document_title: History of Jamestown, Virginia (1607–99)

question_text: what was kept sealed until the colonists' arrived in virginia

question_tokens: what was kept sealed until the colonists ' arrived in virginia

text: History of Jamestown, Virginia (1607–99)

text: Arrival and First Landing[edit]

text: Virginia Company of London sent an expedition to establish a settlement in the Virginia Colony in December 1606. The expedition consisted of three ships, Susan Constant (sometimes known as Sarah Constant), Godspeed, and Discovery. The Discovery was the smallest ship; the largest ship, the Susan Constant, was captained by Christopher Newport. The ships left Blackwall, now part of London, with 105 men and boys and 39 crew-members.[1][2]

text: By April 6, 1607, Godspeed, Susan Constant and Discovery arrived at the Spanish colony of Puerto Rico, where they stopped for provisions before continuing their journey. In April 1607, the expedition reached the southern edge of the mouth of what is now known as the Chesapeake Bay. After an unusually long journey of more than four months, the 104 men and boys (one passenger of the original 105 died during the journey) arrived at their chosen settlement spot in Virginia.[3] There were no women on the first ships.[4]

text: Arriving at the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay in late April, they named the Virginia capes after the sons of their king, the southern Cape Henry, for Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, and the northern Cape Charles, for his younger brother, Charles, Duke of York. On April 26, 1607, upon landing at Cape Henry, Chaplain Robert Hunt offered a prayer, and they set up a cross near the site of the current Cape Henry Memorial. This site came to be known as the "first landing." A party of the men explored the area and had a minor conflict with some Virginia Indians.[5]

text: Exploration, seeking a site[edit]

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text: After the expedition arrived in what is now Virginia, sealed orders from the Virginia Company were opened. These orders named Captain John Smith as a member of the governing Council. Smith had been arrested for mutiny during the voyage and was incarcerated aboard one of the ships. He had been scheduled to be hanged upon arrival, but was freed by Captain Newport after the opening of the orders. The same orders also directed the expedition to seek an inland site for their settlement, which would afford protection from enemy ships.

text: Obedient to their orders, the settlers and crewmembers re-boarded their three ships and proceeded into the Chesapeake Bay. They landed again at what is now called Old Point Comfort in the City of Hampton. In the following days, seeking a suitable location for their settlement, the ships ventured upstream along the James River. Both the James River and the settlement they sought to establish, Jamestown (originally called "James His Towne") were named in honor of King James I.

text: The selection of Jamestown[edit]

text: On May 14, 1607, the colonists chose Jamestown Island for their settlement pretty much because the Virginia Company advised them to select a location that could be easily defended from attacks by other European states that were also establishing New World colonies and were periodically at war with England, notably the Dutch Republic, France, and Spain.

text: The island fit the criteria as it had excellent visibility up and down the James River, and it was far enough inland to minimize the potential of contact and conflict with enemy ships. The water immediately adjacent to the land was deep enough to permit the colonists to anchor their ships, yet have an easy and quick departure if necessary. An additional benefit of the site was that the land was not occupied by the Virginia Indians, most of whom were affiliated with the Powhatan Confederacy. Largely cut off from the mainland, the shallow harbor afforded the earliest settlers docking of their ships. This was its greatest attraction, but it also created a number of challenging problems for the settlers.

text: Construction of the fort[edit]

text: The settlers came ashore and quickly set about constructing their initial fort. Despite the immediate area of Jamestown being uninhabited, the settlers were attacked less than two weeks after their arrival on May 14, by Paspahegh Indians who succeeded in killing one of the settlers and wounding eleven more. Within a month, James Fort covered an acre on Jamestown Island. The wooden palisaded walls formed a triangle around a storehouse, church, and a number of houses. The fort burned down the following year.[6]

text: It soon became apparent why the Virginia Indians did not occupy the site: Jamestown Island, then a peninsula, is a swampy area, and its isolation from the mainland meant that there was limited hunting available, as most game animals required larger foraging areas. The settlers quickly hunted and killed off all the large and smaller game animals that were found on the tiny peninsula. In addition, the low, marshy area was infested with airborne pests, including mosquitoes, which carried malaria, and the brackish water of the tidal James River was not a good source of water. Over 135 settlers died from malaria, and drinking the salinated and contaminated water caused many to suffer from saltwater poisoning, fevers, and dysentery.

text: Original Council, notables of Jamestown in 1607[edit]

text: King James I had outlined the members of the Council to govern the settlement in the sealed orders which left London with the colonists in 1606.[7]

text: Those named for the initial Council were:

text:
Bartholomew Gosnold, Captain of Godspeed
Christopher Newport, Captain of Susan Constant, later of Sea Venture
George Kendall, later executed by capital punishment in Jamestown
John Martin, later founder of Martin's Brandon Plantation
George Percy, twice president of the council
John Ratcliffe, Captain of Discovery, second President of the Council
John Smith, third President of the Council, and author of many books from the period.
Edward Maria Wingfield, first President of the Council at Jamestown

text: The Council received additional members from the First and Second Supply missions brought by Captain Newport. These were:

text:
Matthew Scrivener (First Supply)
Peter Winne (Second Supply)

text: Also notable among the first settlers was:

text: Robert Hunt, chaplain who gave the first Christian prayer at Cape Henry on April 26, 1607, and held open-air services at Jamestown until a church was built there.

text: Many of the settlers who came over on the initial three ships were not well-equipped for the life they found in Jamestown. A number of the original settlers were upper-class gentlemen who were not accustomed to manual labor; the group included very few farmers or skilled laborers.[8] The climate, location, and makeup of the settlement resulted in many settlers dying of disease and starvation.

text: First and Second Supply missions[edit]

text: By June 15, the settlers finished building the triangular James Fort. A week later, Newport sailed back for London on Susan Constant with a load of pyrite ("fools’ gold") and other supposedly precious minerals, leaving behind 104 colonists and Discovery. Newport returned twice from England with additional supplies in the following 18 months, leading what were termed the First and Second Supply missions.

