The History of Jamestown, Virginia

King James I granted the Virginia Company of London a charter to create an English settlement in North America in June 1606. Their goals were to find gold and determine a waterway which would take them to the Orient. The Virginia Company set foot on Jamestown on May 14, 1607 to form the Virginia English Colony. Approximately one third of the colonists survived the winter of the “Starving Time” in 1609, and fifteen years later in 1624, Virginia became a crown colony when the king dismissed the Virginia Company Charter due to the Algonquians attack which killed over 300 settlers. Jamestown only survived because of a last minute warning but burned down in 1698.

"In the early evening of May 13, the expedition reached a narrow pear-shaped peninsula about sixty miles up the river, here on the 1500-acre peninsula, it was decided to erect a fortified town to be called Jamestown. "(Ward) They decided to give it the name Jamestown in honor of their king. As soon as they landed they began to build a fort in the form of a triangle. They constructed the fort in this manner for purposes of safety against the natives. A triangular fort gave them one less side that they could get attacked from.

* Jamestown was founded on may 14 1607, by a small group led by Christopher Newport who was hired by the London company to transport colonists. * Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in America. * Many settlers died in the winter of 1609-1610. * Survivors were encouraged to stay by more settlers and supplies which came the following June * In 1612 tobacco farming was started * Native Americans often attacked the village. * Jamestown was burned down in 1676 Could the reason that so many died have been starvation?

The main founder of the London Company was King James I from England who chartered the London Company to form a colony in North America. They invested around $10,000 on the trip to Jamestown. Those settlers who went on the trip were called "planters" and those who stayed in England and invested their money in it were called "adventurers". Each planter and adventurer was to share in the company's profits which failed to profit, however, through many tries. "(London Company) In 1619, the House of Burgesses was formed which gave Jamestown the first for of government.

The site was actually an island on North America's eastern seaboard protected by the outer banks of what is now North Carolina's coast. Sir Richard Grenville led the fleet that brought them to the New World, the Governor of the colony was Master Ralph Lane and among the colonists was Walter Raleigh's confidant Thomas Harriot, author of "A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia", a chronicle of their adventure. Sir Francis Drake, who was seeking Spanish conquests in the New World, rescued this group just as they were losing control of their situation. Another colony was left at Roanoke in 1587 but by 1590, when a long delayed supply ship finally arrived, they had disappeared without a trace. This was the so-called "Lost Colony".

The admiral arrived at Hispaniola to find the first colony destroyed by Native Americans. He founded a new colony nearby, and then sailed off in the summer of 1494 to explore the southern coast of Cuba. After discovering Jamaica he returned to Hispaniola and found the colonists, interested only in finding gold, completely disorderly; his attempts to enforce strict discipline led some to seize vessels and return to Spain to complain of his administration. Leaving his brother Bartholomew in charge at Hispaniola, Columbus also returned to Spain in 1496. On his third expedition, in 1498, Columbus was forced to transport convicts as colonists, because of the bad reports on conditions in Hispaniola and because the novelty of the New World was wearing off.

A reestablishment of the colony was attempted. It was decided that John White would be the governor. Unfortunately, Indians attacked the colonists numerous times and all their supplies ran out. They decided to send White to obtain supplies in England. He left behind his daughter and his granddaughter, Virginia Dare who was the first child of European decent born in America.

Sir Walter Raleigh obtained a patent from Queen Elizabeth I to found a colony in the New World (Encyclopedia Americana International Edition 1). In 1585, Sir Raleigh sent a few men to investigate the New World (Pavao 1). John White accompanied the explorations of Chesapeake Bay (Wolfe 1). The first English settlement was on its way to the New World. Raleigh’s cousin, Sir Richard Grenville, sent seven ships loaded with colonists to establish a colony (Strokes 1).

White had remained in the colony of Roanoke to see his daughter have his only grandchild... ... middle of paper ... ...w for colony of Indians and Englishmen. The unreliable theories like they starved to death and they were captured and killed by the Indians are very unrealistic. As for the many theories of the colonies demise the most trustworthy one is that they moved away to a new place with the Indians because they feared they would no longer have a leader because of the time it took White to come back from England. There are many facts too back this theory up. For example, in later generations of Indians they were lighter skinned showing that they could have had marriages and children with the colonists.

He eventually escaped and came back to his mother land of Great Britain in 1605. He then became interested in settling Virginia in the new world. The following year, Smith sailed to Virginia with the Virginia Company’s first colonist as one of seven councilors. This was the first of many voyages to the new world for him. Smith spent much time exploring the land.