History of Jamestown (1607–1699) facts for kids
Jamestown, also called Jamestowne, was the first permanent English settlement in North America. It was built in the Virginia Colony in 1607. Jamestown served as the capital of Virginia until 1699, when leaders moved the government to Williamsburg.
Contents
- The Journey Across the Atlantic Ocean
- Choosing the Settlement Location
- Building the Historic Fort
- Supply Ships and New Settlers
- Captain John Smith and Pocahontas
- The Starving Time in the Colony
- Growth, Tobacco, and Peace
- A Year of Major Milestones: 1619
- The Conflict of 1622
- Bacon's Rebellion and the Burning of the Town
- The Capital Moves to Williamsburg
- Later History and Archeology
- Images for kids
The Journey Across the Atlantic Ocean
In December 1606, a business group called the London Company sent three sailing ships across the ocean. The goal was to establish a lasting English community in the Virginia Colony. This historic venture was part of the wider European colonization of the Americas. The largest ship was the Susan Constant, captained by Christopher Newport. The middle-sized ship was the Godspeed, led by Bartholomew Gosnold. The smallest vessel was the Discovery, captained by John Ratcliffe. The fleet departed from Blackwall with 105 passengers and 39 crew members.
The voyage was long and difficult. By early April 1607, the ships stopped at the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico to gather fresh water and supplies. By late April, the fleet sailed into the wide waters of the Chesapeake Bay. The journey took more than four months. Only one passenger died during the crossing, leaving 104 men and boys to build the settlement. No English women made this first trip.
The travelers named the two capes at the bay entrance after the sons of King James I. The southern point became Cape Henry, named for Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. The northern tip became Cape Charles, named for Charles, Duke of York. On April 26, 1607, the colonists landed at Cape Henry, near the modern Cape Henry Memorial. Chaplain Robert Hunt led the group in a prayer of dedication. This first stop is remembered today as the first landing.
Choosing the Settlement Location
Before leaving England, officials gave the leaders a sealed box with secret instructions. When opened in Virginia, the papers named the governing council. Captain John Smith was named to the council. He had been locked away during the trip after arguing with officers, but Captain Newport released him. The instructions ordered the settlers to build their town inland along a river. This would hide them from enemy European warships.
The ships sailed into the mouth of the bay and stopped at Old Point Comfort in modern Hampton. The colonists then sailed up a wide waterway they named the James River. They chose to name both the river and their settlement, Jamestown, in honor of King James I.
Why Jamestown Island Was Chosen
On May 14, 1607, the leaders chose Jamestown Island for their permanent home. The London Company wanted a spot that could be defended against rivals from the Dutch Republic, France, and Spain. These nations were competing for lands across the New World.
Jamestown Island offered several advantages:
- Ships could tie up close to the shore in deep water.
- Lookouts had clear views up and down the James River.
- The location was far enough upriver to spot incoming enemy ships early.
- Local Virginia Indians of the Powhatan Confederacy did not live on the island.
Leaders on the First Council
The sealed royal instructions from London named eight men to run the colony:
- Bartholomew Gosnold, captain of the Godspeed
- Christopher Newport, commander of the fleet and captain of the Susan Constant
- George Kendall, a military officer
- John Martin, who later started Martin's Brandon Plantation
- George Percy, an English nobleman
- John Ratcliffe, captain of the Discovery
- John Smith, an experienced explorer and writer
- Edward Maria Wingfield, who was chosen as the first council president
Building the Historic Fort
The settlers landed on the island and immediately began chopping down trees. Many of these first arrivals were wealthy gentlemen. They were not used to hard work like farming, clearing thick forests, or building sturdy cabins. Few experienced farmers or skilled carpenters were among them. Chaplain Robert Hunt held church services outside under an old sail until workers built the first church.