text: First Supply[edit]

text: The "First Supply" arrived on January 2, 1608. It contained insufficient provisions and more than 70 new colonists.[9] Despite original intentions to grow food and trade with the Virginia Indians, the barely surviving colonists became dependent upon supply missions.

text: Second Supply[edit]

text: On October 1, 1608, 70 new settlers arrived aboard the English "Mary and Margaret" with the Second Supply, following a journey of approximately three months. Included in the Second Supply were Thomas Graves, Thomas Forrest, Esq and "Mistress Forrest and Anne Burras her maide." Mistress Forrest and Anne Burras were the first two women known to have come to the Jamestown Colony. Remains unearthed at Jamestown in 1997 may be those of Mistress Forrest.[10]

text: Also included on the Second Supply were the first non-English settlers. The company recruited these as skilled craftsmen and industry specialists: soap-ash, glass, lumber milling (wainscot, clapboard, and ‘deal’ — planks, especially soft wood planks) and naval stores (pitch, turpentine, and tar).[11][12][13][14][15][16] Among these additional settlers were eight "Dutch-men" (consisting of unnamed craftsmen and three who were probably the wood-mill-men — Adam, Franz and Samuel) "Dutch-men" (probably meaning German or German-speakers),[17] Polish and Slovak craftsmen,[11][12][13][14][15][16] who had been hired by the Virginia Company of London's leaders to help develop and manufacture profitable export products. There has been debate about the nationality of the specific craftsmen, and both the Germans and Poles claim the glassmaker for one of their own, but the evidence is insufficient.[18] Ethnicity is further complicated by the fact that the German minority in Royal Prussia lived under Polish control during this period. These workers staged the first recorded strike in Colonial America for the right to vote in the colony's 1619 election.

text: William Volday/Wilhelm Waldi, a Swiss German mineral prospector, was also among those who arrived in 1608. His mission was seeking a silver reservoir that was believed to be within the proximity of Jamestown.[19] Some of the settlers were artisans who built a glass furnace which became the first proto-factory in British North America. Additional craftsmen produced soap, pitch, and wood building supplies. Among all of these were the first made-in-America products to be exported to Europe.[20] However, despite all these efforts, profits from exports were not sufficient to meet the expenses and expectations of the investors back in England, and no silver or gold had been discovered, as earlier hoped.

text: Jamestown under John Smith's leadership[edit]

text: Virginia Company of London's unrealistic expectations[edit]

text: The investors of the Virginia Company of London expected to reap rewards from their speculative investments. With the Second Supply, they expressed their frustrations and made demands upon the leaders of Jamestown in written form.

text: It fell to the third president of the Council to deliver a reply. By this time, Wingfield and Ratcliffe had been replaced by John Smith. Ever bold, Smith delivered what must have been a wake-up call to the investors in London. In what has been termed "Smith's Rude Answer", he composed a letter, writing (in part):

text: Smith did begin his letter with something of an apology, saying "I humbly intreat your Pardons if I offend you with my rude Answer...",[21] although at the time, the word ‘rude’ was acknowledged to mean ‘unfinished’ or ‘rural’, in the same way modern English uses ‘rustic’.

text: There are strong indications that those in London comprehended and embraced Smith's message. Their Third Supply mission was by far the largest and best equipped. They even had a new purpose-built flagship constructed, Sea Venture, placed in the most experienced of hands, Christopher Newport. With a fleet of no fewer than eight ships, the Third Supply, led by Sea Venture, left Plymouth in June, 1609.

text: On the subject of the Virginia Company, it is notable that, throughout its existence, Sir Edwin Sandys, was a leading force. He, of course, also hoped for profits, but also his goals included a permanent colony which would enlarge English territory, relieve the nation's overpopulation, and expand the market for English goods. He is closely identified with a faction of the company led by Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton. Although profits proved elusive for their investors, the visions for the Colony of Sir Edwin Sandys and the Earl of Southampton were eventually accomplished.

text: Smith's role[edit]

text: In the months before becoming president of the colony for a year in September 1608, Captain John Smith did considerable exploration up the Chesapeake Bay and along the various rivers. He is credited by legend with naming Stingray Point (near present-day Deltaville in Middlesex County for an incident there).

text: Smith was always seeking a supply of food for the colonists, and he successfully traded for food with the Nansemonds, who were located along the Nansemond River in the modern-day City of Suffolk, and several other groups. However, while leading one food-gathering expedition in December 1607 (before his term as colony president), this time up the Chickahominy River west of Jamestown, his men were set upon by Powhatan Indians. As his party was being slaughtered around him, Smith strapped his Indian guide in front of him as a shield and escaped with his life but was captured by Opechancanough, the Powhatan chief's half-brother. Smith gave him a compass which pleased the warrior and made him decide to let Smith live.

text: Smith was taken before Wahunsunacock, who was commonly referred to as Chief Powhatan, at the Powhatan Confederacy's seat of government at Werowocomoco on the York River. However, 17 years later, in 1624, Smith first related that when the chief decided to execute him, this course of action was stopped by the pleas of Chief Powhatan's young daughter, Pocahontas, who was originally named "Matoaka" but whose nickname meant "Playful Mischief". Many historians today find this account dubious, especially as it was omitted in all his previous versions. Smith returned to Jamestown just in time for the First Supply, in January 1608.

text: In September 1609, Smith was wounded in an accident. He was walking with his gun in the river, and the powder was in a pouch on his belt. His powder bag exploded. In October, he was sent back to England for medical treatment.

text: While back in England, Smith wrote A True Relation and The Proceedings of the English Colony of Virginia about his experiences in Jamestown. These books, whose accuracy has been questioned by some historians due to some extent by Smith's boastful prose, were to generate public interest and new investment for the colony.

