The Founding of Jamestown. The English Tradition England was a monarchy limited by a lawmaking body...
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Transcript of The Founding of Jamestown. The English Tradition England was a monarchy limited by a lawmaking body...
The Founding of Jamestown
The English Tradition
• England was a monarchy limited by a lawmaking body called Parliament
• English law limited the king’s power
• English law guaranteed the right to trial by jury
• Parliament had to approve taxes
England Seeks Colonies
• England began to set up colonies in North America in the late 1500s
• Roanoke colony is established in 1585, but then abandoned
• England tries one more time in Roanoke in 1587. By 1590, the colony mysteriously disappeared
Founding Jamestown
• In 1607, a group of wealthy people formed the Virginia Company of London
• They want to permanently settle in North America, looking for:– Gold or silver– Trade with Native Americans– Raw materials (grapes, mulberry trees, lumber)
Founding Jamestown
• England’s King James I grants the company a charter
• In 1607, 100 men build a fort in Chesapeake Bay, establishing the first permanent settlement: Jamestown
Jamestown, 1607
On the Brink of Failure
• Jamestown almost fails in it’s first year, why?:– Colonists caught
diseases (malaria)– English “Gentlemen”
have no intention to work
• Local Native Americans supplied some food to the colonists to survive
John Smith and the “Starving Time”
• By 1608, 38 colonists were all that remained
• John Smith is sent from London to take control
• Sets the important rule: “He who works not, eats not.”
• Jamestown prospers, but Smith is sent back to England, initiating the “Starving Time” in the colony 1609 - 1610
Tobacco Saves Jamestown
• Tobacco saves Jamestown and becomes very profitable
• John Rolfe introduces a particular breed of tobacco he somehow found in South America
• Virginia becomes stable enough to create a society with a government
The House of Burgesses
• In 1619, Virginia creates a law making body called the House of Burgesses
• The house is a representative democracy• The house marked the start of representative
government in North America
The House of Burgesses
Africans Come to Virginia
• In 1619, a Dutch ship arrives in Virginia and sells 20 slaves to the colonists in Jamestown
• Slaves did not necessarily serve for life, but could earn their freedom
• Permanent slavery is not established in Virginia until the late 1600s