Local Paspahegh warriors attacked the camp within two weeks of their arrival. The settlers realized they needed strong defenses. By June 15, 1607, they finished building a large triangular fort called James Fort. Its walls were made of tall logs buried upright in the ground. The fort contained a storehouse, a church, and small wooden houses. Captain Newport soon sailed back to England on the Susan Constant to deliver mineral samples, including pyrite or fool's gold. He left behind 104 settlers and the little ship Discovery.
Life inside the fort quickly became dangerous. Jamestown Island was marshy and wet. Swarms of mosquitoes spread deadly malaria. The water from the river was brackish and dirty, causing salt poisoning, bad fevers, and dysentery. The settlers also hunted all the deer and wild animals on the island very quickly. Over half of the original colonists died during their first summer.
Supply Ships and New Settlers
The colony depended on regular supply ships from England to survive. Newport returned on January 2, 1608, leading the first supply mission. He brought food, tools, and over 70 new colonists. Unfortunately, a disastrous fire broke out shortly after the ship arrived, burning down most of the wooden fort and its supplies. The settlers had to spend the cold winter rebuilding their homes.
The Second Supply and New Industries
In October 1608, the second supply arrived aboard the ship Mary and Margaret. This ship carried 70 more passengers, including the first two English women in Jamestown: Mistress Forrest and her young maid, Anne Burras. Colonist Thomas Graves and Thomas Forrest, Esq arrived on this voyage as well.
The ship also brought skilled workers from mainland Europe to start manufacturing businesses:
- Craftsmen who were Polish and Slovak to produce glass, pitch, and tar
- Woodcutters and millers from German regions
- A Swiss mineral expert named William Volday who searched for silver
These workers built the Jamestown Glasshouse, which was the first factory built by English colonists in North America. The artisans made glassware, soap, and wood products to sell in Europe. Even with this work, the colony did not make enough money to satisfy the investors in England, and miners found no gold.
Captain John Smith and Pocahontas
Captain John Smith became the third president of the council in September 1608. He established a simple rule for everyone: "He who will not work shall not eat." This order forced all the gentlemen to farm, chop wood, and repair the fort alongside the laborers.
Exploring the Land
Smith explored the rivers flowing into Chesapeake Bay. He drew an accurate map of Virginia showing Native American villages and waterways. According to legend, he named Stingray Point near present-day Deltaville in Middlesex County after a stingray stung him while fishing. He also visited the Nansemond Indians along the Nansemond River near modern Suffolk to trade beads and copper for food.
In December 1607, while exploring up the Chickahominy River, Smith was captured by warriors commanded by Opechancanough. Smith showed the leader an ivory pocket compass. The spinning needle amazed the warriors, and they decided not to harm him. Smith was taken to Werowocomoco on the York River to meet the supreme leader of the region, Chief Powhatan.
Years later, Smith wrote that Chief Powhatan planned to execute him, but the chief's young daughter, Pocahontas, rushed in and saved his life. Historians still discuss whether this event actually happened or was part of an adoption ceremony. Pocahontas often visited the fort after that, bringing corn and gifts of food to the hungry settlers. In 1609, Smith was badly burned when gunpowder in his pocket exploded. He sailed back to England for medical care and never returned to Virginia.
The Starving Time in the Colony
The winter of 1609–1610 is known as the Starving Time. A severe drought ruined crops, and Chief Powhatan stopped trading corn with the English. When Council President John Ratcliffe took a trading party to visit the Powhatan, the Native warriors attacked them, and Ratcliffe did not survive.
Trapped inside their fort by hostile fighters, the colonists ran out of food. They ate horses, dogs, cats, rats, and even leather boots to survive. Out of about 500 colonists living in Virginia that autumn, only 60 survived until spring.
Shipwreck on Bermuda
The colony was saved by a fleet called the Third Supply. In June 1609, Vice-Admiral Newport left Plymouth with nine ships. Aboard the new flagship Sea Venture were Admiral George Somers, Lieutenant-General Thomas Gates, and author William Strachey.
