The demand for sugar and tobacco fueled the growth of new colonies in Brazil, Jamestown, Maryland and the Caribbean Islands. The new colonies diminished Spains power in the New World and created a new pressure on native life. In 1606 all lands stretching from present-day North Carolina to southern New York was granted to the Virginia Company by King James I. They named this land Virginia to honor Elizabeth I. The first people to arrive were a group of all men, no women, farmers or ministers. The group of men were expected to extract tributes from the natives and collect valuable commodities, such as pearls or gold. The men did not find any gold and did poorly in the new land. After four months, the men arrived in Virginia and found a swampy peninsula, which they named Jamestown. Jamestown lacked access to fresh water, the men didnt plant crops and nine months later only 38 of the 120 men were still alive. Many of the men were killed by diseases and famine. The local Indian tribes chief called Powhatan was willing to treat the English as allies. He expected tribute from the English in exchange for goods. Powhatan provided the English with corn and in return he asked for hatchets, bells, beads, copper and two guns. The chief expected the colony to become a dependent community within his chiefdom. He arranged a marriage between his daughter Pocahontas and an English colonist named John Rolfe. Though they tried to form a symbiotic relationship, the
inability to decide who would pay tribute to who led to many years of uneasiness and eventually led to a long period of warfare. The war was started by the discovery of Tobacco. Tobacco was used for medicine and as a stimulant by the Indians. John Rolfe found a strain that flourished in Virginia. Tobacco was sold for a high price in England and soon the English craved the nicotine that was in the tobacco. To assist the flow of migrants to Jamestown, the Virginia Company allowed settlers to own land and the company created a system of government called the House of Burgesses. The stream of migrants entering Virginia created a conflict with their Indian neighbors. Powhatans successor Opechancanough first attacked English settlers and stood aloof to them. He became chief in 1621 and in 1622 he planned a surprise attack that killed nearly one-third of the English population. The English retaliated by seizing the fields and food, they declared a perpetual war without peace that lasted a decade. Appalled by the native’s uprising, James I made Virginia a royal colony, meaning that the king and his ministers appointed governors and councils. The House of Burgesses remained but the King’s Privy council had to ratify all legislation. Residents of Jamestown also now had to pay taxes and support its clergy. Jamestown became a model example for new colonies throughout English America despite its hard beginnings and conflicts with its neighboring Indians.