1 - Houston Independent School District



Name: ________________________________ Date: ________ Period: ________

From textbook pages 71 – 73

The First Permanent English Settlement: Jamestown, Virginia 1607

Directions: Uh oh! Looks like some words were left out of this reading! Use whatever prior knowledge you have and your brainy brains to help fill in the blanks. We’ll read it together. When you think you know what goes in a blank, RAISE YOUR HAND to help us out!

The Virginia Company

In 1606, merchants formed a joint-stock company called the Virginia Company of London. They got a _____________ (the right to start a settlement) from King James I. They sent 144 settlers to look for gold and establish trade in fish and furs. In April of 1607, the ships entered _________________________ and sailed up a river they named the James. They built Jamestown on a peninsula so they could defend it from attack. The drawbacks of the site were that the ______________ land was full of disease-carrying mosquitoes, and there was no good farmland. The settlers spent their time _____________________________________ instead of growing food. They suffered from disease and hunger. Only 38 were still alive in spring of 1608.

Captain John Smith and the Starving Time

Captain John Smith led the colony and helped it survive its first two years. He forced the settlers to work, explored the area, and got corn from local Native Americans led by ________________. When Smith left, the colony began to struggle. The winter of 1609 – 1610 was known as “___________________.” War also broke out with the Powhatans. Only 60 settlers remained in the spring.

Tobacco Saves Jamestown

The colony was saved when ____________________ perfected a way to grow and cure tobacco in 1612. It became hugely popular in England. By 1618 the Virginia Company was giving 50 acres to all new settlers who paid their own way, with an additional 50 acres for each family member over the age of 15. This was called the ___________________, and it encouraged thousands of people to move to Virginia.

Representative Government

In 1619, the Company agreed to let the colonists have a _____________________ government. Towns sent representatives called burgesses to an assembly that made laws for the colony. This was called the _________________________________. It is important because it established a tradition of ______________________________________ in the colonies.

New Arrivals in Jamestown

The first 90 _______________ didn’t arrive in Jamestown until 1619. For many years, men outnumbered women in the colony. The first ___________________________ were also brought to Jamestown in 1619. They were sold to Virginia tobacco planters to work in the fields. Tobacco was a crop that required a great deal of labor, which led to an increase in slavery throughout the 1600s. Jamestown became the first ___________________________ (controlled by the king) in 1624, when King James canceled the struggling Virginia Company’s charter.

|women Chesapeake Bay royal colony |

|searching for gold and silver representative Chief Powhatan |

|swampy self-government the starving time |

|headright system Charter House of Burgesses |

|African slaves John Rolfe |

The early years of the Jamestown colony were very difficult for the colonists. Mostly single men ("gentlemen" unaccustomed to labor) who came to the colony hoping to strike it rich by digging for gold and precious metals, the Jamestown colonists were not prepared to farm and grow food to sustain themselves. The following is a letter written by an indentured servant begging his parents to buy out his contract. He was not exaggerating when he said his redemption was a matter of life or death: from 1619 to 1623 the mortality rate in Jamestown was between 75-80%.

Richard Frethorne's Account of His Plight in Virginia, 1623

Loving and kind father and mother, this is to let you understand that I, your Child, am in a most heavy Case [because] the [environment] of the Country is such that it Causes much sickness...and when we are sick there is nothing to Comfort us; for since I came out of the ship, I never ate anything but peas, and loblollie (that is water gruel). As for deer or venison I never saw any since I came into this land. There is indeed some fowl, but We are not allowed to go and [hunt] it, but must Work hard both early, and late for a mess of water gruel, and a mouthful of bread and beef. And . . . a penny loaf [of bread] must serve for 4 men which is most pitiful. People cry out day and night, Oh that they were in England without their limbs and [they say that they] would not care to loose any limb to be in England again, [even if] they [had to] beg from door to door... I have nothing at all, no not a shirt on my back, but two Rags nor no Clothes, but one poor suite, nor but one pair of shoes, but one pair of stockings, but one Cap, but two bands. My Cloak [was] stolen by one of my own fellows, and to his dying hour would not tell me what he did with it...but I am not half a quarter so strong as I was in England, and all is for want of [food], for I . . . have eaten more in a day at home [in England] then I have allowed me here [in Jamestown] for a Week... if you love me you will redeem me suddenly, for which I do entreat and beg… The answer of this letter will be life or death to me; therefore, good father, send as soon as you can…

O, [if you could] see my daily and hourly sighs, groans, and tears . . .

Author: _____________________________________________________________________________

Place and Time: ______________________________________________________________________

Prior Knowledge: _____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Audience: ____________________________________________________________________________

Reason: _____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

The Main Idea: _______________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Significance: _________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

B. The Amazing Life and Times of Richard Frethorne

What do you think happened to Richard Frethorne? Today you are going to step into Richard’s shoes and imagine what happened to him over the course of the rest of the 17th century.

Directions:

Below is a timeline of important events in the early development of the Virginia colony. Your task is to choose TWO events and write a brief journal entry for each event as Richard Frethorne describing how that event affects your life – do things improve for Richard? Does he become a great politician in the House of Burgesses, perhaps, or does he receive a grisly wound in the wars with Native Americans? What are his opinions of the events he witnesses? His fate is in your hands!! You should write your two journal entries on a separate sheet of paper – be sure to date them according to the timeline.

1608 – Captain John Smith arrives and saves Jamestown from complete collapse by forcing the colonists to work the land rather than spending all of their time searching for gold.

1609-1610 – the colonists suffer the “starving time.” Of 400 settlers, only 60 survive.

1610 – A new governor, Lord De La Warr arrives and imposes a harsh military regime on the colony. He starts a war with the Powhatan Indians, raiding villages, burning houses, confiscating provisions, and torching cornfields.

1612 – Colonist John Rolfe perfects a method of raising and curing tobacco. The crop is hugely profitable and saves the Virginia colony from failure. It also establishes plantation farming – huge cash crops requiring many laborers.

1614 – The Anglo-Powhatan War started by Lord De La Warr ends in a peace settlement sealed by the marriage of Pocahontas to colonist John Rolfe.

1619 – A Dutch warship appears off Jamestown and sells the first twenty Africans. The records we have don’t tell us if they were bought as lifelong slaves or as servants committed to limited years of servitude. The first women arrive at the settlement, as well.

1619 – The Virginia Company of London authorizes the colonists to form a law-making assembly called the House of Burgesses. It is the first of many self-governing law-making bodies in the colonies.

C. Write 1 statement for each map describing what you see and explain why it is significant.

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