The Virginia Colony

1. The Virginia Colony Mr. Snyder 8th Grade Social Studies

2. Settlement in Jamestown • The London Company

3. The London Company • The London Company owned a large portion of Atlantic and Inland Canada. • They were granted a charter. A charter is a document given to start a colony. • The company was permitted by King James I its charter to establish a 100-square-mile settlement within this area. The portion of the company's territory north of the 38th parallel was shared with the Plymouth Company, with the stipulation that neither company found a colony within 100 miles of each other.

4. Jamestown • Jamestown was the first permanent settlement in North America. • A lack of preparation led to the fall of Jamestown. • Many of the colonists had no farming experience. • Many had no carpentry skills.

5. Jamestown Continued • Bad location- Jamestown was surrounded by marshes full of disease-carrying mosquitoes.

6. Jamestown Continued • By the time winter arrived, two-thirds of the original colonists had died.

7. John Smith • John Smith takes control of Jamestown. • Leading the settlers through struggles against disease, starvation, and frequent raids upon the settlement by the Native American tribes.

8. Who is John Smith • According to Smith he was captured by Turks and fought his way to freedom. • When his master stopped by unescorted to dish out his customary abuse. Smith crushed his skull with a bat, stole his clothes, stuffed the corpse in a haystack and made off atop the dead Turk's horse, finding his way back to Europe along the ancient Silk Road.

9. John Smith Continued • Comes up with a way to protect themselves from enemies. • If you don’t work, you don’t eat.

10. Powhatan Confederacy • Smith makes an agreement with the Powhatan. • The Powhatan bring them food and teach them how to grow maize.

11. Powhatan Confederacy • In 1609 more settlers arrived in Jamestown. • That winter disease and famine once again hit the colony. • They called this period of time the starving time.

12. John Rolfe • John Rolfe married Pocahontas, daughter of the Powhatan leader. • This marriage helped colonists form peaceful relations with the Powhatan.

13. John Smith • Relations with the Powhatan turned ugly when Jamestown colonists killed the Powhatan leader. • Smith taunted the idea of Powhatan taking on the colonists saying "in such wars consist our chiefest pleasure."

14. Powhatan Response • Attack the settlers. • Fighting would go back and forth for twenty years. • The English take back the charter and Virginia becomes a royal colony.

15. John Smith’s Accomplishment • Smith avoided all-out war with the natives believing, for the most part, that conflict could be managed with the right mix of bully and bluff.

16. Daily life in Virginia • Tobacco farmers soon began establishing large farms called plantations. • Headright System- Colonists who paid their own way to Virginia received 50 acres of land. They could earn an extra 50 for every person they brought.

17. Indentured servants

18. Demand for Labor • More Plantations Higher need for workers Larger amounts of Africans used in slavery.

19. Nathaniel Bacon (mmm..) • The economy of Jamestown starts to boom. • Colonial officials ask for more taxes. • They didn’t like the policy dealing with Native Americans. They thought it left them vulnerable against attack.

20. Bacon (mmm...) Continued • In 1676 a group of former indentured servants led by Nathaniel Bacon (mm..) attacked friendly native Americans. • When the governor tried to stop Bacon, he and his followers burnt Jamestown to the ground. • This uprising against the government became known as Bacon’s Rebellion.