Jamestown & The Virginia Company

FACTS AT A GLANCE

• Founded by: The Virginia Company

• Reasons for Founding: Make an economic profit for investors

• Successes: The House of Burgesses - The first representative government in America

STRUGGLES OF SETTLING JAMESTOWN

The 144 settlers left England in December of 1606 in three ships.  They arrived in North America in April of 1607. They named the river they settled on the James River and their settlement Jamestown in honor of the King of England, James I.

The area they chose was swampy and the water was not good for drinking. There were also mosquitoes that carried malaria. The settlers also struggled to find enough food and many died from disease and hunger.

JOHN SMITH

The Virginia Colony chose a council of thirteen men to run the colony, but they often argued and did not plan well for the colony's future. Luckily, the Jamestown settlers were saved by the leadership of 27-year-old John Smith. Smith had experience as an explorer and he forced the settlers to work. He also began trading with the local Indians, who were led by their chief Powhatan.

John Smith left for England in 1609 and Jamestown was left without a strong leader. The winter of 1609-1610 was known as the "starving time" and the colonists were reduced to eating dogs, snakes, and cats to survive.

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL SUCCESS

Europeans were introduced to smoking by the American Indians, and by 1612, the Jamestown colonists found they could make money for The Virginia Company investors by raising and selling tobacco.

Economic success brought political success. Jamestown expanded to become the Colony of Virginia. Male settlers were allowed to elect representatives, called burgesses, who met in an assembly called the House of Burgesses (which met for the first time in 1619). This elected group, along with the governor, created the laws for the colony.

Unfortunately, economic success also brought slaves, and slavery was officially recognized by Virginia law in the 1660s.