First Half of American History

1. The means and methods and reasons for the founding of the first English colonies
- By the sixteenth century, many countries, including Spain, France and the Netherlands, had established colonies in the New World. Until the foundation of Jamestown, however, the English didn't have any successful permanent colonies in North America.
- Prior to Jamestown, Sir Walter Raleigh of the Sea Dogs formed a joint stock company and received a charter to found a colony on Roanoke Island in 1584. It failed, and he tried again in 1585 and 1587. Both were failures, and the fate of the 1587 colony remains a mystery (all colonists disappeared).
- Anyhow, several factors encouraged the English to try again with Jamestown even after their earlier failures, and motivated people to join the expeditions. These reasons include...
"Overcrowding" - England had experienced a dramatic population boom, resulting in social and economic upheaval (inflation, falling wages, peasants losing their land b/c of the enclosure movement, many homeless people, rapidly growing cities).
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