naval power. Also in this period, England's population was growing rapidly while its economy was depressed. The number of poor and landless people increased, people who were attracted to opportunities in the Americas. The English devised a practical method for financing the costly and risky enterprise of founding colonies. A joint-stock company pooled the savings of many investors, thereby spreading the risk. Thus, colonies on the North Atlantic Coast were able to attract large numbers of English settlers.

(Jamestown) England's King James I chartered the Virginia Company, a joint-stock company that founded the first permanent English colony in America at Jamestown in 1607. The first settlers of Jamestown suffered greatly, mostly from their own mistakes. The settlement's location in a swampy area along the James River resulted in fatal outbreaks of dysentery and malaria. Moreover, many of the settlers were gentlemen unaccustomed to physical work. Others were gold-seeking adventurers who refused to hunt or farm. One key source of goods was from trade with American Indians-but when conflicts erupted between settlers and the natives, trade would stop and settlers went hungry. Starvation was a persisent issue in Jamestown. Through the forceful leadership of Captain John Smith, Jamestown survived its first five years, but barely. Then, through the efforts of John Rolfe and his Indian wife, Pocahontas, the colony developed a new variety of tobacco that would become popular in Europe and become a profitable crop. Further, the Virginia Company made unwise decisions that placed it heavily in debt. King James I had seen enough. He revoked the charter of the bankrupt company and took direct control of the colony. Now known as Virginia, the colony became England's first royal colony.

(Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay) Religious motivation, not the search for wealth, was the principal force behind the settlement of two other English colonies, Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay. Both were settled by English Protestants who dissented from the official government-supported Church of England, also known as the Anglican Church.