The Virginia Colony

1. The Virginia Colony Roanoke & Jamestown

2. Founding & History of the Virginia Colony • Lost Colony of Roanoke • In 1584, Queen Elizabeth gave Sir Walter Raleigh the right to claim lands in North America • Raleigh led an expedition to settle the island of Roanoke off the coast of North Carolina • Failure of the First Attempt • All of 100 settlers except 15 men returned to England • Failure of the Second Attempt • 15 settlers that remained were dead • John White became Governor • White left for supplies & returned 3 years later • Colony was deserted and he found the word Croatoan on a tree • White ordered attack against Powhatan natives but settlers attacked friendly Croatoans • English abandoned Roanoke

3. Founding & History of the Virginia Colony • Jamestown Settlement • The Virginia Company of London (joint-stock company) received a charter from King James I to settle in North America • In 1607, settlers sailed up the James River and established Jamestown • Jamestown faced hardships (disease and hunger) but survived due to Captain John Smith’s leadership • Required subsistence crops • “You don’t work, you don’t eat” • Established relationship with Chief Powhatan (received corn from natives) • Captain John Smith left the colony due to injury- relations with natives deteriorated • Marriage of Pocahontas and John Rolfe improved native relations again

4. Founders & Important Colonists of the Virginia Colony • Sir Walter Raleigh • Led settlers to Roanoke Island with permission of the crown • Captain John Smith • Leadership of Smith ensured the survival of the Jamestown Colony • John Rolfe • Introduced tobacco to Jamestown and married Pocahontas • Pocahontas • Daughter of Chief Powhatan, worked to ensure coexistence of settlers and natives, and married John Rolfe • William Berkeley • Early Governor of Virginia Colony

5. Reasons for the Founding of the Virginia Colony • To establish an English presence in the New World • In 1606, the Virginia Company petitioned for a charter to form a settlement in North America • The businessmen of the Virginia Company wanted to get rich from the New World like the Spanish had by: • Trading • Subjugating the natives and forcing them to provide the English with food, goods, and wealth • Pillaging and Raiding native villages • Growing cash crops and selling them in Europe

6. The First Charter of the Virginia Colony • Date: • April 10, 1606 • Between: • King James I of England & • Individual Members of the Virginia Company of London (Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, and others) • Grant: • “…Licence, to make Habitation, Plantation, and to deduce a colony of sundry of our People into that part of America commonly called VIRGINIA…”

7. The Economy, Major Industries & Occupations in the Virginia Colony • Agriculture • Tobacco (Major Cash Crop) • Grain • Cattle • Fishing • Trading • Furs • Products • Rum • Furniture

8. Religion in the Virginia Colony • By Law, Settlers in Virginia were English and belonged to the Church of England • The Church was supported by taxes paid by all settlers • The line was blurred between the religious and civil authorities • Virginians were not tolerant of non-Christians

9. Government in the Virginia Colony • England • King James I authorized his agents to govern in Virginia according to the Laws of England and the Charter of the Virginia Company • House of Burgesses • The House of Burgesses was created as a representative legislative body in Virginia made up of 22 members: • The governor selected by the Company • 6 Counselors selected by the Company • 15 members selected by colonists • Only wealthy, landowning, white, male colonists helped elect representatives • It was America’s first representative legislature and it continues to this day as the Virginia Assembly • In 1624 King James I revoked the Virginia Company Charter and Virginia became a royal English Colony

10. Major Cities & The Status of Slavery in the Virginia Colony • Major Cities in Colonial Virginia: • Jamestown • Williamsburg • Norfolk • Status of Slavery in Colonial Virginia • Slavery was legal in Virginia although at first colonists used indentured servants (slaves were three times more expensive) • In 1619, two British ships sold 21 African slaves to the governor of Virginia (first African slaves in North America) • In 1660 as the tobacco industry took hold, farmers required more labor and the more and more African slaves were brought to Virginia

11. Bibliography (Internet Sources) • http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-colonial/2029 • http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/va01.asp#1 • http://www.history.org/almanack/life/religion/religionva.cfm • http://www.lva.virginia.gov/exhibits/political/colonial.htm • http://www.lva.virginia.gov/exhibits/political/colonial.htm