Jamestown and Roanoke
Introduction
Push/Pull Factors
• God:
– Spreading Religion
– Primarily Catholic Religion
– Except the English
• They were Protestant
Push/Pull Factors
• Glory:
– Competition with other European countries
– First come, first serve
– It was the “space race” of the time
– Bragging Rights
Push/Pull Factors
• Gold:
– Literally looking for gold
– Trade made them rich!
– Cheap labor (slaves) = huge profits!
Making $ in Colonies
• Joint-Stock Company:
– Merchants sold “ownership” of their company to
investors
– Each investor owned small portion of company
– This helped fund merchants’ journey to America
Making $ in Colonies
• Investors:
– People who invested their own money in a
merchant’s business
– If business was successful, investor could sell back
their investment for a profit
Making $ in Colonies
• Example:
– Investor puts $1 into a merchant’s company
– The merchant is successful in America and the
business grows by a factor of 3
– The investor’s “stock”, or investment, is now
worth 3 times, or $3 now.
– If he sells back his investment he will make a profit
of $2.
– Now imagine if he had invested $100…
Making $ in Colonies
• Mercantilism:
– Economic System Europeans used to put more $ in
their treasuries
– European leaders would support joint-stock
companies
• The more $ citizens had, the more they could be taxed!
Early Colonization
• Charter:
– A written contract, granted by a European leader,
to a company to establish a colony in America
Early Colonization
• Roanoke:
– England’s first attempt to establish a colony in
America
– Island located in present day North Carolina
– Was it successful?
Early Colonization
• Jamestown:
– Became England’s main settlement in 1607.
– Located in Virginia
– Named after King James I