The 13 English Colonies

The 13 English Colonies

​England Seeks Power & Wealth

• ​England, France & Spain competed in North America to become wealthy & powerful

• ​More land = resources = more trade = more power

• ​Over time, England setup 13 colonies along the Atlantic Coast of N.A.

Investing in Colonies

• ​King James I of England allowed the wealthy to invest $ in companies to settle new land

• ​Risk would be in the hands of company & not the Gov't

• ​Once companies raised enough $, the King would issue a charter

  • ​document that gave investors permission to setup a colony

The Virginia Co. Takes Charge

• ​The Virginia Co. of London among 1st to have investors

• ​Raised $ by selling stock

  • ​a piece of ownership in a company

• ​Investors expected the colonists to find gold & other resources to trade w/ England

Multiple Choice

What is a charter?

• document that gave investors permission to setup a colony

• ​a piece of ownership in a company

Multiple Choice

What is a stock?

• document that gave investors permission to setup a colony

• ​a piece of ownership in a company

The Virginia Co. Takes Charge

• ​The Virginia Co. had the $ to start a colony, just needed the permission

• In 1606 ​King James I issues a charter to the company

• With the money & a charter, the Virginia Co. was in business

Open Ended

Why was the Virginia Co. an important step in starting an English colony in North America?

​The Colony Struggles

• ​The colonists were not skilled workers

  • ​most never worked

• ​Could not make enough food

  • ​marshy environment was not good for farming

  • ​supplies ran out quickly

​The Colony Struggles

• ​Fresh Water in short supply

  • ​ocean water seeped into rivers and streams nearby

• ​Disease rampant

  • ​threw waste into rivers

  • ​unhealthy living conditions led to dysentery and typhoid

Multiple Choice

True or False, the colonists that settled Jamestown were skilled workers and knew how to grow crops

• True

• False

​Surviving Jamestown

• ​Settlers from the Virginia Co. left England in 1606

• ​Reach Chesapeake Bay in April 1607

• ​Colonists pick a marshy location for the colony

• ​Name the Colony Jamestown

​Relations with the Powhatan

​

• ​The colonists setup Jamestown where the Powhatan Native Americans lived

• ​Powhatan traded w/ the colonists

• ​Colonists got food & furs, Powhatan got tools, copper and beads

​Relations with the Powhatan

​

• ​More ppl & supplies begin to arrive from England

• ​Colony expands into Powhatan territory

  • ​tensions rise

• ​Drought in region

  • ​colonists steal from the Native Americans

Multiple Choice

True or False: The colonists and Powhatan Native Americans always had a bad relationship with one another. 

• False

• True

​Relations with the Powhatan

​

• ​Powhatan eventually blocked entrances into the fort of Jamestown

  • ​colonists couldnt leave

• ​Starvation & disease take toll

• ​"Starving Time" of 1609-1610

  • ​colonists eating rats, shoe leather

  • ​............................and the remains of dead people

Open Ended

​How could have the Virginia Co. prevented a lot of the suffering and struggles the colonists experienced?