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John Smith had the largest impact when he founded the colony of Virginia. He served as a leader and kept the settlement successful during struggles. Other well known people from the colony are Pocahontas and her husband John Rolfe who was the first to grew tobacco in Virginia.

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Virginia started off as a colony ruled by King James 1 from England. Later they established a colonial legislature of Virginia and House of Burgesses that was governed with a colonial government. Eventually the colony set up a representative democratic government to rule.

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In 1607 John Smith founded the 1st of the 13 colonies in Jamestown, Virginia. The colony was founded to gain wealth and convert the natives to Christianity. In 1624 Virginia was made a Royal Colony, then it gained independence from the British in 1775. The colony became a state in 1778 and finally abolished slavery in 1865.

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The 13 colonies were split into 3 groups; New England, Middle and Southern Colonies. Virginia was considered part of the Southern Colonies based on location. It was home to mass costal plains, valleys, and mountains. The costal plains were home to many tobacco farms that thrived off the fertile land.

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Virginia's main exports were tobacco and cotton but they also traded livestock, grain, fruits and vegetables.

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https://www.thoughtco.com/virginia-colony-103882

https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/a-short-history-of-jamestown.htm

http://www.softschools.com/facts/13_colonies/virginia_colony_facts/2046/

http://www.ushistory.org/gov/2a.asp

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Virginia was overall a very prosperous colony. Their leaders were well fit for the job, their land was fertile, their exports thrived, the government was strong, and it was a great place for people to settle when coming to America.

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Economically Virginia was a very successful colony. They created a large tobacco industry using slave labor.

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Christianity was very common in the Virginia colony at this time.