Hard Times in Virginia

Chapter 5Lynne GormanBrennan Middle School

Lesson 1- The Lost Colony of Roanoke In the late 1500’s England began

trying to establish a colony in the New World.

Roanoke Island was the first attempt…

Lesson 1- The Lost Colony of Roanoke Queen Elizabeth of

England had hoped to find gold in the Americas. English advisors to the queen also hoped to find natural resources that they needed in England.

Lesson 1- The Lost Colony of Roanoke Walter Raleigh, an

advisor to Queen Elizabeth, offered to organize the first colony himself. Raleigh was a former soldier who had explored North America in the early 1580’s.

Lesson 1- The Lost Colony of Roanoke The first group of colonists landed in

1585…but the winter was harsh and they could not find food. The group returned to England in 1586.

Lesson 1- The Lost Colony of Roanoke In 1587, England tried again. This

time Raleigh sent John White and 100 men, woman and children to Roanoke Island.

Lesson 1- The Lost Colony of Roanoke The second colony also struggled

and supplies began to run low. John White left Roanoke to sail back to England for supplies.

Lesson 1- The Lost Colony of Roanoke Unfortunately, England was at war

with Spain and could not spare any ships or supplies. Due to this delay, White was not able to return to Roanoke until 1590.

Lesson 1- The Lost Colony of Roanoke Everyone was gone….all that was

left was the word CRO carved into a tree trunk. No one knows what really happened.

What Happened?

1. No Survivors Theory: The colonist of Roanoke were killed by natives seeking revenge or by Spanish Explorers wanting to colonize the same area.

What Happened?

2. Absorbed By Native People Theory: The colonist went to live with the native people and eventually became part of their tribes.

What Happened?

3. Lost at Sea Theory: The colonist tried to leave on their tiny boat (much like a row boat) and got lost at sea.

What Happened?

4. Split Community Theory: ½ of the group sailed for Chesapeake as planned leaving the other half behind at the fort.

What Happened?

White Doe Theory: The settlers went to live with the Croatian people. Virginia Dare was asked to marry a medicine man. When she refused to marry she was turned into a white deer…there are still claims of sightings today

Lesson 1: The Battle of the Spanish Armada England’s attempt

to start a colony greatly angered the King of Spain.

Lesson 1: The Battle of the Spanish Armada Another reason that

Spain was angry with England was a famous sea captain named Francis Drake.

Drake was raiding Spanish ships during his historic voyage around the world and returned to England with his ship full of Spanish gold!

Lesson 1: The Battle of the Spanish Armada In 1588, King

Philip of Spain had had enough and launched an attack on England. The Spanish were confident their mighty Armada would be victorious…

Lesson 1: The Battle of the Spanish Armada The English Navy

had some key advantages. Smaller ships

allowed the English fleet to move faster in the water.

English ships had more powerful guns.

Of the Spanish Armadas 130 ships, only about 60 made it safely back to Spain.

Lesson 1: The Battle of the Spanish Armada The battle of the

Spanish Armada was a major victory for England and proved that England was very powerful. England could now focus on colonizing the New World.

The Jamestown Colony 1606- A group of

merchants formed the Virginia Company, asking King James I for a charter to set up a colony in Virginia.

A charter is a document that permitted colonist to settle on land claimed by their ruler.

The Jamestown Colony

The owners of the Virginia Company raised money by selling shares of stock in the company.

Each person who bought stock in the company would earn a profit if the colony was successful.

The Jamestown Colony

In 1607, three ships carrying 120 colonist reached the coast of Virginia.

Looking for an area easy to defend, they chose a peninsula on the river- They called this area Jamestown in honor of King James.

The Jamestown Colony

John Smith called Jamestown “ a very fit place for erecting a great city”. He couldn’t be more wrong!

Problems with the location of Jamestown. The land was low

and swampy. The air was full of

disease carrying mosquitoes.

The river water was not healthy to drink and made many people sick.

The Starving Time

Many of the first colonists had expected to find gold. Instead of planting crops and building houses, all they did was waste their time searching for gold.

The Starving Time

By the end of the first year at Jamestown, only 38 of the original 120 colonists were still alive!

The Starving Time

John Smith was elected leader and put forth a new rule in the Jamestown colony.

“He that will not work, shall not eat”

The Staving Time

Under Smith’s leadership the colonists began to build houses, dig wells, plant crops, and fish in the river.

Smith also began to trade with the Powhatan people.

Smith Leaves Jamestown In 1609 John Smith

returned to England

The colony struggled without Smith’s leadership. So many people died of starvation at this time that the period became known as the “Starving Time.”

Jamestown is saved!

The Virginia Company sent new settlers as well as a new leader- Lord De La Warre.

Under new leadership, Jamestown was revived and began to grow many successful crops.

Tobacco

In 1612, a colonist named John Rolfe grew the first successful tobacco crop in Jamestown. Tobacco would become a major cash crop for Jamestown. ▪ A cash crop is a crop

grown for profit.

Help was on the way

Due to the success of growing crops in the Jamestown colony, more help was needed. Thousands of English entered into indentured servitude in hopes of finding wealth in the new world.

Indentured Servants An indentured servant

agreed to work for someone for a certain amount of time in exchange for the cost of the ocean voyage to North America. Most indentured servants hoped to buy land of their own when they gained their freedom.

Self Government in Virginia In July 1619, the

Virginia House of Burgesses met for the first time. This was the first law making assembly in an English colony.

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