Stock Company

But Elizabeth was not persuaded to invest the public treasury in a venture that was likely to fail. She was not opposed to private investors taking such a chance, however. Raleigh had tried and failed. When it became clear that the wealth of an individual was not enough, the joint-stock company arose.

Primogeniture

Who led these English COLONIAL EXPEDITIONS? Often, these leaders were second sons from noble families. Under English law, only the first-born male could inherit property. As such, Sir Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Sir Humphrey Gilbert were all second sons with a thirst to find their own riches.

Poor Timing!

A reconstruction of the severe seven year drought (1606-1612) in Jamestown, accounted from documented historical records, likely played a part in the high death rate in the colony. Only 38 of the original 104 colonists survived the first year (1607) at Jamestown and of the 6000 people that came to the settlement between the years of 1608-1624, only 3400 survived. Most reportedly died of malnutrition.

Brackish Water

Work!

Local Indians

Distinguished Couple!

Saved Jamestown!

1619 Jamestown

Emperor of the Powhatan

Wahunsonacock Supreme Ruler

The undisputed ruler of Tidewater Virginia was Wahunsonacock, usually referred to by the title "Powhatan."

John Smith’s Journals

." John Smith describes Powhatan as "a tall well proportioned man, with a sower look, his head somewhat gray, his beard so thinne, that it seemeth none at all, his age (as of 1608) neare sixtie, of a very able and hardy body to endure any labour."

Elimate Rivals

Powhatan had inherited six tribes located not far from present-day Richmond. By 1607, he had added considerably to his domain which, at its peak, numbered over 30 tribes. Each tribe was governed by a werowance, a chief who owed allegiance and tribute to Powhatan.

Strong Survive

Powhatan also had an extensive family. Because of the large amounts of tribute collected (estimated by one settler as eight parts out of ten of all that his people produced), Powhatan could support over a hundred wives and the resulting offspring, the most famous of whom was Matoaka, better known by her nickname "Pocahontas."

An Uneasy World[The Powhatans] have many enemies, namely, all their westernly Countries beyond the mountains, and the heads of the rivers. Upon the head of the Powhatans are the Monacans, whose chief habitation is at Rasauweak, unto whom the Mowhemenchugehes, the Massinnacacks, the Monahassanughs, the Monasickapanoughs, and other nations pay tributes.

What was life Like?

Was life in America really that different?

Were the Native Americans a free people?

Who was the emperor really protecting?

Who were the traditional enemies of the Powhatan?

What did the English have that could aid the Powhatan?

Matchlock

English Lock

Earlier Contact

ca.1560 A Spanish ship visited the Virginia/Carolina area and captured a young Virginia Algonquian named Paquinquineo who was away from his homeland (the mouth of the Chickahominy) visiting to the south. The boy, possibly a Paspahegh, was taken to the Spanish controlled Caribbean, Mexico, and Spain, baptized and given the Christian name Don Luis de Velasco. Later, Don Luis returned to the Chesapeake as a guide for a group of Spanish missionaries.ca. 1565-1600 European diseases ravaged the coastal region of Virginia and Carolina. Populations of Algonquian speakers were weakened. Groups moved to accommodate lost population and to strengthen their communities.

English Perspective

English Settlers

The first settlers to come to Jamestown arrived on the ships Godspeed, Discovery, and the Susan Constant. The colonists were learning about the new world through false propaganda. They had heard that it was a fantastic place to live and that it wouldn't be that much of a challenge.

Dreams of the First WaveThe first joint-stock company to launch a lasting venture to the New World was the VIRGINIA COMPANY OF LONDON. The investors had one goal in mind: gold. They hoped to repeat the success of Spaniards who found gold in South America.

High HopesVirginia, Earth's only Paradise!" So declared Michael Drayton, poet laureate of England, in a merry ballad marking the departure of three ships crammed with men anticipating fast fortunes in the New World. The prospective colonists set sail from London just before Christmas of 1606, bound for the Chesapeake Bay. It was the last Christmas most of them would ever know.

The First Years Were Tough!

Smith, for instance, described his fellow colonists as "ten times more fit to spoil a commonwealth than ... to begin one."

Misguided

They set about building a fortress and clearing land for the commercial outpost they had been sent to establish and which they called “James Cittie.” They were eager to get down to the business of extracting gold, timber and other commodities to ship back to London.

Time to rethink what we are doing.

