Virginia’s beginnings
Who issued the royal charters that helped establish Virginia?
King James
When was Jamestown founded?
1607
What was one major reason England founded Virginia?
To make money
What system gave land to people who paid their own way or sponsored colonists?
The headright system
Why did Virginia need more workers
There was a labor shortage
Which company was responsible for colonizing the American South?
The London Company
Where was Jamestown located?
On a swampy peninsula near the Chesapeake Bay
What crop helped save Virginia's economy?
Tobacco
What did the headright system encourage?
Migration and land ownership
What was indentured servitude?
Wealthier colonists paid someone's passage in exchange for several years of labor
What did Virginia's leaders generally believe in religiously?
Anglicanism
What were Jamestown settlers initially searching for?
Gold
Besides tobacco, what were two other resources Virginia developed?
Timber and furs
What was the House of Burgesses?
One of the first colonial legislatures
How long did indentured servants usually work?
About 4–7 years
What were Virginia's two main goals?
Gaining wealth and spreading English culture
Why was Jamestown difficult to survive in?
Disease, starvation, conflict, and its swampy location
What type of economy eventually developed around tobacco?
A plantation economy
Who could vote or hold office in the House of Burgesses?
Anglican white adult landowning males
What happened to many indentured servants after their contracts ended?
They could become free and pursue land and economic opportunities
What was the basic government structure created for Virginia by King James?
A Royal Council in England gave broad instructions while the Virginia Council handled local government
About what happened to half of the original Jamestown settlers during the first year?
They died from disease, starvation, or conflict
Who eventually became the dominant group in Virginia's plantation society?
A small aristocratic plantation elite
Why was the House of Burgesses not fully democratic?
Political participation was restricted to a limited group of white male landowners
How did slavery change during the later 1600s?
Virginia developed race-based laws that made Africans and their descendants permanent enslaved property