A massive hurricane struck the fleet at sea. The Sea Venture was badly damaged and sprang a leak. To keep the ship from sinking, Admiral Somers steered it directly onto the reefs of Bermuda. All 150 people reached shore safely. The island was rich in fresh water, wild hogs, and fish. The survivors used Bermuda cedar and timber from the wreck to build two small ships named the Deliverance and the Patience.
The Bermuda castaways finally sailed into Jamestown on May 23, 1610. They found the fort broken down and the survivors starving. Gates realized they did not have enough food to feed everyone. On June 7, 1610, the settlers boarded the ships and prepared to sail back to England.
Arrival of Lord De La Warr
As the ships sailed down the James River toward Mulberry Island near modern Fort Eustis, they spotted three English ships sailing upriver. This was a rescue fleet led by the new governor, Thomas West, Baron De La Warr. De La Warr brought new supplies, medicine, food, and 150 healthy settlers.
De La Warr ordered the ships to turn around and reoccupy Jamestown. He organized clean-up crews, repaired the fort, and restored order to the settlement. Back in England, the charter was changed so the company could also control Bermuda through the Somers Isles Company.
Growth, Tobacco, and Peace
In 1611, the Virginia Company sent Sir Thomas Dale to run the colony. Dale brought cattle and supplies. He established a strict set of rules known as Dale's Code to keep discipline in the settlement. Dale also started a new settlement up the river called Henricus in modern Chesterfield County, located on Farrar's Island near the Appomattoc tribe. He also founded Bermuda Hundred, which became the first incorporated town in Virginia.
The Tobacco Gold Rush
The colonist who transformed Virginia's economy was John Rolfe. Early settlers tried to export wild Virginia tobacco, called Nicotiana rustica, but Europeans disliked its bitter taste. Rolfe acquired sweet-tasting seeds of Nicotiana tabacum from Trinidad and planted them in 1612.
The crop was a huge success in London. Colonists cleared every patch of ground, even planting tobacco along the dirt streets of Jamestown. This high-value crop brought money to the colony and encouraged thousands of English settlers to move to Virginia.
Pocahontas Marries John Rolfe
In 1613, Captain Samuel Argall captured Pocahontas near Passapatanzy in modern Stafford County along the Potomac River near Fredericksburg. He took her to Jamestown and Henricus to use her as a hostage in trade talks with Chief Powhatan. While living with the English, Pocahontas learned the English language and studied religion with Reverend Alexander Whitaker. She converted to Christianity and chose the name Rebecca.
Pocahontas married John Rolfe in April 1614. Chief Powhatan approved of the marriage, bringing a period of peace known as the Peace of Pocahontas. This ended the First Anglo-Powhatan War, which had been fought between English settlers and the Powhatan Confederacy since 1610.
In 1616, Rolfe and Pocahontas sailed to England with their baby son, Thomas Rolfe. Pocahontas met Queen Anne and was welcomed by English society. Sadly, as the family prepared to return to Virginia, Pocahontas became sick. She died in March 1617 and was buried at St George's Church in Gravesend. Rolfe returned to Virginia, where he later married Jane Pierce. Their granddaughter, Jane Rolfe, became part of the famous First Families of Virginia.
A Year of Major Milestones: 1619
The year 1619 brought great changes to the colony:
- Representative Government: On July 30, 1619, the General Assembly met inside the choir of the Jamestown Church. Settlers elected local representatives called burgesses. This was the first elected legislature in the Americas and continues today as the Virginia General Assembly.
- The First Workers' Strike: Polish and Slovak craftsmen were initially barred from voting for burgesses. On June 30, 1619, they staged the first recorded labor strike in America. Leaders quickly gave the artisans the right to vote, and the strike ended.
- First Africans Arrive: In late August 1619, a Dutch ship landed at Point Comfort carrying "20 and odd" African captives taken from a Portuguese ship. These individuals, including "Antony and Isabell," became indentured servants and freemen. Their son, William Tucker, was the first recorded Black child born in the English colonies. Over time, colonial courts stripped away these rights. In 1640, a runaway indentured servant named John Punch was sentenced to lifetime servitude, marking the legal beginning of race-based slavery in the colony.
