England's First Permanent Colony in North America - History Textbook Chapter

**England\'s First Permanent Colony in North America** After the failure of the Roanoke colony, England did not attempt another colony until Queen Elizabeth\'s successor, King James I, came to power. In 1606, he granted a group of merchants called the Virginia Company a charter to establish another...

**England\'s First Permanent Colony in North America** After the failure of the Roanoke colony, England did not attempt another colony until Queen Elizabeth\'s successor, King James I, came to power. In 1606, he granted a group of merchants called the Virginia Company a charter to establish another colony. In December 1606, the Virginia Company sent 144 men and boys to establish the colony of Jamestown near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay in what is now the state of Virginia. It was England\'s first permanent North American colony. Jamestown nearly failed from the start. The location was poorly chosen. The settlers wanted a place that they could easily defend. They also wanted a place with water deep enough to allow ships to anchor near the shore. What they did not consider, however, was that the land was swampy and the water from that part of the James River was salty and dangerous to drink. Many of the colonists were not prepared for the challenges of Jamestown. Many came from the upper class and were interested in finding treasure. They had little experience or desire to do hard outdoor work, such as building or farming. They did not plan to stay permanently but wanted to find gold and return to England. Their participation did little to help. Also, the seven men on the council selected to lead the colony were distrustful of one another and did not cooperate well. The poor conditions at Jamestown led to starvation and disease. After two-thirds of the colony had died, Captain John Smith took over as leader. He understood the importance of hard work, especially in a survival situation. He required every person to work four to six hours every day. According to some sources, he told the colonists, \"Those Who don\'t work, don't eat." His firm leadership saved the colony, but its troubles weren\'t over yet. The Virginia Company continued to support the colony. It would send supply ships with food, tools, goods for trading, and additional settlers. These ships did not come often, however. The \"First Supply\" arrived in January 1608.It carried about100 new settlers. The \"Second Supply\" did not come until October of that year. It carried 70 new settlers, including the first two women of the colony, Martha Forest and her maid, Anne Burras. It was also an all-male colony. Even after women began to arrive, the gender ratio remained skewed throughout most of the seventeenth century. This social structure posed significant challenges for a society that saw family as a main center of social order, economy, and survival. The \"Starving Time\" occurred when Captain John Smith left the colony in1609 and it nearly collapsed. Tensions with the Powhatan Indians and lack of leadership caused the majority of the colonists to die of starvation and disease. When the group of settlers who had been shipwrecked in Bermuda reached Jamestown in May 1610, they found the colony in such poor condition that they considered abandoning it. They received news that more ships bringing supplies and people would be arriving, so they stayed and rebuilt the colony with the survivors. Among the shipwrecked settlers was John Rolfe, who would end up helping to save the colony. **Relations between the Powhatan and the Colonists** In addition to being a salty swamp, the location of Jamestown was also in Powhatan territory. The Powhatan Confederacy was an alliance of about thirty tribes. They were led by Chief Wahunsonacock (wah hund r SAHN uh kahk), also called Chief Powhatan. He was an intelligent leader who had been successfully increasing the strength and territory of his people when the colonists arrived. Historians are not sure exactly how many tribes Chief Powhatan ruled, but he had thousands of warriors at his command. For the struggling Jamestown colony, the Powhatan could be much-needed allies or dangerous enemies. As an experienced soldier, Captain John Smith knew Jamestown could not survive a full-force attack from the Powhatan, so he wisely chose to avoid conflict as much as possible. He and Chief Powhatan respected one another. Although there were a few conflicts, the relations mostly peaceful, and the Jamestown colony was able to get food through trade with the Powhatan. Unfortunately, Smith was injured in a gunpowder accident. His injury forced him to return to England. Then, in 1618, Chief Powhatan died. Power passed to one of his brothers, who ruled briefly before passing the title again to another brother, named Opechancanough (oh pun CHAN kun awf). He was angry about the growth of the Jamestown colony into native lands, and he waged wars against the colony for the next several decades. **The Legacy of the Colony** In 1612, John Rolfe introduced