Library of Virginia
Virginia Memory: Tobacco Counterblast
In this lesson, students look at why King James I thought that smoking tobacco was a dangerous habit.
Digital History
Digital History: Life in Early Virginia
A good description of the use of indentured servants in early Jamestown as a labor force to cultivate tobacco, the cash crop that saved the colony.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Britain in the New World: The Growth of the Tobacco Trade
Many colonists came to Jamestown to find gold. Read about what finally brought money into the colony, and what John Rolfe's role was in that. Read about who the workers were who provided the labor for this new money source.
Open Door Team
Open Door Web Site: First British Colony: Virginia
Here is a brief, to-the-point account of the settlement at Jamestown and its ultimate success.