Colonies in Virginia

Lost Colony of Roanoke

 England decided to start colonies in the New World
 Walter Raleigh organized the first group of colonist
 They landed in 1585 on Roanoke Island and left in
1586 after a hard winter with little food
 1587 John White tried again with 100 people
 Supplies ran out, so he returned to England to get
more, but found England in a war and didn’t return
until 1590.
 When he arrived, everyone was gone. He found the
work “Croatoan” engraved on a tree.
Spanish Armada

 Spain was mad because England was

trying to establish a colony and was
stealing gold from Spanish ships.
 1588, King Philip sent 130 ships and
30,000 soldiers to fight the English.
 The English ships were smaller, faster,
and had better guns.
 Only 60 of the Spanish ships returned to
Spain and England won.
Jamestown Colony

 1606: a group of merchants formed the

Virginia Company and asked the king for a
charter
 1607: 120 colonist arrived and choose a
peninsula to set up the colony
 The land was swampy, there were disease
carrying mosquitos, and the river water
wasn’t good to drink.
 The settlers got sick and began to die.
Starving Time
 The colonist spent all their time looking for and digging
for gold.
 People died of starvation and disease. After 1 year only
38 were left of the 120.
 John Smith was elected the leader and said, “He that will
not work, shall not eat.”
 With Smith in charge, the colonists built houses, dug
wells, planted crops, fished, and hunted.
 Smith was able to trade with the Powhatans.
 He left in 1609 and the colony suffered again
 Luckily, the Virginia Company sent Lord De La Warre
and gave him the power to force colonist to work. The
survivors were saved.
Tobacco

 Native Americans trade tobacco to the colonist.

 By 1600’s tobacco was popular in European
nations.
 1612 John Rolfe decided to plant tobacco as his
cash crop.
 King James “hateful to the nose, harmful to the
brain, and dangerous to the lungs”
 To raise all the tobacco farmers needed more help
so they used indentured servants.
 The colony became profitable and had peace with
Native Americans because John Rolfe married
Pocahontas.
House of Burgesses

 The Virginia Company continued to attract more settlers

 They decided to set up a government to help make laws.
 The House of Burgesses had a representative from each
district.
 This began self governing in the colonies