England wanted to establish an American colony to increase her its wealth and power. England hoped to find silver and gold in America.

England wanted to establish an American colony to increase her its wealth and power.

• England hoped to find silver and gold in America

• An American settlement would furnish raw materials that could not be grown or obtained in England, while opening new markets for trade.

•

• Jamestown was primarily an economic venture.

• The stockholders of the Virginia Company of London financed the settlement of Jamestown.

• Jamestown became the first permanent English settlement in North America in 1607.

•Tobacco in Jamestown

Tobacco was grown in Jamestown as a cash crop

A cash crop is

• any crop that is grown for sale rather than for personal food or for feeding to livestock

There were no banks in

colonial Virginia. Tobacco was often used in

place of money.

=

Tobacco would be used to barter or trade for needed supplies.

• Tobacco was called a "13 month" crop. Seedbeds were planted beginning in January and seedlings were transplanted in early spring.

• The plants required worming, weeding, topping, and suckering until harvest time in September. Tobacco used up the nutrients in the soil in a few years and required large amounts of labor to cultivate.

• The VA colony became dependent on slave labor and large number of Africans came from Africa against their will because successful tobacco growth depended on inexpensive labor.