text: Pocahontas[edit]

text: Although the life of Chief Powhatan's young daughter, Pocahontas, would be largely tied to the English after legend credits her with saving John Smith's life after his capture by Opechancanough, her contacts with Smith himself were minimal. However, records indicate that she became something of an emissary to the colonists at Jamestown Island. During their first winter, following an almost complete destruction of their fort by a fire in January 1608, Pocahontas brought food and clothing to the colonists. She later negotiated with Smith for the release of Virginia Indians who had been captured by the colonists during a raid to gain English weaponry.

text: During the next several years, the relationship between the Virginia Indians and the colonists became more strained, never more so than during the period of poor crops for both the natives and colonists which became known as the Starving Time in late 1609 and early 1610. Chief Powhatan relocated his principal capital from Werowocomoco, which was relatively close to Jamestown along the north shore of the York River, to a point more inland and secure along the upper reaches of the Chickahominy River.

text: In April 1613, Pocahontas and her husband, Kocoum were residing at Passapatanzy, a village of the Patawomecks, a Powhatan Confederacy tribe which did some trading with Powhatans. They lived in present-day Stafford County on the Potomac River near Fredericksburg, about 65 miles (105 km) from Werowocomoco. She was abducted by Englishmen whose leader was Samuel Argall, and transported about 90 miles (140 km) south to the English settlement at Henricus on the James River. There, Pocahontas converted to Christianity and took the name "Rebecca" under the tutelage of Reverend Alexander Whitaker who had arrived in Jamestown in 1611. She married prominent planter John Rolfe, who had lost his first wife and child in the journey from England several years earlier, which served to greatly improve relations between the Virginia Native Americans and the colonists for several years. However, when she and John Rolfe took their young son Thomas Rolfe on a public relations trip to England to help raise more investment money for the Virginia Company, she became ill and died just as they were leaving to return to Virginia. Her interment was at St George's Church in Gravesend.

text: The Starving Time[edit]

text: What became known as the "Starving Time" in the Virginia Colony occurred during the winter of 1609–10. Only 60 of 500 English colonists survived.[22][23][24]

text: The colonists, the first group of whom had originally arrived at Jamestown on May 14, 1607, had never planned to grow all of their own food. Instead, their plans also depended upon trade with the local Virginia Indians to supply them with enough food between the arrival of periodic supply ships from England, upon which they also relied.

text: This period of extreme hardship for the colonists began in 1609 with a drought which caused their already limited farming activities to produce even fewer crops than usual. Then, there were problems with both of their other sources for food.

text: An unexpected delay occurred during the Virginia Company of London's Third Supply mission from England due to a major hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean. A large portion of the food and supplies had been aboard the new flagship of the Virginia Company, Sea Venture, which became shipwrecked at Bermuda and separated from the other ships, seven of which arrived at the colony with even more new colonists to feed, and few supplies, most of which had been aboard the larger flagship.

text: The impending hardship was further compounded by the loss of their most skillful leader in dealing with the Powhatan Confederacy in trading for food: Captain John Smith. He became injured in August 1609 in a gunpowder accident, and was forced to return to England for medical attention in October 1609. After Smith left, Chief Powhatan severely curtailed trading with the colonists for food. Neither the missing Sea Venture nor any other supply ship arrived as winter set upon the inhabitants of the young colony in late 1609.

text: When the survivors of the shipwreck of the Third Supply mission's flagship Sea Venture finally arrived at Jamestown the following May 23 in two makeshift ships they had constructed while stranded on Bermuda for nine months, they found fewer than 100 colonists still alive, many of whom were sick. Worse yet, the Bermuda survivors had brought few supplies and only a small amount of food with them, expecting to find a thriving colony at Jamestown.

text: Thus, even with the arrival of the two small ships from Bermuda under Captain Christopher Newport, they were faced with abandoning Jamestown and returning to England. On June 7, 1610, both groups of survivors (from Jamestown and Bermuda) boarded ships, and they all set sail down the James River toward the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

text: Shortly after they had abandoned Jamestown, they came upon a fleet of three supply ships arriving from England, commanded by a new governor, The 3rd Baron De La Warr. The two groups met on the James River on June 9, 1610 near Mulberry Island (adjacent to present-day Fort Eustis in Newport News).

text: Third supply[edit]

text: With the new supply mission, Lord De La Warr, the new Governor, often known in modern times as "Lord Delaware", brought additional colonists, a doctor, food, and much-needed supplies. He also was of a strong determination that Jamestown and the colony were not to be abandoned. He turned the departing ships around and brought the entire group back to Jamestown. This was certainly not a popular decision at the time with at least some of the group, but Lord Delaware was to prove a new kind of leader for Virginia.

text: Included in those returning to Jamestown was a colonist whose wife and child had died during the shipwreck of the Sea Venture and the time at Bermuda. A businessman, he had with him some seeds for a new strain of tobacco and also some untried marketing ideas. That colonist was John Rolfe. Despite his misfortune to that point, history records that he would change the future of the colony as much as Lord Delaware's timely arrival had.

text: Sea Venture[edit]

text: Sea Venture was the new flagship of the Virginia Company. Leaving England in 1609, and leading this Third Supply to Jamestown as "Vice Admiral" and commanding Sea Venture, Christopher Newport was in charge of a nine-vessel fleet. Aboard the flagship Sea Venture was the Admiral of the Company, Sir George Somers, Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Gates, William Strachey and other notable personages in the early history of English colonization in North America.

text: While at sea, the fleet encountered a strong storm, perhaps a hurricane, which lasted for three days. Sea Venture and one other ship were separated from the seven other vessels of the fleet. Sea Venture was deliberately driven onto the reefs of Bermuda to prevent her sinking. The 150 passengers and crew members were all landed safely but the ship was now permanently damaged.[25]

text: Sea Venture's longboat was fitted with a mast and sent to find Virginia but it and its crew were never seen again. The remaining survivors spent nine months on Bermuda building two smaller ships, Deliverance and Patience from Bermuda cedar and materials salvaged from Sea Venture.

