Colonial terms

Jamestown, VA

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first permanent English settlement in mainland America, established in 1607 by the Virginia Company and named in honor of King James I.

The "Starving Time

Settlers in Jamestown weren't used to working so that they could eat and so they began to starve. Some resorted to canibilism and others joined nearby tribes.

Virginia Company

Joint-Stock Company in London that received a charter for land in the new world. Charter guarantees new colonists same rights as people back in England.

Lord De La Warr

New governor of Jamestown who arrived in 1610, immediately imposing a military regime in Jamestown and declaring war against the Powhatan Confederacy. Employed "Irish tactics" in which his troops burned houses and cornfields.

Captain John Smith

English explorer who helped found the colony at Jamestown, Virginia

Indian chief and founder of the Powhatan confederacy of tribes in eastern Virginia

a Powhatan woman (the daughter of Powhatan) who befriended the English at Jamestown and is said to have saved Captain John Smith's life (1595-1617)

He was one of the English settlers at Jamestown (and he married Pocahontas). He discovered how to successfully grow tobacco in Virginia and cure it for export, which made Virginia an economically successful colony.

headright system

Headrights were parcels of land consisting of about 50 acres which were given to colonists who brought indentured servants into America. They were used by the Virginia Company to attract more colonists.

house of burgesses

the first elected legislative assembly in the New World established in the Colony of Virginia in 1619, representative colony set up by England to make laws and levy taxes but England could veto its legistlative acts.