Objective: To examine the formation of the settlements of
Roanoke Island and Jamestown.
Roanoke Island – “The Lost Colony”
•
Roanoke Island was the first British settlement in North
America.

• Roanoke Island was first settled by Sir Walter
Raleigh in 1584.
• The settlement failed because of food shortages and troubles with the Native
Americans and Spain .
Sir Walter Raleigh funded and authorized the expeditions to
Roanoke Island.

• In 1587, John White returned and tried to restart the British settlement of
Roanoke Island.
• However, due to a lack of supplies,
White was forced to return to England.
1585 map of Chesapeake Bay to Cape
Lookout by John White

• Because of fighting between the
British and the Spanish
Armada , White was unable to return to the colony until 1590 .
English ships and the Spanish Armada, August 1588.

• White returned in 1590 to find that everyone had vanished .
Mystery at Roanoke (1:56)

Watercolors by John
White
(left)
Village of the Secotan in North
Carolina.
(right)
Secotan
Indian warrior
John White was an accomplished artist.
Click here to view more of his artwork.

The Settlement of Jamestown
• The settlement of Jamestown was started in Virginia by the
Virginia Company in 1607.
The official seal of the Virginia Company of London.

Captain John Smith landing in Jamestown

- 2/3’s of the colonists died of disease and hunger .
• Captain John Smith saved Jamestown by:
- bargaining for food with the Powhatan Indians.
- calling for a “ no work, no food ” rule.
Death at
Jamestown
(1:07)
Captain John Smith

Artist depiction of Pocahontas saving the life of
Captain John Smith.

•
The colonist John Rolfe married the Powhatan princess
Pocahontas .
•
The marriage helped to bring peace between the colonists and the Powhatans.

John Gadsby Chapman depicts Pocahontas being baptized Rebecca in
Jamestown, Virginia. (1613 or 1614) Her brother Nantequaus turns away from the ceremony. The baptism took place before her marriage to
Englishman John Rolfe, who stands behind her. Their union is said to be the first recorded marriage between a European and a Native American.

Oil painting of
Pocahontas, after she left for England with her husband,
John Rolfe.

•
Jamestown finally became profitable after John Rolfe began growing tobacco taken from Spanish tobacco seeds.
• Spanish tobacco, grown in Spain’s southern colonies, was sweeter and more popular than the tobacco normally grown in Virginia.
Tobacco leaves drying in a shed in Cuba
Tobacco farmer,
Chatham, Virginia
America the Story of Us: Life in Jamestown (2:06)