Ap U.S History Outline Chapter 2
D. England Plants the Jamestown Seedling
1. In 1606, a joint-stock company, the Virginia Company of London, received a charter form King James I for a settlement in the New World
a. The main attraction was the promise of gold, combined with a strong desire to find a passage through America to the Indies
b. Like most joint-stock companies, it was intended to last for only a few years, after which its owners hoped to liquidate it for profit
c. The arrangement put severe pressure on the colonists, who were threatened with abandonment if they did not quickly strike it rich on the company’s behalf; few investors touch in terms of long-term
2. The charter of the Virginia Company is a significant document in American history because it guaranteed to the settlers the same rights of Englishmen that they would have enjoyed if they had stayed home
3. Setting sail in late 1606, the Virginia Company’s three ships landed near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, where Indians attacked them
a. Pushing on up the bay, the colonists eventually chose a location on the banks of the James River, named in honor of King James I
b. The site was easy to defend, but mosquito-infested and severely unhealthy; on May 24, 1607, about a hundred English settlers, all of them men, landed and called the place Jamestown
4. The early years of Jamestown were not encouraging, colonists perished during voyages, expeditions were shipwrecked, and once ashore in Virginia, the settlers died from disease, malnutrition, and starvation
5. Instead of collecting food many spent time looking for nonexistent gold
6. Virginia was saved from collapse by the leadership and resourcefulness of a young adventurer, Captain John Smith who took over in 1608
a. He whipped the gold-hungry colonists into line with the rule
b. He had been kidnapped in December 1607 and subjected to a mock execution by the Indian chieftain Powhatan whose daughter,
1. In 1606, a joint-stock company, the Virginia Company of London, received a charter form King James I for a settlement in the New World
a. The main attraction was the promise of gold, combined with a strong desire to find a passage through America to the Indies
b. Like most joint-stock companies, it was intended to last for only a few years, after which its owners hoped to liquidate it for profit
c. The arrangement put severe pressure on the colonists, who were threatened with abandonment if they did not quickly strike it rich on the company’s behalf; few investors touch in terms of long-term
2. The charter of the Virginia Company is a significant document in American history because it guaranteed to the settlers the same rights of Englishmen that they would have enjoyed if they had stayed home
3. Setting sail in late 1606, the Virginia Company’s three ships landed near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, where Indians attacked them
a. Pushing on up the bay, the colonists eventually chose a location on the banks of the James River, named in honor of King James I
b. The site was easy to defend, but mosquito-infested and severely unhealthy; on May 24, 1607, about a hundred English settlers, all of them men, landed and called the place Jamestown
4. The early years of Jamestown were not encouraging, colonists perished during voyages, expeditions were shipwrecked, and once ashore in Virginia, the settlers died from disease, malnutrition, and starvation
5. Instead of collecting food many spent time looking for nonexistent gold
6. Virginia was saved from collapse by the leadership and resourcefulness of a young adventurer, Captain John Smith who took over in 1608
a. He whipped the gold-hungry colonists into line with the rule
b. He had been kidnapped in December 1607 and subjected to a mock execution by the Indian chieftain Powhatan whose daughter,