Jamestown proved to be neither paradise nor gold mine. In the heat of that first summer at the mosquito-infested settlement, 46 of the colonists died of fever, starvation or Indian arrows. By year’s end, only 38 remained. Were it not for the timely arrival of British supply ships in January 1608, and again the following October, Jamestown, like Roanoke a few years before, almost certainly would have vanished.

MotivatedEnglish agricultural had once been dominated by farm types growing grain on land owned by others.  The landowners discovered they could make more money by enclosing their land and devoting it raising sheep.  But this was less labor intensive, and there was no longer a living on the farm for many, many Englishmen. 

Brillant

The England of James I and his predecessor, Elizabeth I, suffered from overpopulation and poverty. Pushing people into other lands could solve both problems and even have a side benefit.

RestructuringThe London Co. had reorganized itself as the Virginia Co. of London in 1609, and over the next dozen years settlers and backers alike realized the colony could not be run as an overseas mining company or an armed camp. Success would depend on large numbers of people and the steady production of exportable goods (tobacco).

See Ya!!The year was 1610. The settlement of Jamestown in Virginia was now a failure and had been abandoned. What was left of its population had packed up and sailed for home, England. But they did not get very far, just a few miles down the James River they met a supply ship making its way towards Jamestown. Aboard was a man of importance. The gentleman was Lord Thomas West De la Warr and he was to be the new governor.

Help Wanted!!

The England of James I and his predecessor, Elizabeth I, suffered from overpopulation and poverty. Pushing people into other lands could solve both problems and even have a side benefit.

A new Life for many!

Own your land, determine your own future, that was pretty neat stuff!! Native Americans didn’t have this prospect, and those coming from African saw such a future disappear.

Tsunami

Change of FortuneThe English population advantage back home began to take effect after 1610, when a reorganized Jamestown colony with better supply lines began to establish satellite settlements on Powhatan farmland. The squatters, as the Powhatan saw them, became so numerous that they could not be repelled. Even all-out war, which raged twice, did not stop the flow of invaders.

Fateful Day

The first Africans arrived in Jamestown in 1619 on a Dutch ship and were traded for supplies. Within sixty years the institution of slavery was firmly established.

English exploit slavery

Spain and Portugal had already brought 200,000 African slaves to the Americas--and the colony was slow to exploit the practice.

Long TripThe first documented Africans in Virginia arrived in 1619.  They were from the kingdom of Ndongo in Angola, West Central Africa, and had been captured during war with the Portuguese. 

UnexpectedIt is late summer. Out of a violent storm appears a Dutch ship. The ship's cargo hold is empty except for twenty or so Africans whom the captain and his crew have recently robbed from a Spanish ship. The captain exchanges the Africans for food, then sets sail.

No DistinctionOne of the places we have the clearest views of that "terrible transformation" is the colony of Virginia. In the early years of the colony, many Africans and poor whites -- most of the laborers came from the English working class -- stood on the same ground.

Freedom DuesAll were indentured servants. During their time as servants, they were fed and housed. Afterwards, they would be given what were known as "freedom dues," which usually included a piece of land and supplies, including a gun. Black-skinned or white-skinned, they became free.

Social ClassThe first Virginia colonists did not even think of themselves as "white" or use that word to describe themselves. They saw themselves as Christians or Englishmen, or in terms of their social class. They were nobility, gentry, artisans, or servants.

Antonio Johnson (indentured servant 1621)

The status of blacks in Virginia slowly changed over the last half of the 17th century. The black indentured servant, with his hope of freedom, was increasingly being replaced by the black slave

1705… Things ChangedIn 1705, the Virginia General Assembly removed any lingering uncertainty about this terrible transformation; it made a declaration that would seal the fate of African Americans for generations to come...

New Rules"All servants imported and brought into the Country...who were not Christians in their native Country...shall be accounted and be slaves. All Negro, mulatto and Indian slaves within this dominion...shall be held to be real estate. If any slave resist his master...correcting such slave, and shall happen to be killed in such correction...the master shall be free of all punishment...as if such accident never happened."

PrisonersIt stated that slaves needed written permission to leave their plantation, that slaves found guilty of murder or rape would be hanged, that for robbing or any other major offence, the slave would receive sixty lashes and be placed in stocks, where his or her ears would be cut off, and that for minor offences, such as associating with whites, slaves would be whipped, branded, or maimed.

Justice?For the 17th century slave in Virginia, disputes with a master could be brought before a court for judgement. With the slave codes of 1705, this no longer was the case. A slave owner who sought to break the most rebellious of slaves could now do so, knowing any punishment he inflicted, including death, would not result in even the slightest reprimand.