Name: ______________________________
Jamestown Part 3
On May 14, 1607, the settlers aboard the Susan
Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery went ashore to
build Jamestown.
The settlers had to go to work at once to make
Jamestown safe from the Indians. They were also
afraid of an attack from the Spaniards, because the Spaniards had already set up a successful
colony in the New World in Florida. The English built a fort with three sides. The sides were
made of posts from trees. The posts were about twelve feet high and pointed at the top. The
men sank the posts into the ground close together in a long row to make a fence. The fence
was called a palisade. They made three heavy gates in the palisade. At each corner inside the
fort, the men piled up earth (soil). On top of each pile of earth, they set up a cannon from off
of the ship. When the work was finished, they had a strong fort. It took them about a month
to build it.
Inside the fort men built a storehouse for food. Other men laid out streets and started
to build their houses. They did not build log cabins. They built little huts called “wattle and
daub houses.” They cut thick beams from tree trunks and fastened them together. Then they
filled in the space between the beams with twigs and covered the twigs with clay. These little
huts did not hold together very well. While many men worked on the fort and the town,
others were making a garden outside the palisade. They made one big Jamestown garden.
The men planted the seeds of wheat they had brought from England.
After the fort was finished, Captain Newport sailed back to England to tell the Virginia
Company that their colony had been planted. A colony is a place where people set up a town
that has never been set up before there. No other town had been set up by European people
along the James River before. Jamestown was important to England (and King James) for
three main reasons. First, England wanted to establish an American colony to increase her
wealth and power. Second, England hoped to find silver and gold in America. As well, an
American settlement would furnish raw materials that could not be grown or obtained
(gotten) in England. Third, England wanted to open new markets for trade.
The little colony at Jamestown lived and grew. Jamestown was the first permanent
English settlement in America. That means that Jamestown was a town that lasted and did not
die out or disappear over the course of time. After many years the colony of Virginia grew into
the state of Virginia. The state of Virginia became a part of the United States of America.
Jamestown in Virginia was the beginning of our country.
Directions: Circle the best answer.
1. What was the year the settlers began
building Jamestown?
A. 1607
B. 1760
C. 1067
D. 1670
2. Why did the settlers build a fort?
A. To fend off pirates who would loot
their wealth
B. To protect themselves from Indians
and Spaniards
C. To make farming easier
D. To protect their homes against wild
animals
3. How many sides did James Fort have?
A. 5
B. 3
C. 4
D. 8
4. What was the fence that protected their
fort called?
A. marinade
B. bulwark
C. palisade
D. artillery
5. What were the Jamestown buildings
called?
A. Longhouses
B. Palindromes
C. Smurf villages
D. Wattle and daub houses
6. Who sailed back to England after the fort
was finished?
A. Christopher Newport
B. Christopher Columbus
C. John Smith
D. Pocahontas
7. What is a colony?
A. a journey made and a settlement
built for the purpose to make money
B. a person who settles in a new colony
or moves into new country
C. a paper giving permission to others
from a king and giving rules of how to
set something up
D. a place where people set up a town
that has never been set up before
there
8. What is NOT one of the reasons why
England set up a colony?
A. To make the natives slaves for
England
B. to open new markets for trade
C. to find silver, gold, and raw materials
in America
D. to establish an American colony to
increase her wealth and power
9. Why is Jamestown important?
A. It made the Virginia Company very
wealthy when it found gold.
B. It was the first permanent English
settlement in America.
C. It attacked the Spaniards and
overtook their settlement.
D. It made Native Americans famous
when the English found out about
them.
10.According to this article, what was the
beginning of our country?
A. Jamestown
B. Columbus
C. The Lost Colony
D. Constitution