Jamestown, the first colony in

America, was a trading

We got money from the our stocks settlement of the Virginia
Company of London. The trip
was funded by 650 investors.

Woohoo
Jamestown
 We can profit from the gold,
furs, lumber, and fish…
That will be worth
venturing out capital!

The investors were called, because they were venturing their , money to make more
money
 Land
Lets go Ho!
explore
The Virginia Company’s charter, granted our
by King James I, created Virginia’s land!
boundaries along points of the 34th and
41st parallels, running” from sea to sea,” Virginia
west and north west. No one had any
idea of the distance from sea to sea.
Virginia’s indefinite western border
caused problems later on.
 All right, let’s motor, baby!

Wow, that was quick!

Jamestown

105 men and boys of the Virginia Company set

sail on three ships: Susan Constant, Discovery,
and Godspeed. They landed April 26, 1607!
 WE WILL
NOT BE
ATTACKED!!!

Jamestown

The men settled 30 miles up the

James River so they would
never be attacked by Spain!
They were counseled by seven
men by the Virginia company!
George Percy, wrote:
ere wee landed and
overed… Fair meadows
goodly tall trees: with
h fresh waters running
ough the woods.”
Incredible! I be
an Englishman,
and you of the
colonies have
the same
rights!

Yes!

James I, King of England, allowed

the citizens of Virginia the same
liberties of English citizens.
In Jamestown the first thing the Virginians did was they built a fort. After that they dug for gold. Finally
they searched for a passage to china. Sadly, the Virginians did not plant enough crops for food so by
winter many men died from disease and in the end only 38 men were left.
In 1602, Caption John Smith smartly started making the gentlemen work just like the
lower classmen.
 “Awww….my
hands… S@#$!”
“Hey, no
swearing!!!”

When the men would work, there hands would

become painful and they would swear out loud.
Smith didn’t like this, so to discipline them he would
pour cold water down there sleeves.
Meanwhile, Powhatan, who was a supreme Chieftain of the Powhatan
Confederacy, Discussed the Englishmen's whereabouts at
Werowocomocotook.

Chief, Nonsense.
we You are just
should being
kill them Foolish.
before Maybe
we lose you’re
Ouch.
our right…
land!
Indian Princess
Pocahontas, his thirteen
year old daughter,
befriend the Englishmen-
after saving Captain John
Smith’s life when he was
captured. The friendship
began a period of good
relations called the Peace
of Pocahontas.
In 1612 John Rolfe
brings tobacco to
Virginia. The
Virginia Company
prospered because
of this cash crop.
 In 1614, John Rolfe married Pocahontas. She became a Christian that day. She
changed her named Lady Rebecca and was taken to King James by the Virginia
Company. When Pocahontas died, in 1617, the Peace of Pocahontas ended.

Lets get out of here, Pocahontas!

 First meeting of the House of Burgesses in July 1619.

The House of
Burgesses was the
Hi
local Virginia
there!
assembly. It first
met at
Jamestown!
• The HEADRIGHT SYSTEM allowed private ownership of land (as opposed to company
ownership). Each pre-1616 settler received 100 acres of free land. Each thereafter received 50
acres, plus 50 acres for every person he brought from England!

I like this capitalist system. I now

have it’s three basic parts: the
right to own property, the right to
work as I please, and the right to
make a profit.
90 adventurous women arrived in 1619, sent by the Virginia
Company as wives for the Jamestown settlers. Each groom
paid 120 pounds of tobacco for his bride’s passage.

Thanks
for the
tobacco!
Twenty kidnapped Africans were sold to the Jamestown settlers by the
captain of a Dutch ship. As indentured servants, they probably were
freed after sevral years. But by the late 1600’s black servitude turned to
black slavery.

Sure Want
some
slaves?
1622, Tragedy struck Virginia

347 Virginians were killed

By 1700 only 1,000 of 9,000

Powhatan Indians survived
1624-King James 1-did not like the representative government and used the massacre
and the Virginia Company’s financial issues as a reason to revoke the Company’s
charter and make Virginia a royal colony. Then he got rid of the House of Burgesses.
1639- King Charles 1 reinstated House of Burgesses.
Sir William Berkeley served as one of the first royally
appointed governors of Virginia (1642). Although an
able ruler, he had no use for freedoms.

“I thank God there are no free schools, nor

printing…for learning has brought
disobedience, and Hersey, and sects into the
world, and printing has divulged them, and
libels against the best Government. God
keeps us from both.”
Sir William Berkeley served as
one of the first royally
appointed governor of
Virginia (1642) Although
an able ruler, he didn’t use
any liberty.
 In the 1670s frontier settlers in western Virginia rebelled against the autocratic rule of Governor Berkeley.
He levied high taxes, while denying frontiersmen a voice in the government and protection against invading
Indians.
 In 1676, Nathaniel Bacon, a farmer, lead a rebellion against
Governor Berkeley, making him leave Jamestown, and burning the
town. Bacon suddenly died from an illness and with that, so did
the rebellion. King Charles II replaced Berkeley, making the colony
run harmoniously again.