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Virginia. Section 2.2. Main Idea. After several failures, the English established a permanent settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. Sir Walter Raleigh >>>>>>>>>. Lost Colony. 1587: British lord Sir Walter Raleigh established the colony of Roanoke on an island off the coast of modern NC.
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Virginia Section 2.2
Main Idea • After several failures, the English established a permanent settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. • Sir Walter Raleigh >>>>>>>>>
Lost Colony • 1587: British lord Sir Walter Raleigh established the colony of Roanoke on an island off the coast of modern NC. • With few supplies, Raleigh went back to Britain for food, but promised to return soon. • Raleigh was delayed for 3 years! (war with Spain) • When the British arived at Roanoke, the white colonists had disappeared. • Mystery surrounds the “Lost Colony”, but the 1st British settlement was a failure.
British Plans • The King authorized 2 companies to settle British America. • These were joint-stock companies: individuals invested hoping to make a profit. • Many British were eager to move to the New World. Land, jobs, and opportunity were scarce back home.
Jamestown • 1607: 144 British settlers leave Europe destined for Virginia, only 100 survive the trip! • John Smith was their leader. • They settled on the coast, but malaria and dysentery plagued the colonists. • The Powhatan Indians lived nearby, which presented danger. • Most spent their time treasure hunting, not farming. • Only 38 were alive by 1608.
Jamestown • The 2nd winter in Virginia was rough, known as the “starving time”. • John Rolfe, another colonist, attempted to keep peace by marrying Pocahontas, the daughter of the Powhatan chief. • Still trouble with Indians persisted. • Rolfe also is credited with 1st growing tobacco at Jamestown. • This native plant had been used by Indians, but Rolfe began shipping it back to Europe. • Soon Europeans were addicted to the drug, and Virginia was making a profit.
New Colonists • The joint-stock company in charge of Virginia offered headrights. • This guaranteed each person that moved to VA 50 acres of land. • This attracted more settlers. • House of Burgesses: created by the Virginia settlers. • White-male-landowners were elected to make laws and establish taxes on the colony. • The HoB became the 1st representative legislative body in the colonies.
Help Wanted • Poor Europeans could agree to be indentured servants. • IS signed a contract to work for 7 years, their employer would feed and house them. • When 7 years was up, they became free. • In 1619, a ship brought the 1st Africans to VA. • At 1st they were treated like indentured servants, but over time owners saw that it was more profitable to keep them permanently as slaves. • White IS could run away and blend in, Africans could not.
Bacon’s Rebellion • Former IS were poor, and had to move inland to find land. • This lead to increased problems with American Indians. • These poor frontiersmen asked the HoB for help, but the rich people on the coast refused. • In 1676 a man names Nathaniel Bacon led an uprising of poor whites against the elites. • Bacon’s Rebellion resulted in increased rights for poor whites, but also scarred more landowners away from importing IS = more African slaves.