tobacco to the colony. It grew well in Virginia and quickly became a cash crop. The colony would grow in population and size due to the wealth gained from the new crop. Unfortunately, tobacco is hard on the soil, and so the colonists needed more and more land to grow it. This caused conflicts with the Powhatan and was one of the reasons for the Powhatan wars. The value of tobacco, however, made the colony strong and the colonists wealthy enough to protect themselves. Tobacco required a lot of labor, so indentured servants were brought from England to work. Their employers paid for them to travel there and the indentured servants worked under contract for five to seven years until they repaid their debt. The colonists wanted even more expansion, however, and eventually began purchasing African slaves to work on tobacco farms. This means that the cruel practice of slavery in North America has its roots in England\'s first permanent colony. The slave trade had already been established by other countries, and in 1619, a Dutch ship entered the port of Jamestown carrying African slaves. Twenty of them were exchanged for food. Since slavery had not yet been established in the colony, these first Africans may have been treated more like indentured servants. Records at the time listed them as servants, not slaves. Some apparently gained freedom after working a certain number of years. This situation would not last. As the contracts on indentured servants ended and the demand for tobacco and other crops grew, planters needed more workers. Some planters attempted to enslave American Indians, since the relationship had become much worse after the departure of Captain John Smith and the death of Chief Powhatan. The American Indians knew the land well and had friends and family to help them, so attempts to enslave them were unsuccessful. African slaves, however, did not have the same networks of friends or family in the unfamiliar land of North America. Escaping was more difficult. By 1650, the number of slaves in the Virginia colony had grown to about 300. Another important legacy of Jamestown was the first representative government set up by Europeans in the Americas. In 1619, the Virginia Company had the colonists establish their own government, the House of Burgesses. By this time, the Virginia colony had expanded into eleven settlements. Each was allowed to elect two representatives, or burgesses, to speak for them when the House met in Jamestown. Since most of the burgesses were wealthy white tobacco growers, one of their first laws was simply to settle the price of tobacco. The House of Burgesses had been around for only five years when King James took control of the colony from the Virginia Company. The company had been losing money, and the increasing attacks by the Powhatan, Jed by Chief Opechancanough, made King James think the colony needed more direct control. He sent royal governors to represent him in leading the colony. Despite this, the House of Burgesses continued to meet every year. Even if the burgesses were no longer in control, they liked being able to discuss what needed to be done and to be united when dealing with the royal government. Jamestown remained the capital of the Virginia colony until 1699, after the statehouse burned down. By this time, many of the people had moved to other settlements, so they decided to rebuild in a better location. Williamsburg became the new capital, and Jamestown was eventually abandoned. Lesson 2 Spain, France , and England had different approaches to colonizing North America. Each nation \'s monarchy hoped that the New World would bring wealth and greater global power. The three major colonies employed different economic and governmental systems. The colonies of New Spain and New France appointed governors who reported back to the controlling government in Europe and carried out the king\'s and queen\'s orders. The English colony at Jamestown, on the other hand, was governed in its early years by a group of people who were elected to represent each settlement in the colony. The three nations competed for land and trade. Spain and France also sought to convert native people to Catholicism, the primary religion in those countries. Spain established territories in South America, the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico, as well as the southern and western parts of North America. Spanish settlers quickly learned to use the resources of their new colony to increase the wealth of Spain. The Spanish did not want land in the Americas to be taken by the French or the English. So, to further expand, Spanish rulers offered large portions of land to those willing to move to New Spain. These areas, called **encomiendas,** included any American Indian villages on the land. The American Indians living in an encomienda were forced to work for its owner in exchange for housing and food. While the early English relationship with the Powhatan in the Jamestown colony involved some instances of cooperation, Spain\'s relationship with the American Indians was based on conquest. The