What led up to the event: In 1605, a company of English merchants asked the Crown for the right to found a settlement in North America. The area they wanted to settle was part of the region called Virginia. King James I granted the request, promising the London Company”the rights to all the lands, woods, soils, grounds, ports, rivers, mines, minerals, and commodities” along a section of the Virginia coast. Jamestown is commonly regarded as the first permanent English settlement, in what is now known as our United States of America. On April 26, 1607 the London Company explorers landed on Jamestown Island, to establish the Virginia English colony, on the banks of the James River. The colonists came to make a profit and planned to return to England, however, they were totally ill prepared for the challenges ahead. The 105 colonists consisted only of men. Many had no families and most did not know how to farm, they were entrepreneurs .The site that was chosen proved to be a bad choice. The land was swampy and the water was salty. By winter almost 2/3 of the original population of the colony were dead, the rest were weak and starving. By January, 1608 only 38 of the original population were still alive. Things began to improve when John Smith arrived, with more colonists, and took control. Jamestown began with having peaceful relationships with local people and formed an alliance. The native population of Algonquian Indians led by Wahunsonacock, traded crops for English made goods and also taught colonists to farm. Their relationship soon started to deteriorate, when colonists often took food from Powhatans by force. It started when the colonists dependency on the Powhatan had faded,causing the relationship to fade as well. They discovered tobacco grew well in Virginia, and the tobacco trade proved to be very profitable. The colonists wanted indian land to grow tobacco and as the colony expanded the relationship deteriorated. Historically, it showed that England could have a colony so far away and it could sustain itself, although it took forever for Jamestown to learn to farm. Jamestown was also the first to bring tobacco to England. A major cash crop for Jamestown.
The event: Being precise, it was only after a lot of suffering that the English settlers of Jamestown managed to stabilize their life pattern. They learned to grow tobacco and started earning profits on their sale of tobacco to England. However in the year 1619, the English settlers of Jamestown witnessed certain changes in their lifestyles. For starters, women came to Jamestown for the very first time, before only men were living there in North America. Another significant change that happened in the same year (1619) was the transfer of Africans, who were brought to the English settlement to work as indentured servants, who signed contracts with their masters to whom they were sold. The final reason that marks the importance of the year 1619 in the history of Jamestown was the establishment of the Virginia House of Burgesses, which was a group of representatives from every farm and plantation, who wrote laws and based the system of the settlement on this governing system. At Jamestown, Virginia, the arrival of "20 and Odd" Blacks in late August of 1619, aboard a Dutch man of war, were sold/traded into servitude for supplies. The arrival of the “20 and odd” African captives, on this day (August 20) in the year 1619, historically marks the early planting of the seeds of the American slave trade. Although American slavery was not a known institution at the time, this group of Africans was the first to go on record to be sold as involuntary laborers. The arrival of the “20 and odd” would steamroll servitude from being a small custom then to legally binding slavery by the 1660s. As early as 1618, King James I had granted a patent to a company that wanted to trade for gold and precious woods in Africa.. The first sign of slavery, in the New World, was rooted from the first documented arrival of those Africans to Virginia, the Dutch trading vessel docked near present-day Hampton. The 20 Africans were traded to the English, as much-needed workers to cultivate tobacco, the new cash crop of Virginia. The institution of slavery slowly crept into Virginia legislation. Although many differences separated Spain and France from England, perhaps the factor that contributed most to distinct paths of colonization was the form of their government. The English kings who ruled the 13 original colonies reserved the right to decide the fate of their colonies as well, but not alone. The colonists drew upon their claims to traditional English rights and insisted on raising their own representative assemblies. Such was the case with the VIRGINIA HOUSE OF BURGESSES, the first popularly elected legislature in the New World. After his arrival in Jamestown in 1619, Governor George Yeardley immediately gave notice that the Virginia colony would establish a legislative assembly. This assembly, the House of Burgesses, first met on July 30, 1619. Created in 1619, it was the first elected legislative assembly of the "New World" (in this case referring to the Americas) and originated in Jamestown. The House of Burgesses enacted legislation for the colony of Virginia. Legislation passed by the House of Burgesses was subject to veto by the Governor, council and the directors in London. One of the most prominent laws passed by the House of Burgesses was passed. Prior to this law, Africans were allowed only to be used as indentured servants. The law required that Africans and their offspring were to be treated as lifelong slaves.
