The document summarizes the early history of the Jamestown colony in Virginia. It discusses how the colony was established in 1607 by the Virginia Company with three ships carrying colonists. The colonists had a difficult early period, with many dying the first winter due to being unprepared and settling in a poor location. The Powhatan Confederacy, a group of Algonquian tribes led by Chief Powhatan, initially helped the colonists by teaching them farming. However, conflicts arose later as colonists sought the tribes' land. The economy transitioned to tobacco plantations worked by indentured servants and enslaved Africans brought to Virginia beginning in 1619.