Spanish also wanted to convert all native peoples to Catholicism. New Spain\'s wealth and power came in part from its gold and silver mines. Spanish settlers also built ranches and sugar cane plantations. Many of the workers in the mines and on the plantations were American Indians. Disease, mistreatment, and dangerous working conditions resulted in the deaths of 24 million American Indians in just one hundred years. To replace the shrinking workforce, the Spanish brought slaves to New Spain. By 1570, more than 200,000 Africans were enslaved on the plantations of New Spain. One Spanish colonist named Bartolome de Las Casas was so upset at how colonists were treating American Indians that he decided to help them. He became a **missionary,** or a person who teaches his or her religious beliefs to people with different beliefs. Eventually, many more missionaries from Spain came to the Americas to teach the native peoples about Catholicism. But rather than helping the native peoples, the Spanish missionaries forced them to work and give up their own religion. These native peoples and Spanish missionaries lived in settlements called missions. As Spain began claiming the West Coast, these missions became part of their strategy to prevent Russia and England from settling land in present-day California. **French Trappers and Traders** When French settlers began to colonize North America, they were interested in finding gold and a route to Asia. Their settlements along the St. Lawrence River in Canada would not help them with either of those goals. What Canada did offer was many fur-bearing animals. The forests of Europe had been overhunted, but Europeans still desired hats made from beaver fur. To meet European demand, French settlers began to export beaver pelts across the Atlantic. The money raised through the furtrade helped pay for more expeditions into North America. As French explorers continued to explore Canada, the king of France wanted to organize the colony to ensure it made money. He chose Samuel de Champlain (sham PLAYN) to lead New France. In 1604, Champlain sailed to New France as its first governor. Champlain\'s strategy In North America differed greatly from that of the Spanish conquistadors. He felt that building friendly relationships with groups of American Indians would lead to successful trade. He believed these alliances would allow him to travel freely and keep the French settlements safe from attack. Within his first year in New France, Champlain learned to speak the Huron language. New France and the nearby Huron and Algonquin groups traded with each other and maintained friendly relations. **Marquette and Jolliet** French explorers\' efforts to find the Northwest Passage led them to further explore North Americas waterways. In 1673, Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet headed south in a canoe on the uncharted Mississippi River. They encountered many groups of American Indians living on the banks of the Mississippi. While some American Indians were hostile, the Illinois and other groups helped Marquette and Jolliet. Marquette and Jolliet claimed the land drained by the Mississippi River for France. Marquette later set up a mission in present-day Illinois, and Jolliet continued to explore North America. **La Salle and Louisiana** In 1682, Rene-Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle led an expedition down the Mississippi River. La Salle claimed the Mississippi and its tributaries, or smaller branching rivers and streams, for France. He named the region Louisiana after the French king, Louis XIV. La Salle wanted to build a fort at the mouth of the Mississippi and attack the Spanish in northern Mexico. La Salle and several hundred settlers, however, got lost and ended up in present-day Texas. By 1687, only 36 of La Salle\'s settlers remained alive. **New Orleans** French colonists slowly began to settle parts of the Louisiana Territory. They built forts in strategic locations to protect new settlements from the Spanish and English. Louis XIV instructed a Canadian naval officer, Pierre Le Moyne Sieur D'Iberville, to build forts at the mouth of the Mississippi. The series of forts he built in present-day Mississippi and Louisiana further established Louisiana as a French possession. One such fort, Fort La Boulaye, lay just south of the future site of the city of New Orleans. When he died of yellow fever, Iberville's younger b rother, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne Sieur de Bienville, continued his work. In 1701, Bienville became governor of Louisiana at the age of 21. He built Fort Louis on Mobile Bay and live d there until 1711. In 1718, Bienville founded New Orleans. The Louisiana Territory was much easier to farm than the rest of New France. Settlers built plantations on the fertile soil and grew indigo, rice, and tobacco. Successful plantations brought in more money from trade with American Indians, which allowed the farmers to increase the size of the plantations. The growing plantations required more and more workers. In 1720, a ship carrying