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Chapter 3-1 Early English Settlements. The Virginia Company . 1606 The Virginia Company receives a Charter from King James I for land in North America Charter – right to organize settlements Joint-Stock Company – investors buy share or stock in a company in exchange for future profits.
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The Virginia Company • 1606 The Virginia Company receives a Charter from King James Ifor land in North America • Charter – right to organize settlements • Joint-Stock Company – investors buy share or stock in a company in exchange for future profits
3-1 Jamestown • April 1607 ships enter Chesapeake Bay and establish the settlement of Jamestown • Settlers faced many hardships • Poor farmland (very swampy) • Swarmed by mosquitoes with disease • Many colonists not accustomed to labor • Investors in London expected quick profits so many spent their time looking for gold and silver
3-1 Captain John Smith • Spring 1608 38 of 144 settlers left • Smith forced the settlers to work • Explored the area and traded with Native Americans for corn • 1609 400 new settlers arrived • Fall-1609 Smith returns to England and the colony begins to fail without strong leadership • Spring 1610 only 60 survivors
3-1 Economics • No gold or silver found • John Rolfe – begins planting tobacco and selling his crops in England, Virginia now has a crop that will help them prosper and grow • 1614 – The V. Company allows colonists to rent plots of land • Encourages colonists to work harder • Allows colonists to operate for a profit in a competitive system
3-1 Economics • 1618 – private land ownership expanded • Colonists that can pay their way are granted 100 acres plus additional land for family and slaves over 15 • This was known as a headright
3-1 Representative Government • 1619 – The Virginia Company allows colonists to have some say in how they are governed • 10 towns sent 2 representatives each called burgesses to meet • The assembly had the right to make local laws for the colony • Met for the first time in a church and became known as The House of Burgesses
3-1 New Arrivals in Jamestown • 1619 – women • African American laborers • William Tucker, first African American born in America, he was free • 1660’s was when slavery became recognized by the colony law • 1620’s The Virginia Companyfaced many financial troubles • 1624 King Jamescanceled the charter and made Virginia the first royal English colony in America