text: Leaving two men at Bermuda to maintain England's claim to the archipelago, the remainder sailed to Jamestown, finally arriving on May 23, 1610. They found the Virginia Colony in ruins and practically abandoned. Of 500 settlers who had preceded them to Jamestown, they found fewer than 100 survivors, many of whom were sick or dying. It was decided to abandon the colony and on June 7, everyone was placed aboard the ships to return to England.

text: Renewed interest, Lord De La Warr and more supplies[edit]

text: During the same period that Sea Venture suffered its misfortune and its survivors were struggling in Bermuda to continue on to Virginia, back in England, the publication of Captain John Smith's books of his adventures in Virginia sparked a resurgence in interest in the colony. This helped lead to the dispatch in early 1610 of additional colonists, more supplies, and a new governor, Thomas West, Baron De La Warr.

text: On June 9, 1610, Lord De La Warr and his party arrived on the James River shortly after Deliverance and Patience had abandoned Jamestown. Intercepting them about 10 miles (16 km) downstream from Jamestown near Mulberry Island, the new governor forced the remaining 90 settlers to return, thwarting their plans to abandon the colony. Deliverance and Patience turned back, and all the settlers were landed again at Jamestown.[26]

text: Then, Sir George Somers returned to Bermuda with Patience to obtain more food supplies, but he died on the island that summer. His nephew, Matthew Somers, Captain of Patience, took the ship back to Lyme Regis, England instead of Virginia (leaving a third man behind). The Third Charter of the Virginia Company was then extended far enough across the Atlantic to include Bermuda in 1612. (Although a separate company, the Somers Isles Company, would be spun off to administer Bermuda from 1615, the first two successful English colonies would retain close ties for many more generations, as was demonstrated when Virginian general George Washington called upon the people of Bermuda for aid during the American War of Independence). In 1613, Sir Thomas Dale founded the settlement of Bermuda Hundred on the James River, which, a year later, became the first incorporated town in Virginia.

text: Expansion beyond Jamestown[edit]

text: By 1611, a majority of the colonists who had arrived at the Jamestown settlement had died and its economic value was negligible with no active exports to England and very little internal economic activity. Only financial incentives including a promise of more land to the west from King James I to investors financing the new colony kept the project afloat.

text: First Anglo-Powhatan War[edit]

text: The Anglo-Powhatan Wars were three wars fought between English settlers of the Virginia Colony, and Indians of the Powhatan Confederacy in the early seventeenth century. The First War started in 1610, and ended in a peace settlement in 1614.

text: Tobacco[edit]

text: In 1610, John Rolfe, whose wife and a child had died in Bermuda during passage in the Third Supply to Virginia, was just one of the settlers who had arrived in Jamestown following the shipwreck of Sea Venture. However, his major contribution is that he was the first man to successfully raise export tobacco in the Colony (although the colonists had begun to make glass artifacts to export immediately after their arrival). The native tobacco raised in Virginia prior to that time, Nicotiana rustica, was not to the liking of the Europeans but Rolfe had brought some seed for Nicotiana tabacum with him from Bermuda.

text: Although most people "wouldn't touch" the crop, Rolfe was able to make his fortune farming it, successfully exporting beginning in 1612. Soon almost all other colonists followed suit, as windfall profits in tobacco briefly lent Jamestown something like a gold rush atmosphere. Among others, Rolfe quickly became both a wealthy and prominent man. He married the young Virginia Indian woman Pocahontas on April 24, 1614. They lived first across the river from Jamestown, and later at his Varina Farms plantation near Henricus. Their son, Thomas Rolfe, was born in 1615.

text: Governor Dale, Dale's Code[edit]

text: In 1611, the Virginia Company of London sent Sir Thomas Dale to act as deputy-governor or as high marshall for the Virginia Colony under the authority of Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr (Lord Delaware). He arrived at Jamestown on May 19 with three ships, additional men, cattle, and provisions. Finding the conditions unhealthy and greatly in need of improvement, he immediately called for a meeting of the Jamestown Council, and established crews to rebuild Jamestown.

text: He served as Governor for 3 months in 1611, and again for a two-year period between 1614 and 1616. It was during his administration that the first code of laws of Virginia, nominally in force from 1611 to 1619, was effectively tested. This code, entitled "Articles, Lawes, and Orders Divine, Politique, and Martiall" (popularly known as Dale's Code), was notable for its pitiless severity, and seems to have been prepared in large part by Dale himself.

text: Henricus[edit]

text: Seeking a better site than Jamestown with the thought of possibly relocating the capital, Thomas Dale sailed up the James River (also named after King James) to the area now known as Chesterfield County. He was apparently impressed with the possibilities of the general area where the Appomattox River joins the James River, until then occupied by the Appomattoc Indians, and there are published references to the name "New Bermudas" although it apparently was never formalized. (Far from the mainland of North America, the archipelago of Bermuda had been established as part of the Virginia Colony in 1612 following the shipwreck of Sea Venture in 1609).

text: A short distance further up the James, in 1611, he began the construction of a progressive development at Henricus on and about what was later known as Farrars Island. Henricus was envisioned as possible replacement capital for Jamestown, though it was eventually destroyed during the Indian Massacre of 1622, during which a third of the colonists were killed.

text: An investor relations trip to England[edit]

text: In 1616, Governor Dale joined John Rolfe and Pocahontas and their young son Thomas as they left their Varina Farms plantation for a public relations mission to England, where Pocahontas was received and treated as a form of visiting royalty by Queen Anne. This stimulated more interest in investments in the Virginia Company, the desired effect. However, as the couple prepared to return to Virginia, Pocahontas died of an illness at Gravesend on March 17, 1617, where she was buried. John Rolfe returned to Virginia alone once again, leaving their son Thomas Rolfe, then a small child, in England to obtain an education.

text: Once back in Virginia, Rolfe married Jane Pierce and continued to improve the quality of his tobacco with the result that by the time of his death in 1622, the Colony was thriving as a producer of tobacco.

