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In 1607, 104 English men and boys arrived in North America to start a settlement. On May 13 they picked Jamestown, Virginia for their settlement, which was named after their King, James I. The settlement became the first permanent English settlement in North America.
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This happened during the winter of 1609-1610. Many people died form starvation. All but 60 of 500 colonists died!
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In the beggining of 1612 John Rolfe introduces tobacco seeds to Jamestown and the colonists were soon growing tobacco as a cash crop.
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He called for the first representative legislative assembly. This was the beginning of representative government in what is now the United States of America. This assembly was called the House of Burgesses.
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The Powhatans started a war because the colonists pressed into their territory for new land to cultivate.
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Due to overwhelming financial problems and politics, Virginia became a royal colony, which it remained until the Revolutionary War.
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The fire destroyed the prison and the statehouse. As a result, n 1699, the government and capital were moved from Jamestown to Middle Plantation, renamed Williamsburg. People continued to live on Jamestown Island and owned farm lands, but it ceased to be a town.
