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Discover the story of the 1609 shipwreck of the Sea Venture in Bermuda and find out how the passengers and crew survived and managed to get to their original destination, Jamestown, Virginia.

Virginia played an important role in the 17th-century world economy.  The colony became the main supplier of tobacco to England and Europe and imported manufactured goods made in many parts of the world.

Jamestown was the first English settlement in Virginia in 1607. Within a few years, though, the colony began to stretch its boundaries both in population and territory.

One of the most famous love stories in history is that of Pocahontas and John Smith. There’s only one little problem with that romantic tale: It never happened.

In late April 1607 after 6,000 miles and over four months at sea, a little flotilla bearing 104 settlers and the hopes of anxious investors, rounded Cape Henry beginning the grand adventure that became Virginia.

For nearly two decades the Virginia Company of London tried to exploit its monopoly in the New World. Despite its efforts and innovations, its money and influence, the company could not make the colony pay.

Tobacco cultivation in early Virginia could be lucrative if one had land and labor. Land was there for the taking, labor was another matter.

Although outnumbered, sometimes six to one, women played an important role in the survival and prosperity of Jamestown and Virginia.

The prospects for Virginia seemed bleak in 1618. The death rate was high, there were few if any profits or capital resources, and the course of the colony was uncertain. That year the colony acquired a new leader and a new direction.

Angela, an African from what is now the modern nation of Angola, was captured by Portuguese slave traders for shipment to the Spanish colony of Mexico. In 1619, when her ship was captured by privateers in the Caribbean, she became one of the first Africans in Virginia.

In a burst of entrepreneurial creativity, the Virginia Company, founder of the Jamestown colony, tried again and again to make the colony a commercial success.

Councilor, geographer, diplomat, soldier, taskmaster.  In great measure the Jamestown settlement survived by the hand of Captain John Smith.

In 1607 Indians of Virginia’s Tidewater discovered they had new neighbors on the James River. Their leaders, Powhatan and Opechancanough, countered the English threat in different ways.

Over its seventeen year life span, the Virginia Company struggled to plant a colony far from the edge of European civilization and to make it yield a profit. To some extent they were making it up as they went along.

The Virginia Company’s huge investment finally paid off. Although it came too late to save the company, the profits from tobacco made Jamestown a significant player in the world economy.

In 1607, when Christopher Newport’s little fleet anchored in what would be called the James River, it made rival claim to a domain inhabited by the highly organized and sophisticated Powhatan paramount chiefdom.

The great tobacco fortunes of early Virginia would not have been possible but for the steady supply of African slaves toward the end of the 17th century. They were transported from Africa along an extensive and sophisticated pipeline.

When the early colonists departed England bound for Virginia, they left behind a society divided by class, rank, wealth and religion, but also one uniquely unified in its view of the world.

Religion, notably Protestantism, played a central role in the life of the colonists, illustrated by the famous cross-planting at Cape Henry and the early construction of several churches within the Jamestown colony.

Starting in 1608, women began arriving in Jamestown, where many could achieve a status and freedom unheard of in England.

Three small ships sailed from England to establish a colony in Virginia, arriving in May 1607. Jamestown became America’s first permanent English settlement.

Although slavery was not a prominent component of the early Jamestown settlement, the institution took root in Virginia with the growth of the tobacco industry and became a prototype for the other colonies.

Shareholder discontent with martial law in the new colony prompted the creation of the “New Charter” which directly led to the first legislative assembly in the New World.

Jamestown was founded primarily as a commercial investment by the shareholders of The Virginia Company. But the colony simply struggled to survive for many years. Tobacco eventually proved to be the “gold” of the region - although the original Jamestown investors never did reap their own hoped-for returns.

Trade between the Jamestown settlers and the Powhatan Indians became increasingly important.  The English relied on the Indians for food and information, while the Powhatan found English copper and metal tools desireable.

Powhatan was the paramount chief of some 30 Powhatan Indian tribes when English settlers arrived at Jamestown in 1607. His daughter Pocahontas befriended the English and at times served as intermediary between the two cultural groups.

Brought to Jamestown as a captive, Captain John Smith became part of the governing council of Jamestown and an iconic historical figure due to his skillful leadership of the threatened colony and strong relationships with the Native Americans.

Early 17th-century Jamestown colonists had a difficult time adjusting to the environment of Virginia. For several years, the colony struggled through supply shortages, sickness, death and lack of strong leadership, and it depended on a constant stream of settlers and provisions to survive.