Jamestown and the Southern Colonies

Now that Martina and Terrance have traveled throughout Virginia and the other Southern colonies, they realize it took many different people to help the colonies grow. The Virginia Company of London established Jamestown as an economic venture in 1607. The main factor in settling a colony in the southern portion of America was to make money. They originally wanted to make money mining gold but came to the harsh realization that gold is rare. Instead of mining, the colonists learned to farm tobacco and other cash crops.

While visiting Jamestown, Martina and Terrence even had time to visit a tobacco field. The success of cash crops on the plantations in the Eastern Coastal Lowlands was dependent on slave labor, which was forced from Africa. Life was not always easy in the Southern colonies, but the first permanent English settlement and the first and continuously elected assembly in the New World set America off on the right foot.

Extend Your Learning

Learn more about what life was like for English colonists living in Jamestown by browsing the websites below:

• Historic Jamestowne's Selected Artifacts Collection
• Jamestown Settlement