First settlements English Colonies

Early American History

The Lost Colony of Roanoke Sir Walter Raleigh; English nobleTried to establish the Roanoke Colony (present day North Carolina).

Natives welcomed them with open arms; taught them to trap and catch fish. Roanoke Settlers were more interested in looking for gold than fishing, and when supplies ran low they returned to England.

Another group of Englishmen were sent later. Their leader John White returned to England (for 3 years to fight with Spain). When he returned everyone was dead and CROATOAN was carved on the doorposts. ***MYSTERY***

Jamestown, Virginia• Founded 1607 by

London Company• Joint-stock Company –

business with investors to share the risk/reward

• Purpose was to use resources of the colony to enrich the ‘mother country’ – part of the Mercantile economic system

Colony nearly failed by 1610 – “Starving Time” – 80% died

Q: Why did they name their settlement “Jamestown”?A: Because the King of England’s name was James.

Virginia Company Song: Pocahontas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne2tzfxQ6T4

Jamestown Prospers

• Tobacco (1612) was the number one export.

• Indentured servants, then later African slaves (1619) were used in its production – colony became profitable

Tobacco trade fit the plan for “Mercantile colonies” – made money for England

Jamestown’s Legacy

• Often at war with local Powhatan Indians – set stage for future conflicts between settlers and Native Indians• House of Burgesses (1619-1776) – first assembly of elected representatives of English colonists in North America• Success led to further colonization in Virginia and other colonies

+Indentured Servant v. Slave• Indentured Servant – • England (English)• Signed a contract for 4-7 years, got a way

to the New World, and after completion got land (money), only 40% survived till the end of the term.

• Got jobs such as bricklayers, cook, gardener, blacksmith, and farmhands.

• Provided room and board for servants. • Left family in hopes of eventually bringing

them to the new world. • Bacon’s Rebellion- Angry impoverished

farmers rose up against the higher class owners.

Slave

• Slave –• Africa (African)• No chance at freedom served for life• Hard plantation and farming work, some

worked in the house.• Plantations had homes for slaves to live in

weren't allowed off the plantation (church, etc)• Were allowed to marry within their plantation

by their owners• Relationships varied some were decent some

intolerable.

Pocahontas

• What do we know about this story? • John Smith arrived in Virginia in 1606 but was taken captive by the Powhatans in 1607. •Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5UcpNPLTDk •Fun Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkV-of_eN2w

• Did Pocahontas really save his life?• Reading activity to find out.

Did Pocahontas save John Smith’s life?

1. What does True Relation say?

2. What does General History Say?

3. Why would Smith add on to his earlier story?

4. Why might Smith lie or exaggerate and invent new information?

5. Why wouldn’t Smith lie about the story?

Plymouth, Massachusetts• 1620 – English

Pilgrims (religious separatists) came to New World

• Hoped to establish colony where they could worship as they chose – not for profit like Jamestown

• “Mayflower Compact” – social contract between the Pilgrims to establish rules to govern colony

Plymouth Legacy

• Nearly half died in first year

• Wampanoag Indians taught Pilgrims how to survive – first harvest led to “First Thanksgiving” in 1621

• Pilgrims and Natives enjoyed relative peace, but problems arose when more (non-Pilgrim) settlers arrived in the area

• Eventually incorporated into Puritan’s Massachusetts Bay colony

Why Come to America?• In 1650, England’s population was 5

million.• Colonies provided an outlet and an

opportunity for job-seekers or those who lost farmland in England – many came as indentured servants.

• 75-80 percent of the English men and women who came to Virginia in the 1600s were servants.

• 35 percent of those who came to New England were servants.

Movie Time!

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGj59Om6S84 20:00

Discussion Questions

• In which of today’s 50 states was Jamestown located? •What was the colonists’ motivation for traveling to Jamestown? •What kinds of people settled at Jamestown?

•What were some of the major problems Jamestown colonists faced?•How was Jamestown “saved”? •What was John Rolfe’s contribution to the survival of Jamestown?

Encounters with Native AmericansAnd what the Native Americans did about it.

Population

• It is estimated that before Columbus there were approximately 54 million Native Americans on both North and South America with roughly 20 million in what is now the U.S.

• It is also estimated that by the time of the Revolutionary War, there were only 2 million.

• Why don’t we know exact numbers?• What happened for the drastic decrease in

numbers?

Population Decreases

• Disease - Columbian Exchange•Native Americans exposed to new diseases they had no immunity to. Therefore, they died immediately because of diseases. • Myth or fact? Small pox infected

blankets were given to the Native Americans?

• Violence - Europeans used violent tactics to take land from the Native Americans.

• Wealth – Europeans wanted wealth from their colonies so Native Americans became forced labor.

Positive Encounters

• Not every European and Native American encounter was negative. Many of those at the very beginning were positive.

• First winter for Pilgrims in 1620 was called the dying times and only 44 of the 102 Pilgrims survived. Who helped them? What did they do?• This is also known as the _____________ holiday.

• The Story of Pocahontas