text: Orphaned by the age of 8, young Thomas later returned to Virginia, and settled across the James River not far from his parents’ farm at Varina, where he married Jane Poythress and they had one daughter, Jane Rolfe, who was born in 1650. Many of the First Families of Virginia trace their lineage through Thomas Rolfe to both Pocahontas and John Rolfe, joining English and Virginia Indian heritage.

text: Changing social and political order[edit]

text: Virginia's population grew rapidly from 1618 until 1622, rising from a few hundred to nearly 1,400 people. Wheat was also grown in Virginia starting in 1618.

text: 1619: First democratic assembly[edit]

text: On June 30, 1619 Slovak and Polish artisans conducted the first labor strike (first "in American history"[27][28]) for democratic rights ("No Vote, No Work")[27][29] in Jamestown.[29][30][31] The British Crown overturned the legislation in the Virginia House of Burgesses in its first meeting[32] and granted the workers equal voting rights on July 21, 1619.[33] Afterwards, the labor strike was ended and the artisans resumed their work.[30][31][34][35] The House of Burgesses, the first legislature of elected representatives in America, met in the Jamestown Church. One of their first laws was to set a minimum price for the sale of tobacco and set forth plans for the creation of the first ironworks of the colony. This legislative group was the predecessor of the modern Virginia General Assembly.

text: 1619: First Africans[edit]

text: In August 1619 "20 and odd Blacks" arrived on the Dutch Man-of-War ship at Jamestown colony. This is the earliest record of Black people in colonial America [36] These colonists were freemen and indentured servants.[37][38][39] At this time the slave trade between Africa and the English colonies had not yet been established.

text: Records from 1623 and 1624 listed the African inhabitants of the colony as servants, not slaves. In the case of William Tucker, the first Black person born in the colonies, freedom was his bright right.[40] He was son of "Antony and Isabell", a married couple from Angola who worked as indentured servants for Captain William Tucker whom he was named after. Yet, court records show that at least one African had been declared a slave by 1640; John Punch. He was an indentured servant who ran away along with two White indentured servants and he was sentenced by the governing council to lifelong servitude. This action is what officially marked the institution of slavery in Jamestown and the future United States.

text: 1620: More craftsmen from Germany and Italy arrive[edit]

text: By 1620, more German settlers from Hamburg, Germany, who were recruited by the Virginia Company set up and operated one of the first sawmills in the region.[41] Among the Germans were several other skilled craftsmen carpenters, and pitch/tar/soap-ash makers, who produced some of the colony's first exports of these products. The Italians included a team of glass makers.[42]

text: 1621: Arrival of marriageable women[edit]

text: During 1621 fifty-seven unmarried women sailed to Virginia under the auspices of the Virginia Company, who paid for their transport and provided them with a small bundle of clothing and other goods to take with them. A colonist who married one of the women would be responsible for repaying the Virginia Company for his wife's transport and provisions. The women traveled on three ships, The Marmaduke, The Warwick, and The Tyger.

text: Many of the women were not "maids" but widows. Some others were children, for example Priscilla, the eight-year-old daughter of Joanne Palmer, who travelled with her mother and her new stepfather, Thomas Palmer, on The Tyger. Some were women who were traveling with family or relatives: Ursula Clawson, "kinswoman" of ancient planter Richard Pace, traveled with Pace and his wife on the Marmaduke. Ann Jackson also came on the Marmaduke, in the company of her brother John Jackson, both of them bound for Martin's Hundred. Ann Jackson was one of the women taken captive by the Powhatans during the Indian Massacre of 1622. She was not returned until 1630. The Council ordered that she should be sent back to England on the first available ship, perhaps because she was suffering from the consequences of her long captivity.[43]

text: Some of the women sent to Virginia did marry. But most disappeared from the records—perhaps killed in the massacre, perhaps' dead from other causes, perhaps returned to England. In other words, they shared the fate of most of their fellow colonists.[44]

text: Indian Massacre of 1622[edit]

text: The relations with the Natives took a turn for the worse after the death of Pocahontas in England and the return of John Rolfe and other colonial leaders in May 1617. Disease, poor harvests and the growing demand for tobacco lands caused hostilities to escalate.

text: After Wahunsunacock's death in 1618, his younger brother, Opitchapam, briefly became chief. However, he was soon succeeded by his own younger brother, Opechancanough. Opechancanough was not interested in attempting peaceful coexistence with the English settlers. Instead, he was determined to eradicate the colonists from what he considered to be Indian lands.

text: Chief Opechancanough organized and led a well-coordinated series of surprise attacks on multiple English settlements along both sides of a 50-mile (80 km) long stretch of the James River which took place early on the morning of March 22, 1622. This event came to be known as the Indian Massacre of 1622, and resulted in the deaths of 347 colonists (including men, women, and children) and the abduction of many others. Some say that this massacre was revenge. The Massacre caught most of the Virginia Colony by surprise and virtually wiped out several entire communities, including Henricus and Wolstenholme Town at Martin's Hundred.

text: However, Jamestown was spared from destruction due to a Virginia Indian boy named Chanco who, after learning of the planned attacks from his brother, gave warning to colonist Richard Pace, with whom he lived. Pace, after securing himself and his neighbors on the south side of the James River, took a canoe across river to warn Jamestown, which narrowly escaped destruction, although there was no time to warn the other settlements. Apparently, Opechancanough subsequently was unaware of Chanco's actions, as the young man continued to serve as his courier for some time after.

text: A letter by Richard Frethorne, written in 1623, reports, "we live in fear of the enemy every hour."[45]

text: As a result, another war between the two powers lasted from 1622 to 1632.

text: Royal Colony[edit]

text: Some historians have noted that, as the settlers of the Virginia Colony were allowed some representative government, and they prospered, King James I was reluctant to lose either power or future financial potential. In any case, in 1624, the Virginia Company lost its charter and Virginia became a crown colony.