- Women Arrive in Larger Numbers: In 1621, fifty-seven unmarried women sailed to Virginia to help build family life in the colony. Men who married them paid the company for their travel costs in tobacco.
The Conflict of 1622
Chief Powhatan died in 1618. Leadership passed to his brother Opitchapam, and then to Opechancanough. The new chief saw English tobacco plantations spreading rapidly across native hunting grounds.
On the morning of March 22, 1622, warriors under Opechancanough launched surprise attacks on settlements along a 50-mile stretch of the James River. This event became known as the Indian massacre of 1622. About 347 English settlers died, and several communities, including Henricus and Wolstenholme Towne at Martin's Hundred, were completely destroyed. Jamestown itself survived because a young native boy named Chanco warned a colonist named Richard Pace, allowing the fort to prepare its defenses. The conflict started a ten-year war between the settlers and the tribes.
Following these attacks and financial problems within the Virginia Company, King James I cancelled the company's charter in 1624. Virginia became an official crown colony ruled directly by the king. In 1634, the English Crown split the land into eight shires, including James City Shire, later named James City County. Colonists also built a sturdy defensive wooden wall across the Virginia Peninsula between Queen's Creek and Archer's Hope Creek (now College Creek).
A final conflict, the Third Anglo-Powhatan War, broke out in 1644 when Opechancanough led another attack. In 1646, Governor Sir William Berkeley captured the elderly chief. A guard later shot him. Opechancanough was succeeded by Necotowance, then Totopotomoi, and later Queen Cockacoeske. The English signed treaties setting up early Indian reservations and creating clear boundaries between English and native lands.
Bacon's Rebellion and the Burning of the Town
In 1676, anger boiled over between frontier settlers and Governor Berkeley. A wealthy young planter named Nathaniel Bacon demanded military authority to fight native tribes along the frontier following conflicts with the Doeg tribe and Susquehannock people. Governor Berkeley refused to give Bacon permission, preferring to build defensive forts and keep peace with friendly tribes.
Bacon ignored the governor and raised an unauthorized army of frontiersmen, small farmers, and servants. After being briefly elected to the House of Burgesses, Bacon marched his troops into Jamestown. On September 19, 1676, during Bacon's Rebellion, Bacon's men set fire to the town, destroying the statehouse, church, and homes. The rebellion ended quickly when Bacon died of dysentery in October. Governor Berkeley regained power and executed 23 rebel leaders at Middle Plantation. King Charles II disapproved of the executions and recalled Berkeley to London.
The Capital Moves to Williamsburg
Settlers rebuilt the statehouse in Jamestown, but it caught fire again in October 1698. Tired of the swampy air, heat, and illnesses like malaria, leaders decided to move the capital.
Students from the College of William & Mary, which was founded in 1693 and met in the Wren Building, presented speeches urging lawmakers to move inland to Middle Plantation. Middle Plantation stood on higher, healthier ground and had access to both the York River and James River through Queen's Creek and College Creek. Prominent leaders including John Page, Thomas Ludwell, Philip Ludwell, Otho Thorpe, Reverend James Blair, and Governor Francis Nicholson supported the plan. In 1699, the House of Burgesses voted to move the capital permanently. They renamed the new capital Williamsburg in honor of King William III.
Later History and Archeology
After the government left, Jamestown declined. By the 1750s, the island had become farmland owned by the Travis and Ambler families. During the American Revolutionary War, American and British soldiers used the island to exchange prisoners. In the American Civil War, Confederate soldiers built an earth fort on the island to protect the river approach to Richmond.
Today, Historic Jamestowne and the nearby Jamestown Settlement museum preserve the site. Archaeologists have uncovered the foundations of James Fort, thousands of early colonial tools, and early graves, helping historians understand how the first English settlers lived.
Images for kids
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Commemorative postage stamps issued in 1907 for the 300th anniversary of Jamestown
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1616 engraving of Pocahontas in English dress
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