Unit 2: Colonial Settlement

1. Unit 2: Colonial Settlement • Why It Matters: As you study Unit 2, you will learn that in the 1600s and 1700s the English established colonies in the Americas-some for profit and others by religious groups seeking freedom. In time, a distinctly new American society emerged.

2. Chapter 3: Colonial America 1587-1770 • Why It Matters: The early North American colonies were a meeting place of cultures. The Europeans who settled these colonies included Protestants, Catholics, and Jews. • The Impact Today: The colonies influenced values and beliefs many Americans cherish today. For example: • Many people still come to the Americas in search of economic opportunity and religious freedom. • Representative government remains an important part of the American political system.

3. Section 1: Early English Settlements pg. 70 • Main Idea: Jamestown became the first successfully established English colony in North America. • Key Terms: • Charter • Joint-Stock Company • Burgesses

4. England in America • The English defeat of the Spanish Armada ended Spanish control of the seas. England and other European nations could begin colonies in North America because it was now safe to sail the waters. • In 1583 Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland for Queen Elizabeth.

5. Lost Colony of Roanoke Island • Sir Walter Raleigh sent about 100 men to settle on Roanoke Island off the coast of present-day North Carolina in 1585. After the difficult winter there, the colonists returned to England.

6. Roanoke A second group of settlers came in 1587. This group of Roanoke colonists deserted the island and disappeared. No clues to their fate were left except the word Croatoan carved on a gatepost

7. Jamestown Settlement • Virginia Company in London entered the Chesapeake Bay and founded Jamestown. • They faced many hardships. • They found no goods nor did they establish the fish or fur trading expected of them by the Virginia Company investors. The number of colonists dwindled.

8. Jamestown • The Virginia Company was a joint-stock company. Investors bought stock, or part ownership, in the company in return for a share of the profits. • Groups of merchants sought charters, the right to organize settlements in an area.

9. John Smith • Captain John Smith arrived in 1608 to govern the colonists. The Virginia Company installed yet another leader to govern them after Smith. A harsh winter and more trouble continued to plague the colonists. • He traveled as far as what is now Richmond, Virginia. On another trip later that year, Smith was taken captive by the Chief of the Powhatan Indians and was condemned to death. Pocahontas, daughter of the Indian chief, saved Smith's life.

10. Jamestown Prospers • When the colonists discovered how to grow tobacco, the colony began to prosper. Relations with the Native Americans living nearby also improved when one of the colonists, John Rolfe, married Pocahontas, the daughter of Chief Powhatan.

11. Representative Government • The Virginia Company allowed a representative government in which ten towns in the colony each sent two representatives, or burgesses, to an assembly. The assembly made local laws. • The House of Burgesses met for the first time on July 30, 1619.

12. First African Americans • In 1619 twenty African Americans came to Jamestown. • Sold to Virginia planters to work in the tobacco fields. • Servants not slave • Until 1640 some Africans were free and some owned property. • Africans came as enslaved passengers or were sold as slaves upon arrival. • Slavery became legal in the 1660s.

13. Royal Colony • Financial problems caused Virginia Company to shut down • King James of England canceled its charter and made Jamestown England’s first royal colony in America

14. Wrap Up Questions • Why did the Virginia Company establish settlements in North America? • What economic activity helped save the Jamestown settlement? • Why do you think the king of England was willing to let a group of merchants try to establish a colony in North America?