Jamestown Colony of Virginia
The Jamestown Colony in Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in North America founded in 1607. It was the third attempt of the Virginia Company of London to establish a permanent trade center in the Americas following the failures of the Roanoke Colony (1587-1590) and the Popham Colony of 1607-1608.
The primary objective of the Jamestown Colony was profit for the shareholders who financed the expedition, and at first, it seemed a failure. Those who had been selected to establish it turned out to be unfit for the task except for Captain John Smith (l. 1580-1631) who was able to negotiate with the native Powhatan tribe and assume leadership of the colonists.
After Smith left the settlement for England in 1609, however, the colony seemed doomed, enduring the harrowing winter of 1609-1610 which killed off most of the colonists. A supply ship in May 1610 brought two of the men who would reverse their fortunes: John Rolfe (l. 1585-1622) and Sir Thomas Gates (l. c. 1585-1622) and another, in June 1610 CE would bring the third, Thomas West, Lord De La Warr (l. 1577-1618).
Rolfe had a novel idea for a new blend of tobacco which became the colony's cash crop, Gates organized the colony as governor, and De La Warr prevented its desertion and directed Gates. In 1611, Sir Thomas Dale (l. c. 1560-1619) arrived who would initiate the founding of the Henricus Colony of Virginia and begin the removal of the indigenous Powhatan tribes from the surrounding lands.
Tobacco was a labor-intensive crop, which led to the policy of indentured servitude and, eventually, slavery. In 1619, the first Africans arrived in Jamestown and, at first, seem to have worked in the same capacity and under the same policies as indentured servants.
That same year, the assembly of the House of Burgesses was convened, the first English representational governing body in the Americas and, also, the Jamestown Brides program was launched. In 1622, the Powhatan Confederacy launched a united attack to drive the settlers out and, in 1624, King James I of England (r. 1603-1625) took direct control of Jamestown through a royal charter.
The settlement continued to thrive until 1699 when it was abandoned in favor of Williamsburg as the colonial capital. The site was purchased by a couple, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Barney, in 1892 to prevent development, and preservation efforts began in 1900 with archaeological efforts continuing to the present day in the area, now a national park.
Early Colonization Efforts
European colonization of the Americas began with Christopher Columbus (l. 1451-1506) who colonized the islands of the Caribbean for Spain between 1492-1504. The success of these early colonies and the wealth they generated inspired Spain to send others to search for gold and expand its colonial presence until, by the end of the 16th century, Spain held lands ranging from the Caribbean through South, Central, and southwestern North Americas. France and the Netherlands had also claimed lands in the region during this same time. England, therefore, was a latecomer.
Initially, England contented itself with funding privateers like Sir Francis Drake (l. c. 1540-1596) and Sir Martin Frobisher (l. c. 1535-1594) to seize the cargo of Spanish ships returning from their colonies or raid Spanish port cities, but eventually, Queen Elizabeth I of England (r. 1558-1603) understood it would be more efficient to establish their own bases in the Americas where ships could be built and launched against the Spanish. She gave the job of organizing a concerted effort to Sir Walter Raleigh (l. c. 1552-1618) who sent the Amadas-Barlowe Expedition to claim suitable land, not already claimed by a European nation, in 1584.
Receiving a good report from his captains upon their return, Raleigh named the region they had mapped Virginia after Elizabeth, the virgin queen, and sent another expedition, under Ralph Lane (d. 1603) who established a short-lived colony at Roanoke (in modern-day North Carolina). Lane's colony would not survive, mainly owing to Lane's mistreatment of the natives and betrayal of their initial hospitality, and neither would a second one established by John White in 1587, the so-called “lost colony”.
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