British Immigrants

British Immigrants
The British began immigrating to the United States on a charter group led by Captain John Smith in the early 1600's. King James I granted permission in June 1606 to the Virginia Company to fund the expedition. The first official British settlement was founded on May 14, 1607 in Jamestown. (2000, History of Jamestown). Shortly after Jamestown was established, Captain Christopher Newport was hired to transport British people to the new colony. (2005, British Americans).
The British settlers of Jamestown struggled and faced hardships for decades. During the winter of 1609 to 1610, shortage of supplies resulted in a large number of colonist's suffering with starvation or illness. It has been documented that only 60 of the 214 settlers survived the very harsh winter in Jamestown that year. The colony began to fall apart as the remaining survivors fled the area as soon as they could arrange to. Lord De La Ware docked in Jamestown with plenty of supplies onboard ships and became the new Governor. His arrival was heralded by all and brought back the original colonists to Jamestown. Other British people began to immigrate their as well and establish their homes which brought Jamestown back to life.
Native Americans, known as the Algonquians, attacked Jamestown with full force in 1622 which resulted in death or injury of hundreds. King James I revoked his grant to permit the Virginia Company to continue chartering the British across seas. The population lessened drastically and Jamestown began to dissolve by the late 1600's. Over the next few decades, Jamestown was occupied by a variety of people. The Travis and Amber family were the main owners and occupants in 1750. In the 1800's, the military established a post where prisoners were held and exchanged. In 1863, Jamestown was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Edward Barney. Presently, Jamestown is owned and operated by the National Park Service. (2000, History of Jamestown). People now can visit the park and a museum recognizing the British American's who founded Jamestown. The history regarding British immigration and colonization also focuses on the Pilgrims who established Plymouth Colony in 1620. (2006, Cline).

Discrimination
The British have faced very little prejudice, discrimination, segregation, and/or racism throughout history. However, British Americans took part in the injustice of other ethnic groups. The British favored and supported slavery among African American people. Slaves were aggressively imported to Florida by the British during the years 1763 to 1783. Two famous traders that supplied thousands of slaves to families were John Graham and Henry Laurens. Over 3,000 slaves were reported to have been imported to Florida by the British in 1775. However, the Treaty of Paris in 1783 was able to stop the importing of slaves and ended the American Revolution. British American's only faced a hatred from the African American slaves. The British were not forced to segregate, but intentionally did so to avoid social events with other ethnic groups. (2006, West).

British Americans Today
The British Americans traveled across the United States and settled in different areas. Pilgrims left New England and migrated to opposite ends of the country. The 2000 Census reports 36.4 million Americans detected British ancestry in their heritage. The Census report includes English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh descents. Citizens of the United States claimed 24.5 million of them have English heritage, 4.9 million Scottish, 4.3 million Irish, and 1.7 million Welsh. (2000, U.S. Census Bureau)

References
British Americans. (2005). Immigration: The Journey to America. http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/English.html
Cline, Duane A. (2006). The Pilgrims and Plymouth Colony: 1620. Ancestry. http://www.rootsweb.com/~mosmd/
History of Jamestown. (2000). Jamestown: Rediscovery. The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. http://www.apva.org/history/index.html
U.S. Census Bureau. (2000). British Americans. United States: Census 2000. http://www.census.gov
West, Jean M. (2006). Slavery and Sanctuary in Colonial Florida. Slavery in America. http://www.slaveryinamerica.org/history/hs_es_florida_slavery.htm