Presentation U.S. History Primary Source Timeline
Overview When the London Company sent out its first expedition to begin colonizing Virginia on December 20, 1606, it was by no means the first European attempt to exploit North America.
Evolution of the Virginia Colony, 1611-1624 Almost from the start, investors in the Virginia Company in England were unhappy with the accomplishments of their Jamestown colonists. They therefore sought a new charter, which the king granted in May 1609.
Virginia's Early Relations with Native Americans Those living in the area where Jamestown was settled must have had mixed feelings about the arrival of the English in 1607. One of their first reactions was hostility based on their previous experience with Spanish explorers along their coastline.
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1. When we talk about the European settling of North America, the word "first" creeps into the discussion very soon—the first ever, the first "permanent," the first "permanent" that still exists today, the first with women and children, the first Spanish/French/English, etc. While the discussion may force us to define our terms, a valuable
exercise, we will begin this topic, SETTLEMENT, with "first arrivals"—Europeans who cross the Atlantic, disembark on land unsettled by Europeans, find a suitable site, and begin to build with the intention of staying, not merely exploring.
First Arrivals
To gain a fresh perspective on these well-known "first arrivals," view the European and Indian
artifacts unearthed from each settlement before you read the documents. (13 pages, excluding the artifacts.) Discussion questions
[Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, Historia general de los hechos de los Castellanos en las islas y tierra firme del Mar Oceano (General
History of the Deeds of the Castilians on the Islands and Mainland of the Ocean Sea), Madrid, 1601-1615]
[George Percy, Observations Gathered out of a Discourse of the Plantation of the Southern Colony in
Virginia by the English, 1606, publ. 1608]
[William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation, written between 1630 and 1647]
- Which experiences are shared by the "first arrivals"? Which are unique?
- What obstacles to settlement do these accounts describe?
- How does each settlement's purpose and leadership affect its outcome?
- What is the role of the environment? the native inhabitants? the European sponsors?
- Which decisions made in the first months of a settlement prove critical to its outcome? Do they seem critical at the time they are made?
- What surprised you in reading primary texts from these settlements? How do they compare with the cultural icons of "Columbus," "Jamestown," and "Plymouth"?
- In comparing settlement accounts with exploration narratives, what would you define as the major difference?
Printing
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Supplemental SitesEuropean Voyages of Exploration: Christopher Columbus, from the University of Calgary |
*PDF file - You will need software on your computer that allows you to read and print Portable Document Format (PDF) files, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have this software, you may download it FREE from Adobe's Web site.
Texts: Isabella, Jamestown, & Plymouth: | National Humanities Center |
Artifacts: Isabella: Jamestown: Plymouth: | Underwater Science Program, University of Indiana Virtual Jamestown, from the University of Virginia et al. The Plymouth Colony Archive Project, from the University of Virginia |
Image: Insula hyspana, woodcut in Carlo Cerardi, [Historia Baetica] In laudem serenissimi Ferdinandi Hispania [rum] regis, Bethicae [et] regni Granatae, 1494. Reproduced by permission of the John Carter Brown Library, Brown University, #0229-6.