Basic intro to Jamestown for 7th graders

1. Jamestown
And the Starving Time…

2. Vocabulary
part 1
- Indentured servants- an employee (indenturee)
within a system of unfree labor who is bound by a
contract (indenture) to work without pay for the
owner of the indenture for a period of time to pay a
debt
- Joint Stock Company- a company whose stock is
owned jointly by the shareholders.
- Capital- wealth contributed for a purpose such as
starting a company or investing
- Economy - the wealth and resources of a country or
region, especially the production and consumption of
goods and services..

3. Vocab part 2
- Absolute Monarchy- is a state in which the monarch has sovereign power and controls all
aspects of government
- Limited (Constitutional Monarchy)- a state in which the power of the monarch is
checked by a constitution and a REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY
- Constitution – a plan of government
- Representative Assembly - a political institution in which a number of persons representing
the population come together to debate, negotiate with the executive (originally the king or
other ruler) and legislate (make law)
- HOUSE OF BURGESSES- the first popularly elected legislature in the New World

4. Tobacco
and
Democracy
John Rolfe brought tobacco seeds from the
West Indies where it was already being
grown on plantations.
It drained the soil of nutrients and created
a big demand for new land- making the
Powhatan very mad. It was their land that
was being taken!.
It also required a lot of workers and this
began the use of Indentured Servants

5. Tobacco and Democracy
Because Englishmen had the right to be represented in government by elected
officials (in the Magna Carta), the colonists expected this too.
Modeled after the English Parliament, the General Assembly was established in
1619 (eventually called the House of Burgesses)
The tradition established by the House of Burgesses was extremely important to
colonial development.
Each new English colony demanded its own legislature in turn.
By the Revolution, colonists had been practicing democracy for 157 years!