Colonization
Give five reasons England decided to establish colonies in North America.
1. quest for power, wealth and prestige
2. block Spanish from moving northward
3. spread Protestantism
4. place for poor people who were overwhelming English cities
5. place for second sons of aristocrats (primogeniture),
6. sources of resources, raw materials (gold, wood, pitch)
7. market for English goods
Give five reasons the colony of Jamestown nearly failed during its first ten years of existence.
Climate terrible - hot, muggy,
Geography - marshy soil, brackish water
Diseases – yellow fever, malaria
Settlers had no experience with farming
No gold, silver to be found
How did the cultivation of tobacco, which began in 1612, affect the Jamestown colony?
Gave the colonists a cash crop to sell to Europe, ensuring survival of the colony.
Tobacco was very labor intensive, so many indentured servants, and later slaves, needed.
Describe five features of the system of indentured servitude in the Chesapeake.
Served as a useful way of attracting much-needed labor to the colony
Servants paid for their passage to America by serving 4-7 years for a master or mistress.
When they were freed, they were given the opportunity to buy land and "freedom dues" - a suit of clothes and some food
Planters who agreed to employ a servant for a received a "headright" of 50 acres for each servant, allowing planters to accumulate vast quantities of land.
Describe the shifting relations between the Jamestown colonists and Native American tribes.
Beginning in September of 1607, Natives rescued colonists from starvation by providing them with corn
As time went on they became more hostile because colonists sometimes attacked them and especially and raided their villages for corn.
But Natives refrained from launching full-scale attacks because they benefitted from trade with the colonists and felt their alliance with them gave them more more over other tribes.
After Powhattan died in 1619, his brother "Mr. O" launched an all-out attack on Jamestown, killing one third of them. This led to decades of clashes with the Indians and to the king's decision to take over control from the Virginia Company and make it a royal colony.