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• Jamestown, a settlement of England's Virginia Colony, was founded in 1607, and was the first successful English settlement in the New World.

• Fast Facts

  1. Preceded by the Roanoke Colony and the Popham Colony
  2. Founded: May 14, 1607
  3. Three ships used: Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery
  4. No women were aboard the first ships
  5. Site chosen for defensive advantage
  6. Land was swampy, infested with mosquitoes and had no good drinking water

• Key Dates

  1. June 1606: King James I charters the Virginia Company to establish a settlement near the Chesapeake Bay
  2. April 26, 1607: Colonists arrive
  3. May 14, 1607: Site chosen on the James River, 60 miles from the Chesapeake
  4. 1607: Pocahontas allegedly saves Captain John Smith from death at the hands of Chief Powhatan
  5. 1608: Most of Jamestown destroyed by fire, Pocohantas provides supplies
  6. 1609-1610: John Smith leaves Jamestown, most colonists die that winter of starvation and disease
  7. July 30, 1619: First representative assembly in the New World convenes at Jamestown
  8. 1622: Over 300 settlers killed in Indian attack
  9. 1624: Charter revoked by King James I, due to mismanagement and poor relations with Indians

• Historical Overview

  Jamestown was in many ways a failed experiment: Begun with high expectations from the investors who financed it, by 1611, it had amassed little besides a record of deaths, losses, and disasters, and exported nothing of value. A turn in fortune came with the discovery of tobacco as a suitable export crop, making colonists such as John Rolfe (the husband of Pocahontas) wealthy and regionally powerful, and leading to an economic boom that fueled further investment and expansion.

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