Two Worlds on the James River
On May 14, 1607, English colonists established a settlement at Jamestown in Virginia. Under the calendar then used in England, this is the date traditionally given for the settlement’s founding. The place was already part of the homeland of Indigenous peoples, including the Powhatan communities. It was not an empty land waiting to be discovered.
Jamestown stood within Tsenacomoco, the homeland of the Powhatan people. Powhatan, also known by his name Wahunsenacawh, led a powerful alliance of communities in the Tidewater region. His center of leadership was Werowocomoco, a town with a much longer history than the English settlement. Archaeologists have found evidence that people lived there thousands of years before Jamestown was founded.
The English settlers arrived as members of a company hoping to establish a colony. They built a fort on the James River and named it for King James I. Nearby Indigenous people were already farming, fishing, trading, and governing their communities. The new settlement therefore entered a lived-in political landscape, where English plans met the decisions and interests of Powhatan leaders and their people.
- settlement:
- A place or community where people establish a new home.
- colonists:
- People who leave their home country to settle in a new territory controlled by their government.
- alliance:
- A partnership formed between groups or communities to work together.
- archaeologists:
- Scientists who study human history by digging up and examining ancient objects and sites.
- expansion:
- The act of growing larger or taking up more land and space.
- descendants:
- People related to ancestors who lived in an earlier time.
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Preview questions from this passageShowHide
- 1What is the main idea of the article regarding the founding of Jamestown?
- 2Why was the land around the James River not considered an 'empty land' when the English arrived?
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About this explanatory article passage for Upper Elementary
“Two Worlds on the James River” is a explanatory article reading passage about Jamestown and the Powhatan Chiefdom, written for Upper Elementary. It takes about 3 minutes to read (472 words) and comes with an interactive quiz and a printable worksheet with comprehension questions and an answer key.