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The Establishment of Jamestown
This is the year in which the English return to the "New World" and establish Jamestown. Jamestown is the first permanent English establishment in North America! Today, Jamestown is a massive archaeological site and is the largest, most important, in U.S. history. -
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The Fort Overtime
Through the Development of Jamestown, the fort changed over time as well:
1607: Triangle fort of upright logs- (about an acre)
1608: Pentagon-type structure. Mud and stud baracks, resembling architecture in England.
1610: Now, the fort has changed from a military outpost to a capital city feel. -
Tobacco in Jamestown
John Rolfe thought that Virginia might be an ideal site for tobacco growth. There were earlier attempts to sell Virginian tobacco, but they had fallen short of expectations. People who smoked it felt that the tobacco of the Caribbean was much less strong than Virginian tobacco. John Rolfe reacted to the demand by importing seeds from the West Indies and growing the plant in the Jamestown colony. Those tobacco seeds became the seeds of a huge economic empire. -
John Rolfe and Pocahontas
John Rolfe marries Pocahontas. -
Pocahontas Dies
In March of 1617, the Rolfes boarded a ship to return to Virginia. The ship had not gone far when Pocahontas fell sick. She was taken ashore, where she died -
Period: to
The Great Migration
The "Great Migration" increases Jamestown's population from 400 to 4,500 but most die from disease, starvation, and Indian attack.