text: In 1634, the English Crown created eight shires (i.e. counties) in the colony of Virginia which had a total population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants. James City Shire was established and included Jamestown. Around 1642-43, the name of the James City Shire was changed to James City County.

text: New Town and palisade[edit]

text: The original Jamestown fort seems to have existed into the middle of the 1620s, but as Jamestown grew into a "New Town" to the east, written references to the original fort disappear. By 1634, a palisade (stockade) was completed across the Virginia Peninsula, which was about 6 miles (9.7 km) wide at that point between Queen's Creek which fed into the York River and Archer's Hope Creek, (since renamed College Creek) which fed into the James River. The new palisade provided some security from attacks by the Virginia Indians for colonists farming and fishing lower on the Peninsula from that point.

text: Third Anglo-Powhatan War[edit]

text: On April 18, 1644, Opechancanough again tried to force the colonists to abandon the region with another series of coordinated attacks, killing almost 500 colonists. However, this was a much less devastating portion of the growing population than had been the case in the 1622 attacks. Furthermore, the forces of Royal Governor of Virginia William Berkeley captured the old warrior in 1646,[46] variously thought to be between 90 and 100 years old. In October, while a prisoner, Opechancanough was killed by a soldier (shot in the back) assigned to guard him. Opechancanough was succeeded as Weroance (Chief) by Nectowance and then by Totopotomoi and later by his daughter Cockacoeske.

text: In 1646, the first treaties were signed between the Virginia Indians and the English. The treaties set up reservations, some of the oldest in America, for the surviving Powhatan. It also set up tribute payments for the Virginia Indians to be made yearly to the English.[47]

text: That war resulted in a boundary being defined between the Indians and English lands that could only be crossed for official business with a special pass. This situation would last until 1677 and the Treaty of Middle Plantation, which established Indian reservations following Bacon's Rebellion.

text: Governor Berkeley, Bacon's Rebellion[edit]

text: The capital moves from Jamestown to high ground[edit]

text: On October 20, 1698, the statehouse (capitol building) in Jamestown burned for the fourth time. Once again removing itself to a familiar alternate location, the legislature met at Middle Plantation, this time in the new College Building at the College of William and Mary, which had begun meeting there in temporary quarters in 1694.

text: While meeting there, a group of five students from the College submitted a well-presented and logical proposal to the legislators outlining a plan and good reasons to move the capital permanently to Middle Plantation.

text: Despite the periodic need to relocate the legislature from Jamestown due to contingencies such as fires, (usually to Middle Plantation), throughout the seventeenth century, Virginians had been reluctant to permanently move the capital from its "ancient and accustomed place." After all, Jamestown had always been Virginia's capital. It had a state house (except when it periodically burned) and a church, and it offered easy access to ships that came up the James River bringing goods from England and taking on tobacco bound for market.[48] However, Jamestown's status had been in some decline. In 1662, Jamestown's status as mandatory port of entry for Virginia had been ended.

text: The students argued that the change to the high ground at Middle Plantation would escape the dreaded malaria and mosquitoes that had always plagued the swampy, low-lying Jamestown site. The students pointed out that, while not located immediately upon a river, Middle Plantation offered nearby access to not one, but two rivers, via two deep water (6-7' depth) creeks, Queen's Creek leading to the York River, and College Creek (formerly known as Archer's Hope) which led to the James River. Other advocates of the move included the Reverend Dr. James Blair and the Governor, Sir Francis Nicholson.

text: Several prominent individuals like John Page, Thomas Ludwell, Philip Ludwell, and Otho Thorpe had built fine brick homes and created a substantial town at Middle Plantation. And, there was of course, the new College of William and Mary with its fine new brick building.

text: The proposal to move the capital of Virginia to higher ground (about 12 miles (20 km) away) at Middle Plantation was received favorably by the House of Burgesses. In 1699, the capital of the Virginia Colony was officially relocated there. Soon, the town was renamed Williamsburg, in honor of King William III. Thus, the first phase of Jamestown's history ended.

text: Later History[edit]

text: By the 1750s the land was owned and heavily cultivated, primarily by the Travis and Ambler families. A military post was located on the island during the Revolutionary War and American and British prisoners were exchanged there. During the U.S. Civil War the island was occupied by Confederate soldiers who built an earth fort near the church as part of the defense system to block the Union advance up the river to Richmond. Little further attention was paid to Virginia until preservation was undertaken in the twenty first century.


document_title: List of Saved by the Bell characters

question_text: who played graham on saved by the bell

question_tokens: who played graham on saved by the bell

root

text: List of Saved by the Bell characters

text: Main characters[edit]

text: Zack Morris[edit]

text: Kelly Kapowski[edit]

text: Kelly Kapowski (portrayed by Tiffani Amber Thiessen) is the most popular girl in school and is head cheerleader and captain of the volleyball, swim, and softball teams. Though a good student and role model, Kelly did find herself sentenced to detention on a couple of occasions. She is also a big fan of George Michael. She also is the love interest and later wife of Zack Morris. In contrast with her friends, she came from a more modest working class family and her father went through periods of unemployment.

tag: p

text: At the start of Kelly's freshman year, Zack had been trying to go out with her for as long as she could remember. For a while, a feud began between Zack and fellow student A.C. Slater over who would be her boyfriend, which caused her great stress, but a lot of fun at the same time. Kelly blushed numerous times when both Zack and Slater would hit on her, especially when it was done in front of other students. During her sophomore year, Slater conceded defeat to Zack and she and Zack began dating, whereas Slater thereupon pursued his interest in Jessie Spano.

text: The following school year marked the end of their relationship. Zack wanted to go steady with Kelly, but she is not sure at first. She thought it over but by the time she decided to accept Zack's offer, he had become infatuated with a young school nurse. That turned out to be a dead-end, but when he tried to apologize to Kelly and get her back, she brushed him off. However, they were back together in the following episode ("Breaking Up is Hard to Undo"). Kelly began working at The Max as a waitress and fell for her boss, Jeff Hunter (Patrick Muldoon), much to Zack's disappointment. This caused her and Zack to break up. Kelly dated Jeff for a while, until he is caught at an 18-and-over club (The Attic) with another girl.

