Name _____________________________ Class________________________ Date_____________

The American Colonies

Lesson 1

The English Settle Virginia

Key Terms and People
John Smith  Leader of Jamestown
joint-stock companies  Companies in which investors pooled their wealth with the
hope of yielding a profit
Jamestown  First permanent English settlement in North America
Powhatan  Native Americans who lived in the area that became Jamestown
headright system  The Virginia Company’s system in which settlers and the family
members who came with them received 50 acres of land
indentured servants  Workers who exchanged their labor for help getting started in
America
royal colony  A colony under the direct control of a monarch
Nathaniel Bacon  Planter who led a rebellion against the governor of the Virginia
Colony

Before You Read

In the last lesson you learned the effects of Spanish conquest in
Central and North America. In this lesson you will learn how the
English came to North America and founded a colony.

As You Read
Use a chart to take notes on the English settlement in Virginia.

ENGLISH SETTLERS STRUGGLE called the colony Jamestown in honor of

IN NORTH AMERICA
What happened at Jamestown?
John Smith was a soldier and
adventurer. In 1606 he joined the
Virginia Company, which had been
granted a charter by King James I to
found a colony along the eastern shores
of North America. It was a joint-stock
company that allowed investors to pool
their wealth to fund a colony. In 1607
the Virginia Company sent 150 colonists
aboard three ships to North America.
The colonists built a settlement along
the coast of modern-day Virginia. They
the king.
Many English colonists wanted to get
rich by finding gold. They did not worry
about growing food. So many colonists
at Jamestown died. By the winter of
1607, only 39 colonists were alive. Then
John Smith took control. He made the
colonists grow food. He received help
from the Powhatan inhabitants of the
area, who offered the colonists food.
Under Smith’s leadership, the colony
slowly recovered.
An injury forced Smith to return to
England, and the settlement grew

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

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Name _____________________________ Class________________________ Date_____________
Lesson 1, continued
disorganized. More colonists arrived
from England, and their increasing
numbers worried the Powhatan, who
started to kill the colonists’ livestock
and ruin their farms. The colony
suffered from famine in 1609. This
became known as the “starving time.”
As the settlers planned to leave the
colony, others arrived and restored
order. Then they began to grow tobacco,
which could be sold in Europe for a
great profit. However, the colony needed
more settlers to grow more tobacco.
So the Virginia Company started the
headright system in 1618. Each new
person moving to the colony received
50 acres of land.
Most people who arrived did not
come under this system. They came as
indentured servants. In exchange for
passage to North America and food and
shelter, an indentured servant agreed to
work on a farm for several years. Most
indentured servants were poor English
citizens hoping for a new life.
In 1619 the first Africans arrived in
North America. They were treated as
indentured servants. After several years
of labor, they gained land and freedom.
In the decades to come, more and more
Africans would arrive in North
America—not as indentured servants
but as slaves.
1. How did tobacco help save the
settlement at Jamestown?
Jamestown settlers had to plant
tobacco so they can sell it for a great
profit.
THE SETTLERS CLASH WITH
NATIVE AMERICANS
How did English colonists treat the
Native Americans?
Unlike the Spanish, English settlers
had no desire to live among or
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
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intermarry with Native Americans.
Instead, they struggled to drive them
away. They did not like how the
Powhatan had treated them during the
starving time, so leaders demanded corn
and labor from the native peoples.
English soldiers set villages on fire and
kidnapped children. In addition, the
colony needed more land for farming, so
the settlers took Powhatan land.
In 1622 the Native Americans fought
back. They attacked colonial villages,
killing more than 340 colonists. The
attack forced the Virginia Company to
send in more troops and supplies, which
left the company nearly bankrupt.
The turmoil in Virginia angered the
English government. The king made
Virginia become a royal colony—a
colony under the control of the king.
As a result, England sent in more
settlers to strengthen the colony and
more troops to conquer the Powhatan.
By 1644 nearly 10,000 English settlers
lived in Virginia. Meanwhile, the native
population had decreased.
2. How did becoming a royal colony
help Virginia?
Becoming a royal colony help
Virginia because England sent in
more settlers to strengthen the
colony and more troops conquer the
Powhatan.
CONFLICT WITH VIRGINIA’S
GOVERNMENT
Who held the power in Virginia?
Virginia’s settlers were promised the
same rights as people living in England.
The House of Burgesses was set up. It
was America’s first representative
government.
During the 1670s former indentured
servants who were now free had little
money to buy land. With no land, they
had no vote, which meant they had
almost no rights. Many lived on
Guided Reading Workbook
Name _____________________________ Class________________________ Date_____________
Lesson 1, continued
Virginia’s western frontier. They were
taxed and received no help. They wanted
to know why no forts were being built
for protection.
Then in 1675 the frontier settlers and
natives clashed. Virginia’s government
refused to help. Nathaniel Bacon, a
wealthy planter, came to the settlers’
rescue. He raised an army to fight the
Native Americans. Virginia’s governor
declared that army illegal. When Bacon
heard this, he led a group into
Fill out the chart below by answering questions about the English
settlement in Virginia.
1. Who?
Who were the settlers?
Who was the first leader?
Who were their neighbors?
2. What?
What type of colony was
Jamestown at first?
What did it later become?
3. When?
When was Jamestown settled?
When was the “starving time”?
4. Why?
Why did the settlers go to
Jamestown?
Why didn’t the settlers get along with them sick.
their neighbors?
Why did Jamestown nearly fail?
5. Where?
Where was Jamestown?
6. How?
How did Nathaniel Bacon help the
poor settlers who lived in the
western part of the colony?
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Jamestown. They protested the
government’s treatment of poor settlers
and their lack of representation. Bacon’s
Rebellion, as it was called, turned
violent but was eventually crushed by
the government.
3. Why did Nathaniel Bacon lead a
rebellion against Virginia’s governor?
Nathaniel Bacon lead a rebellion
because Virginia western frontier
were taxed out and received no
help. why no forts were built for
protection.
The settlers were joint-stock company.
The first leader was John Smith.
Their neighbors was Europe.
. They did not worry about growing food. So
many colonists at Jamestown died. By the
winter of 1607, only 39 colonists were alive.
It became later was destroyed everything
was gone and the king didn't help the
colonists no more.
Jamestown was settled in 1607.
The starving time was in 1609.
The settlers went to Jamestown to get rich
get gold.
They nearly failed because Powhatan got
In Virginia.
They protested the government’s treatment
of poor settlers and their lack of
representation.
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