Ch.3, Sec.1 – Early Colonies
Have Mixed Success
 The English Plan Colonies
- after the English defeated the Spanish Armada in A.D. 1588,
England begins building colonies in North America
- England wanted to gain access to more gold and use
mercantilism to increase its wealth from the colonies
- England also wanted to spread Protestant Christianity
- many people left England to gain their fortunes and escape
religious persecution
Ch.3, Sec.1 – Early Colonies
Have Mixed Success
 Two Early Colonies Fail
- the first English colony in the New World was on Roanoke
Island, North Carolina in A.D. 1585 by Sir Walter Raleigh
- by A.D. 1587, the
Roanoke Colony had
collapsed and all the
colonists had
disappeared
Ch.3, Sec.1 – Early Colonies
Have Mixed Success
- the second English colony in the New World was at
Sagadahoc, Maine
- by the end of A.D. 1607,
most of the colonists had
returned to England
because of food shortages
Ch.3, Sec.1 – Early Colonies
Have Mixed Success
 Financing A Colony
- because Raleigh lost all his money from investing in the
Roanoke Colony, England realized joint ownership was more
effective for funding colonies
 joint-stock company: a business in which investors pool
their wealth in order to turn a profit
- King James I granted charters (written contracts) to
companies to help establish American colonies
Ch.3, Sec.1 – Early Colonies
Have Mixed Success
 Jamestown Is Founded In A.D. 1607
- the first permanent English settlement was founded in
Jamestown, Virginia in A.D. 1607
- the weather was very harsh and many died from malaria and
exposure (many were too obsessed with finding gold)
Ch.3, Sec.1 – Early Colonies
Have Mixed Success
Ch.3, Sec.1 – Early Colonies
Have Mixed Success
 Jamestown Grows
- by January of A.D. 1608, only 38 colonists remained alive!
- a soldier, John Smith, took control and made
all colonists work, built a wall around the
colony, & helped establish trade with the
Powhatan tribe
- the Powhatan tribe eventually attacked the
colony and the people remained in the fort until
A.D. 1610
Ch.3, Sec.1 – Early Colonies
Have Mixed Success
Ch.3, Sec.1 – Early Colonies
Have Mixed Success
- eventually, tobacco would be grown in Jamestown and
became a highly profitable crop for England
- England took the majority of the profits, but the colonists
wanted a share of the profits
- land grants were given to the colonists if they could afford to
pay for the land
- African slaves arrived in Jamestown in A.D. 1619
- population grew to 2,000 people by A.D. 1621!
Ch.3, Sec.1 – Early Colonies
Have Mixed Success
- those who could not afford the passage to America became
indentured servants until their debt was paid off
- the House of Burgesses was created in A.D. 1619 to allow
colonists to elect representatives to provide more local control
Ch.3, Sec.1 – Early Colonies
Have Mixed Success
Jamestown Video
Ch.3, Sec.1 – Early Colonies
Have Mixed Success
 Conflicts with the Powhatan
- Pocahontas (Chief Powhatan’s daughter) saved John
Smith’s life twice and eventually married a colonist named
John Rolfe
- the colonists learned how to farm from the Powhatan tribe,
but their patience with the colonists for stealing their land
boiled over in A.D. 1622 (they killed hundreds of colonists)
Ch.3, Sec.1 – Early Colonies
Have Mixed Success
 Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676
- Nathaniel Bacon demanded Governor William Berkeley
declare war on the Native Americans to seize their land for
tobacco use
- Berkeley’s refusal sparked Bacon’s Rebellion where
Jamestown was burned to the ground & the House of
Burgesses passed laws to prevent governors from assuming
a lot of power