text: Subsequently, Kelly and Zack became closer friends, though they dated other people. While vacationing in Palm Springs for Jessie Spano's father's wedding, Zack and Kelly flirted with the possibility of getting together again but ended up remaining friends.

text: In her senior year, she is once again pursued by Zack to accompany him to the prom. She agrees, and they get back together. As graduation approached, Kelly stated she could not afford to go to an out-of-state university and instead would attend community college. She and her friends graduated from Bayside High in 1993 and went their separate ways.

text: In Saved by the Bell: The College Years, Kelly is accepted into California University on a scholarship, joining Zack, Slater, and Screech as suitemates. She also became the new roommate of Leslie Burke and Alex Taber. While at Cal. U., Kelly engaged in an affair with her anthropology professor, Jeremiah Lasky. Zack makes a final attempt to win her over when she decides to go on a "Semester on the Sea" program through the Mediterranean for three months. Zack proposed to Kelly, and she accepted.

text: Without much support from their families, Zack and Kelly had planned to get married in Las Vegas in Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas. The couple managed to bring Slater, Screech, and Lisa Turtle with them for the event. Just prior to the exchange of vows at the ceremony at a cheap wedding chapel, Zack's parents showed up and stopped the wedding. They told Zack and Kelly that they would give them the wedding of their dreams. A few days later, Zack and Kelly had an elaborate outdoor wedding in the Las Vegas area. Lisa and Jessie stood as bridesmaids while Screech and Slater stood as groomsmen. The newlyweds then went on a honeymoon.

text: When Zack and Slater made guest appearances on Saved by the Bell: The New Class a few years later, Slater asked Zack how "the Mrs." (meaning Kelly) is doing, Zack replied, "Good."

text: Samuel "Screech" Powers[edit]

text: Samuel "Screech" Powers (portrayed by Dustin Diamond) is one of only two characters to appear as a series regular from the beginning of the franchise to its end. He appeared in Good Morning, Miss Bliss; Saved by the Bell; Saved by the Bell: The College Years; and Saved by the Bell: The New Class. Screech is seen as the geek of his peer group. While he is clearly intelligent and a high academic achiever, he lacks common sense and social skills. His friends, who are more conventionally attractive and "cooler" than he is, like him anyway and always include him in their plans.

text: In Good Morning, Miss Bliss, Screech is much like he is in all of his other incarnations, only younger. He mentions he has a brother in one episode, but this was written out of all subsequent continuity.

text: In Saved by the Bell, Screech is the only child of an unseen father and an Elvis-obsessed mother (guest star Ruth Buzzi). In addition, he has a dog named Hound Dog, and a robot pal named Kevin, whom he built and programmed himself and who exhibits artificial intelligence. He often exhibits low self-esteem when it comes to girls, in contrast to his more popular friends.

text: During his years at Bayside High, Screech frequently pursues classmate Lisa Turtle and is consistently turned down by her. However, she does agree to date him in one episode, only to spoil the date by talking through the movie. She also attends senior prom with him, because she is moved by both his honesty about how hurt he is that no one wants to go to the prom with him and impressed when Screech says he will stand by an earlier promise not to ask her to the prom.

text: It is revealed in one episode that Screech is of Italian ancestry.

text: Screech does eventually end up with a girlfriend, Violet Anne Bickerstaff (played by the then unknown Tori Spelling), and dates her for several episodes, even managing to win back the support of her upper-class parents after losing it on a disastrous dinner date. Violet is then never seen again, without any explanation.

text: Screech is frequently roped into scams by his best friend, Zack. As a running gag, he often unwittingly sabotages them. In spite of all his faults, Screech is well liked by his friends.

text: Upon graduating, Screech and his friends Zack, Slater, and Kelly, attend California University in Saved by the Bell: The College Years. Screech remains there until his sophomore year, when he begins a work-study program at his alma mater, Bayside High, alongside Principal Richard Belding.

text: In Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas, Screech attends Zack and Kelly's wedding. He served as Zack's best man in the wedding along with Slater. This is mentioned in an episode of Saved by the Bell: The New Class, which aired around the time of the movie's release.

text: From season two in Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Screech is initially in the role as Belding's administrative assistant as part of a work-study program. Screech retains the same bumbling tendencies he did as a teenager, often irritating Belding and leading to his new what-did-I-do catachcall "Zoinks!" (an utterance originally made famous by Shaggy Rogers from Scooby-Doo). However, Screech remains at Bayside in this capacity until the end of the series. Mr. Belding leaves to pursue a new job at the University of Chattanooga at the end of the series. It's implied that Screech will take over as Principal but the series ends without showing this happening.

text: A.C. Slater[edit]

text: Albert Clifford "A.C." Slater (portrayed by Mario Lopez) is a popular jock who excelled in most sports (particularly football and amateur wrestling). An Army brat, he is an outsider, having transferred to Bayside in the first filmed episode (which aired later as a flashback). A.C. mentions that he has been to Bolivia, Italy, Iceland, and Berlin among other places. He becomes the school's star athlete, excelling as a wrestler and the quarterback of the football team, but does not excel in the class room.

text: His father, Martin (a Major in the U.S. Army), appears in two episodes. His mother, Lorraine, however, is not in any episodes. He also has a younger sister named J.B. whom Zack briefly began dating, much to Slater's chagrin. In the season four episode "Love Machine," his ex-girlfriend from Berlin visits and calls him by his real name, "Albert Clifford ".

text: Much like Voorhies, Lopez was able to captivate the show's producers into casting him into a role that was originally written to be Caucasian. This issue of Slater's ethnicity is addressed in "Slater's War" from The College Years, where it is revealed that 25 years earlier A.C.'s father changed his last name from Sanchez to Slater so he could get into the military academy. Although the episode reveals that A.C. does not fluently understand Spanish, A.C. is seen speaking broken Spanish to the kitchen staff of the Malibu Sands Beach club.

