Jamestown, Virginia, was founded in 1607 and became the first permanent English settlement in North America. This video introduces students to the colonists who sailed there, the Powhatan people whose homeland it was, and the hardships of the early years, including the severe winter of 1609–1610 known as the “Starving Time.”
Students also learn how tobacco farming helped the colony survive, and how the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1619 gave Virginia the first representative assembly in English America.
Use it with students
- Watch once for the big picture, then again to pause and discuss
- Pair with a map of early Virginia
- Ask: What challenges did the settlers face, and how did they respond?