The Jamestown Colony

1. The Jamestown Colony

2. King James 1 issued a charter to allow a colony to be set up in Virginia. A charter was a document that permitted colonists to settle on land claimed by their ruler.

3. King James I signed this company's charter on April 10, 1606. Its first expedition, led by Captain Christopher Newport, included three ships, Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery. They embarked from London on December 20, 1606 and on May 13, 1607, moored off what came to be known as Jamestown Island. "A verie fit place for the erecting of a great cittie" Captain John Smith Jamestown President, 1608

4. The first joint-stock company to launch a lasting venture to the New World was the VIRGINIA COMPANY OF LONDON. The investors had one goal in mind: gold. They hoped to repeat the success of Spaniards who found gold in South America. In 1607, 144 English men and boys established the JAMESTOWN colony, named after King James I. The colonists were told that if they did not generate any wealth, financial support for their efforts would end. Many of the men spent their days vainly searching for gold. As a consequence, the colonists spent little time farming. Food supplies dwindled. MALARIA and the harsh winter besieged the colonists, as well. After the first year, only 38 of the original 144 had survived.

5. Times were hard in Jamestown. John Smith helped them avoid starvation. His motto was “He that will not work, shall not eat.” The colonists worked together to build houses and dig wells for fresh water. Chief Powhatan traded with the colonists which helped keep the colonists alive.

6. Pocahontas was Chief Powhatan’s daughter. John Smith claims that he was taken prisoner when he first met the Chief Powhatan, and twelve year old Pocahontas begged her father to let him go and not kill him.

7. John Smith got hurt and ended up having to go back to England. While he was gone, Jamestown went through what we call the “starving time.”

8. This selection, taken from Captain John Smith's Generall Historie of Virginia, New England and the Summer Isles, describes a desperate chapter in the history of the colony where the population was reduced from 500 to 60. Primary Source Now we all found the losse of Captaine Smith, yea his greatest maligners could now curse his losse: as for corne provision and contribution from the Salvages, we had nothing but mortall wounds, with clubs and arrowes; as for our Hogs, Hens, Goats, Sheepe, Horse, or what lived, our commanders, officers and Salvages daily consumed them, some small proportions sometimes we tasted, till all was devoured; then swords, armes, pieces, or any thing, wee traded with the Salvages, whose cruell fingers were so oft imbrewed in our blouds, that what by their crueltie, our Governours indiscretion, and the losse of our ships, of five hundred within six moneths after Captaine Smiths departure [October 1609 — March 1610], there remained not past sixtie men, women and children, most miserable and poore creatures; and those were preserved for the most part, by roots, herbes, acornes, walnuts, berries, now and then a little fish: they that had startch in these extremities, made no small use of it; yea even the very skinnes of our horses. Nay, so great was our famine, that a Salvage we slew and buried, the poorer sort tooke him up againe and eat him; and so did divers one another boyled and stewed with roots and herbs: And one amongst the rest did kill his wife, powdered [i.e., salted] her, and had eaten part of her before it was knowne; for which hee was executed, as hee well deserved: now whether shee was better roasted, boyled or carbonado'd [i.e., grilled], I know now; but of such a dish as powdered wife I never heard of.

12. House of Burgesses The word burgess originally meant “free man.” The meaning later changed to “elected official.”

14. House of Burgesses The changes of 1619 also created a legislative body to be elected by the colonists called the House of Burgesses, similar to the British Parliament, that would meet once annually at Jamestown. (In Bermuda, previously part of Virginia, the House of Assembly was created that same year). The first meeting of the Houses occurred on July 30, 1619, at Jamestown. It was the first such assembly in the Americas. This first session accomplished little, however; it was cut short by an outbreak of malaria. The assembly had 22 members from the following constituencies:[2] • The colony's governor, appointed in London, • The governor's council, a group of six citizens selected by the governor, • The burgesses from various locales, initially larger plantations; counties were included later. Men over the age of 17 who owned land were eligible to vote.[2