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Jamestown. Royal Charter. 1606 – Several groups of merchants sought Charters – a document that gives the holder the right to organize settlements in an area issued by King James I of England. The Virginia Company. The Virginia Company.
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Royal Charter • 1606 – Several groups of merchants sought Charters – a document that gives the holder the right to organize settlements in an area issued by King James I of England
The Virginia Company • The Virginia Company was a joint-stock company. Investors bought stock, or part ownership in the company in return for a share of future profits
December 1606 • December 1606 – 144 settlers in 3 ships left England • Godspeed • Discovery • Susan Constant
April 1607 • 40 people died during the voyage • Entered Chesapeake Bay and sailed up the river
Jamestowne • Settlers named the river the “James River” and the settlement “Jamestowne” in honor of their monarch, King James I • The settlers were looking for gold and brought little in the way of farming implements • They attempted to establish trade in fish and furs with Native Americans
Captain John Smith • Arrived in 1608 • 27 • soldier/explorer • Forced the colonists to work and traded with Native Americans
Winter of 1609-1610 • Difficult winter • Little food • Native Americans attacked • Ate shoes and belts to stay alive • One man burned at the stake for killing his pregnant wife and planning to eat her • Only 60 survivors
1614 – Tobacco planting • John Rolfe was the first to grow tobacco in Jamestown • He illegally purchased Spanish tobacco seeds • Married a Native American named Pocahontas • They soon had a son but she died while on a trip to England in 1617
Representative Government • 1619 – the Royal Governor allowed the men of Jamestown to elect representatives to an assembly • July 30th – The House of Burgesses met for the first time in a church in Jamestown
New Arrivals • 1619 – a Dutch Man-of-War brought 20 Africans, who were sold into indentured servitude to labor in the tobacco fields • Indentured servants would work for a certain period of time and then be freed from their contract • Slavery was first made law in Virginia in 1661