1607Reputable sourceWell documented
Jamestown and the First English Colonies
On the timeline · around 1607 ·
What happened
English settlers founded Jamestown in Virginia, the first permanent English colony in the Americas. Precarious at first — beset by starvation and conflict — it survived on tobacco and began the wave of English settlement that would spread down the Atlantic seaboard.
Why it matters
Jamestown was the seed of Britain's empire in the Americas and of the future United States. It also marked the beginning of English colonial society, indentured labour, and, from 1619, African slavery in the colonies.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Jamestown Colony of Virginia · Reputable source