Creating a Government
What was the name of Virginia’s first representative lawmaking group, formed in 1619?
The General Assembly.
In what year did Africans arrive at Point Comfort in Virginia?
1619
What is barter?
Exchanging goods or services instead of using money.
What crop became an important cash crop in colonial Virginia?
Tobacco
In what year did Virginia’s colonists move their capital?
1699
What did members of the General Assembly help do for the colony?
They helped write and pass laws.
How did the arrival of more women help the Virginia colony grow?
Women helped settlers build families in the colony.
What crop did Virginia farmers often use to pay for goods and services?
Tobacco
What did the name Roanoke reflect?
Indigenous culture.
What city became Virginia’s capital after Jamestown?
Williamsburg
Who were the burgesses, and how did they join the assembly?
Burgesses were elected representatives. Two were elected from each of Virginia’s ten divisions.
Where did the Africans who arrived in Virginia in 1619 come from?
Present-day Angola.
What does it mean to buy something on credit?
Getting something now and paying for it later.
What kind of home feature can show the culture of a group?
Architecture, or the way buildings and homes are designed.
What was one problem with Jamestown’s drinking water?
Salt water seeped into the drinking water.
Why was the General Assembly of 1619 important in English America?
It was the first representative legislative body in English America.
What is one key difference between an indentured servant and an enslaved person?
Indentured servants worked for a set period of time under a contract. Enslaved people were forced to work and could be held in lifelong bondage under Virginia’s laws.
Give one reason money was not commonly used to pay for goods and services in colonial Virginia.
Virginia had no banks; farmers often waited until harvest to pay; few people had paper money or coins; carrying money could lead to theft.
Which two Virginia regions were important areas where Africans were forced to work in tobacco fields?
The Coastal Plain and Piedmont.
Name one other problem that made life in Jamestown unhealthy or unsafe.
Disease, unhealthy living conditions, or fires that destroyed buildings.
How did the General Assembly change by 1640?
The Governor’s Council and the House of Burgesses began meeting as two separate bodies.
What did Virginia’s laws in the 1600s and 1705 do to enslavement of Africans?
They made race-based enslavement of Africans permanent and lifelong.
A farmer trades a sack of corn for a pair of shoes. Is this barter, credit, or money?
Barter
What happened to many Indigenous peoples’ homes and communities as European settlement spread?
Many Indigenous peoples were forced inland as European settlement spread.
How did poor water and repeated fires help lead to the move from Jamestown to Williamsburg?
Jamestown had contaminated drinking water and repeated fires damaged important buildings, including the Capitol. These problems helped lead colonists to move the capital to Williamsburg.