S.S. Unit - SOL VS 3a-c; Deciding to Set off for Jamestown and Determining Its Location

1. The Charters... How was Jamestown made possible?

1.1. The charter was a legal document that gave colonists rights and obligations of English citizens

1.2. The King of England gave The Virginia Company of London a charter allowing them to fund a journey to the New World and establish a colony there.

1.2.1. The Virginia Company sold shares of stocks to fund the journey

1.3. vocabulary: CHARTER, SHARE, ENTREPRENEUR, COLONY, KING, SETTLER, CITIZEN

2. How was the Site of Jamestown Chosen?

2.1. Instructions to Travel Upriver and Inland

2.2. Thought that the James would give fresh water

2.3. Defend location from the Spanish

2.4. No native peoples lived on the peninsula

2.5. Water around the peninsula deep enough for ships

3. What was Jamestown?

3.1. First permanent English settlement in North America

3.2. Started in 1607 by 104 men who sailed from England in 3 ships

3.3. On narrow peninsula on the James River

3.3.1. That peninsula is now an island

3.4. At first small three-sided fort

4. Why establish Jamestown?

4.1. European countries, including England, were in competition to expand their empires to America, even though Native peoples already lived there

4.2. Main Reason- Economic Interest

4.2.1. Hoped to find gold or silver

4.2.2. Hoped to increase trade

4.3. Minor Reasons-

4.3.1. Spread Christianity

4.3.2. Find a passage to Asia

4.4. vocabulary: RESOURCES, ECONOMIC, EMPIRE,

5. Riches and Opportunity, Or: Why settle in Jamestown?

5.1. The gentlemen of Jamestown were 3rd or 4th sons who would not inherit their father's wealth. They wanted to find their own riches in the New World.

5.2. Life in England was tough for the lower classes- many were landless or jobless, and opportunities were few. Many early settlers were indentured servants who wanted to escape England.

5.3. Vocabulary; INDENTURED SERVANT, CLASS