The Jamestown Colony
King James 1 issued a charter to allow a colony to be set up in
Virginia. A charter was a document that permitted colonists to
settle on land claimed by their ruler.
King James I signed this company's
charter on April 10, 1606. Its first
expedition, led by Captain Christopher
Newport, included three ships, Susan
Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery.
They embarked from London on
December 20, 1606 and on May 13,
1607, moored off what came to be
known as Jamestown Island.
"A verie fit place for the erecting of a
great cittie"
Captain John Smith
Jamestown President, 1608
The first joint-stock company to launch a
lasting venture to the New World was the
VIRGINIA COMPANY OF LONDON. The
investors had one goal in mind: gold. They
hoped to repeat the success of Spaniards who
found gold in South America.
In 1607, 144 English men and boys established
the JAMESTOWN colony, named after King
James I.
The colonists were told that if they did not
generate any wealth, financial support for their
efforts would end. Many of the men spent their
days vainly searching for gold.
As a consequence, the colonists spent little time
farming. Food supplies dwindled. MALARIA
and the harsh winter besieged the colonists, as
well. After the first year, only 38 of the original
144 had survived.
Times were hard in Jamestown.
John Smith helped them avoid
starvation. His motto was
“He that will not work, shall not
eat.”
The colonists worked together to
build houses and dig wells for
fresh water.
Chief Powhatan traded with the
colonists which helped keep the
colonists alive.
Pocahontas was
Chief Powhatan’s
daughter. John
Smith claims that
he was taken
prisoner when he
first met the Chief
Powhatan, and
twelve year old
Pocahontas
begged her father
to let him go and
not kill him.
John Smith got hurt and
ended up having to go back
to England. While he was
gone, Jamestown went
through what we call the
“starving time.”
This selection, taken from Captain John Smith's Generall Historie
of Virginia, New England and the Summer Isles, describes a
desperate chapter in the history of the colony where the population
was reduced from 500 to 60.
Primary Source
Now we all found the losse of Captaine Smith, yea his greatest maligners could now curse his losse:
as for corne provision and contribution from the Salvages, we had nothing but mortall wounds, with
clubs and arrowes; as for our Hogs, Hens, Goats, Sheepe, Horse, or what lived, our commanders,
officers and Salvages daily consumed them, some small proportions sometimes we tasted, till all was
devoured; then swords, armes, pieces, or any thing, wee traded with the Salvages, whose cruell
fingers were so oft imbrewed in our blouds, that what by their crueltie, our Governours indiscretion,
and the losse of our ships, of five hundred within six moneths after Captaine Smiths departure
[October 1609 — March 1610], there remained not past sixtie men, women and children, most
miserable and poore creatures; and those were preserved for the most part, by roots, herbes, acornes,
walnuts, berries, now and then a little fish: they that had startch in these extremities, made no small
use of it; yea even the very skinnes of our horses.
Nay, so great was our famine, that a Salvage we slew and buried, the poorer sort tooke him up againe
and eat him; and so did divers one another boyled and stewed with roots and herbs: And one amongst
the rest did kill his wife, powdered [i.e., salted] her, and had eaten part of her before it was knowne;
for which hee was executed, as hee well deserved: now whether shee was better roasted, boyled or
carbonado'd [i.e., grilled], I know now; but of such a dish as powdered wife I never heard of.
House of Burgesses
The word burgess originally meant “free man.” The
meaning later changed to “elected official.”
House of Burgesses
The changes of 1619 also created a legislative body to be
elected by the colonists called the House of Burgesses,
similar to the British Parliament, that would meet once
annually at Jamestown. (In Bermuda, previously part of
Virginia, the House of Assembly was created that same
year).
The first meeting of the Houses occurred on July 30, 1619,
at Jamestown. It was the first such assembly in the
Americas. This first session accomplished little, however;
it was cut short by an outbreak of malaria. The assembly
had 22 members from the following constituencies:[2]
•The colony's governor, appointed in London,
•The governor's council, a group of six citizens selected by
the governor,
•The burgesses from various locales, initially larger
plantations; counties were included later.
Men over the age of 17 who owned land were eligible to
vote.[2