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Events at
Jamestown
by Camryn
The first English settlers landed on the East Coast at Roanoke Island in 1585. Without supplies from England, by 1590 the settlers disappeared and became known as the “The Lost Colony.” Jamestown became the second settlement in 1607. King James gave the Virginia Company of London a charter to make the colony. Their goal was to make money by sending goods back to England. The Powhatan Indians thought that the land was for everyone, and after an early attack on the colonists, they were usually friendly. In 1609-1610 John Smith became the third council president. Because of bad supply management and leadership, food and wood ran out, and many colonists died. Only 38 of the original 104 settlers survived. From 1611 to 1613, John Rolfe experimented with growing tobacco. In 1613 the settlers captured Pocahontas close to the Potomac River. The fighting between the Indians and English stopped and a period of peace lasted for almost eight years. Pocahontas married John Rolfe in1614, and he shipped the first cargo of tobacco to England. In 1616 John Rolfe and Pocahontas sailed to England. Sadly, Pocahontas died and was buried in Gravesend, England, in 1617. John Rolfe went back to Virginia. In 1618 Powhatan died, and his brother Itopatin took over as chief. In 1619 Opechancanough replaced Itopatin and wanted the English to leave. In 1619 the captain of a Dutch ship delivered the first 20 Africans to Virginia. More than 100 women arrived between 1620 and 1621 to be wives for the settlers. In 1622 Opechancanough and his men attacked the settlement, killing almost one-third of the English. A plague followed, leaving only about 300 English settlers in Virginia. In 1620 the Plymouth colony of Massachusetts was established. Because of the Virginia Company of London’s leadership and money problems and after the unexpected death of King James, Charles I made Virginia a royal colony in 1624. Jamestown was the capital of Virginia until 1699 when it moved to Williamsburg. http://www.mrnussbaum.com/history/jamestown.htm |