about 200 slaves landed in New Orleans. In the decade that followed, the colony imported more than six thousand slaves. Eventually, more than half of the people of New Orleans were slaves. **New Alliances, New Conflict** As European colonial powers sought to rapidly expand in North America, they came into contact with more and more native peoples. Reactions to the Europeans varied. Some groups of American Indians were friendly, and some were hostile. Before the Europeans arrived, the people living in North America already traded with one another, had military agreements, and shared cultures. The settlers\' arrival often complicated the existing relationships between groups of American Indians. In 1609, Huron and Algonquin leaders approached Samuel de Champlain asking to form a military alliance. The Huron and Algonquin had long been enemies of the Iroquois. Eventually, Algonquin commanders convinced Champlain to lend them French troops in their fight with the Iroquois. Iroquois armies did not yet have guns and gunpowder. As a result, Champlain\'s men easily defeated the Iroquois. To thank the French, the Huron and Algonquin helped grow French fur traders\' business in the region. After the battle with the Iroquois, France formed a permanent alliance with the Huron and Algonquin. The Iroquois confederacy meanwhile, sought revenge. The Iroquois\' chance came in 1634, when a smallpox outbreak weakened the Huron confederacy. Smallpox was a disease brought to North America by Europeans. At the same time, beaver populations in Canada dropped significantly. Historians believe that this was the effect of the overhunting of the animal by fur traders. Because of the beavers\' role in the conflict, the war between the Iroquois, the French, and the Huron and Algonquin confederacies is called the Beaver Wars. In 1642, the Iroquois blocked the Huron from accessing the rivers they used to trade with the French and other native peoples. The Huron economy had become dependent on trade. The Huron nearly starved as a result of the Iroquois blockade. By 1649, the Iroquois had defeated the Huron. The Iroquois\' conflicts with the French and Algonquin would continue well into the 18th century. **Resources from the New World Enrich Europe** Though many French explorers were disappointed not to find gold in Canada, they did discover another valuable resource. People across Europe were fond of hats made from pelts, or the skins of animals with the fur still on it. Unlike North America, parts of Europe were overpopulated. Some of the continent\'s forests had been cleared to expand cities. The larger animals that lived there became rare. Meanwhile, large animals thrived in North America. The French colony made money by hunting and trapping mammals such as moose, elk, deer, and caribou. Beaver fur held special value. European clothing makers used the beaver\'s thick fur to make felt, which is a smooth, leathery fabric. Beaver hats were especially popular in the cold winters of Northern Europe. An oil naturally produced by beavers was even used to make perfumes. Hat makers had long used the fur of the European beaver to make hats, but overhunting and habitat destruction caused that species to become scarce by the 17^th^ century. French traders were able to replace European beaver fur with an American version. Just as in Europe, American beaver numbers decreased significantly as a result of overhunting. The animal was eventually saved by a change in fashion trends. Silk prices dropped at the beginning of the 19th century, and Europeans exchanged their beaver hats for silk ones. This allowed the beaver population to make a comeback. Today, beavers are one of the most important national symbols of Canada. In the 1500s, Spain rose to become one of the worlds most powerful empires. Its American colonies were key to the empire's growth. Spanish colonists mined large amounts of silver and gold in South America and Mexico. In 1545, Spanish colonists exploring in the mountains of Peru found the largest silver deposit yet discovered in the Americas. From American gold and silver, the Spanish made coins. Silver and gold coins were important to Spain\'s economic success because Spain produced very few goods that could be sold to other countries. Spanish traders exchanged coins for foreign goods. With this new wealth, the Spanish built ships and armies to further expand the Spanish Empire. Other European powers tried to prevent the growth of Spain\'s territories. French leaders hired private sea captains to attack Spanish treasure ships as they returned to Spain. Eventually, Spain\' s dominance came to an end. The value of gold and silver was based on the fact that these metals were very rare. As more and more gold became available, Spanish coins were not as valuable as before. Nations that produced goods began to catch up with Spain economically. Without the ability to buy armies to protect and expand its empire, Spain\'s influence in the world shrank. In the 1700s, England, France, and the Netherlands fought to take Spain\'s place as Europe\'s most Powerful nation.