VIRGINIA AND JAMESTOWN
JAMESTOWN, VIRGINIA
On May 14, 1607, a group of roughly 100
members of a joint venture called the Virginia Company founded the first
permanent English settlement in North America on the banks of the James River.
Famine, disease and conflict with local
Native American tribes in the first two years brought Jamestown to the brink of
failure before the arrival of a new group of settlers and supplies in 1610.
During the 1620s, Jamestown expanded from
the area around the original James Fort into a New Town built to the east; it
remained the capital of the Virginia colony until 1699.
Known variously as James Forte, James Towne
and James Cittie, the new settlement initially consisted of a wooden fort built
in a triangle around a storehouse for weapons and other supplies, a church and
a number of houses.
The colony was a private venture, financed and
organized by the Virginia Company of London. King James I granted a charter to a group of investors for the
establishment of the company on April 10, 1606. During this era, “Virginia” was the English name for the entire East Coast of North Americanorth of Florida.
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