Impact: The first sign of “Slavery” in Jamestown, laid the groundwork for Slavery to spread in the New World. Africans were the immigrants to the British New World, that had no choice in their destinations or destinies. The first African Americans that arrived in Jamestown in 1619 on a Dutch trading ship were not slaves, nor were they free. They served time as indentured servants until their obligations were complete. Although these lucky individuals lived out the remainder of their lives as free men, the passing decades would make this a rarity. Despite the complete lack of a slave tradition in mother England, slavery gradually replaced indentured servitude as the chief means for plantation labor in the Old South. By 1660, slavery as we think of it today was established in Virginia. Tobacco was extremely labor-intensive, and more and more workers were needed. The sale of Africans to Virginia planters promised to be a profitable endeavor.The House of Burgesses established a precedent. English colonies would have elected representatives to advise the Governor. Soon these assemblies had the power to levy taxes, spend money for government projects, and pass local laws, instead of requesting help from England and Parliament. The americans would deal with problems through their local assemblies. By doing this, the towns learned how to cope with their problems, within their own governments. Also, if it wasnt for the House of Burgesses, governments within America would be much different from what they are today.
The event: Being precise, it was only after a lot of suffering that the English settlers of Jamestown managed to stabilize their life pattern. They learned to grow tobacco and started earning profits on their sale of tobacco to England. However in the year 1619, the English settlers of Jamestown witnessed certain changes in their lifestyles. For starters, women came to Jamestown for the very first time, before only men were living there in North America. Another significant change that happened in the same year (1619) was the transfer of Africans, who were brought to the English settlement to work as indentured servants, who signed contracts with their masters to whom they were sold. The final reason that marks the importance of the year 1619 in the history of Jamestown was the establishment of the Virginia House of Burgesses, which was a group of representatives from every farm and plantation, who wrote laws and based the system of the settlement on this governing system. At Jamestown, Virginia, the arrival of "20 and Odd" Blacks in late August of 1619, aboard a Dutch man of war, were sold/traded into servitude for supplies. The arrival of the “20 and odd” African captives, on this day (August 20) in the year 1619, historically marks the early planting of the seeds of the American slave trade. Although American slavery was not a known institution at the time, this group of Africans was the first to go on record to be sold as involuntary laborers. The arrival of the “20 and odd” would steamroll servitude from being a small custom then to legally binding slavery by the 1660s. As early as 1618, King James I had granted a patent to a company that wanted to trade for gold and precious woods in Africa.. The first sign of slavery, in the New World, was rooted from the first documented arrival of those Africans to Virginia, the Dutch trading vessel docked near present-day Hampton. The 20 Africans were traded to the English, as much-needed workers to cultivate tobacco, the new cash crop of Virginia. The institution of slavery slowly crept into Virginia legislation. Although many differences separated Spain and France from England, perhaps the factor that contributed most to distinct paths of colonization was the form of their government. The English kings who ruled the 13 original colonies reserved the right to decide the fate of their colonies as well, but not alone. The colonists drew upon their claims to traditional English rights and insisted on raising their own representative assemblies. Such was the case with the VIRGINIA HOUSE OF BURGESSES, the first popularly elected legislature in the New World. After his arrival in Jamestown in 1619, Governor George Yeardley immediately gave notice that the Virginia colony would establish a legislative assembly. This assembly, the House of Burgesses, first met on July 30, 1619. Created in 1619, it was the first elected legislative assembly of the "New World" (in this case referring to the Americas) and originated in Jamestown. The House of Burgesses enacted legislation for the colony of Virginia. Legislation passed by the House of Burgesses was subject to veto by the Governor, council and the directors in London. One of the most prominent laws passed by the House of Burgesses was passed. Prior to this law, Africans were allowed only to be used as indentured servants. The law required that Africans and their offspring were to be treated as lifelong slaves.
Impact: The first sign of “Slavery” in Jamestown, laid the groundwork for Slavery to spread in the New World. Africans were the immigrants to the British New World, that had no choice in their destinations or destinies. The first African Americans that arrived in Jamestown in 1619 on a Dutch trading ship were not slaves, nor were they free. They served time as indentured servants until their obligations were complete. Although these lucky individuals lived out the remainder of their lives as free men, the passing decades would make this a rarity. Despite the complete lack of a slave tradition in mother England, slavery gradually replaced indentured servitude as the chief means for plantation labor in the Old South. By 1660, slavery as we think of it today was established in Virginia. Tobacco was extremely labor-intensive, and more and more workers were needed. The sale of Africans to Virginia planters promised to be a profitable endeavor.The House of Burgesses established a precedent. English colonies would have elected representatives to advise the Governor. Soon these assemblies had the power to levy taxes, spend money for government projects, and pass local laws, instead of requesting help from England and Parliament. The americans would deal with problems through their local assemblies. By doing this, the towns learned how to cope with their problems, within their own governments. Also, if it wasnt for the House of Burgesses, governments within America would be much different from what they are today.