text: At the start of freshman year in Saved by the Bell, Slater arrives as a transfer student, immediately making an enemy of Zack Morris by attempting to make a move on Kelly Kapowski. Both boys end up in detention after schemes to be with Kelly backfire on both of them. While in detention, Slater reveals to Zack that he had transferred in and out of various schools throughout his life due to his father being a Major in the army. Their mutual understanding of a father putting something else before his son would serve as the ice breaker between the two (Zack's own father was too busy with his job and never paid attention to him or his academics). By the end of the first season, Zack and Slater find themselves bonding over similar social standing, popularity among women, and athletic ability. During Season 2, the rivalry between the two is toned down, and they begin to become friends. Slater grew into the habit of calling Zack "Preppie" which he at first intended as an ongoing insult, but once they became friends, Slater used the term as an affectionate nickname for Zack. Slater goes on to date feminist Jessie Spano on and off for the remainder of High School.

text: Throughout the course of the show, Slater and Zack compete for many other girls which often puts a strain on their friendship (one instance culminated in a brawl between the two during their senior year). In the end though, their friendship is more important to them than any girl that would possibly come between them.

text: In Saved by the Bell: The College Years, Slater is accepted into California University, along with Zack, Screech, and Kelly as suite mates and begins dating Alex Taber, one of Kelly's roommates. While there, Slater continues his passion for wrestling and works in the University's main restaurant. Along with Screech, Slater serves as Zack's best man at his wedding to Kelly in Las Vegas in Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas. Slater makes two return guest appearances in Saved by the Bell: The New Class, firstly in "Goodbye, Bayside" Part 2, along with Zack and Lisa when a millionaire alumnus J. Walter McMillan plans to buy the school and tear it down for the purpose of constructing a condo, and in "Fire at the Max: Part 2", where he reminisces on fond memories he had with his friends at the diner, after it was accidentally burned down by student Ryan Parker, who forgot to turn off the Christmas lights.

text: Jessie Spano[edit]

text: Jessica "Jessie" Myrtle Spano (portrayed by Elizabeth Berkley) is a lifelong friend of Zack, Screech, Lisa and Kelly. She and Zack live next door to each other, and Zack regularly visits Jessie by climbing through her window. Her parents are divorced. She lives with her mother, who remarried in the third season, providing Jessie with a stepbrother, Eric (played by Joshua Hoffman) from New York City, seen in only two episodes. Jessie's father is the owner and manager of the Marriott Desert Sands resort. He also becomes remarried in the hour-long "Palm Springs Weekend" episode, to a much younger woman with whom Jessie did not initially get along and was against marrying. She eventually accepted Leslie for who she was and becomes friends with her (Jessie's father is played by George McDaniel, and her new stepmother, Leslie, is played by Barbra Brighton).

text: Jessie is portrayed as a liberal (she critiqued then-president George H. W. Bush), with strong feminist views. She is often the first to speak up when she feels something is unjust. Although seen as intelligent, Jessie has a somewhat neurotic streak.

text: Jessie is the class president. In a close election, she initially lost to Zack. However, Zack used underhanded techniques to win the election in order to get a free trip to Washington, D.C., but upon realizing that being class president would be a much better fit for his friend Jessie, Zack stepped down from office, naming Jessie the president. Jessie remains president for the remainder of her time at Bayside.

text: From sophomore year until the end of the series, Jessie dates athlete A.C. Slater in an "opposites attract" relationship, which causes friction between the both of them. Slater's pet name for Jessie is "Mama." Jessie and Slater's relationship is put to the test several times over the course of the series. Jessie also has a brief romantic encounter with Zack when the two are forced to endure a kissing scene in a school play. Additionally, she has a crush on one-time character Graham (played by David Kreigel), with whom she spends cut day. (This last encounter ultimately leads to her and Slater's break up).

text: Most notable is Jessie's struggle with addiction to over-the-counter caffeine pills, in the episode entitled "Jessie's Song." Pressure from school and social obligations, and her desire to be accepted into Stanford University, drive Jessie to take caffeine pills in order to stay awake. Eventually she gets hooked on the pills and has a breakdown as Zack comes to her rescue.

text: Another ongoing issue is Jessie's height. She often considers herself too tall, and has therefore developed a bit of an insecurity complex, especially when it comes to shorter boys, and sometimes superficially judges men based on their height. Additionally, she is known as Jessie "Legs" Spano to some. Jessie would later stop judging men based on their height when she begins dating Slater.

text: In an early episode, Jessie reveals that she attended dance camp as a child. As such, she is an experienced dancer. Jessie is also on the swim team. Jessie later joins Kelly and Lisa as cheerleaders (because, according to Jessie, it looks good to colleges).

text: Before graduation, Jessie has her hopes pinned on becoming valedictorian, but ultimately loses out to Screech. However, Screech realizes how important it is to her, and concedes the honor to Jessie. Jessie soon realizes just how much valedictorian meant to Screech and gives it back to him.

text: After graduation, Jessie goes off to attend Columbia University.

text: In Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas, Jessie, with Lisa, returns as one of Kelly's bridesmaids at Zack and Kelly's wedding in Las Vegas. This was her final appearance to date in the show.

text: Lisa Turtle[edit]

text: Lisa Marie Turtle (portrayed by Lark Voorhies) is the rich girl of the group, whose parents both worked as physicians. She is frequently seen wearing designer clothing.

text: In her first appearance in Good Morning, Miss Bliss, Lisa plays a more secondary role than she later would in the later incarnations of the series. She attends John F. Kennedy Junior High with Zack Morris and Samuel "Screech" Powers.

text: Throughout her high school years in Saved by the Bell, Lisa spends most of her time fighting off the affections of Screech, who is relentless in pursuing her (and eventually wins at least one date with her) and has been doing so since they were in Kindergarten. Despite her irritation with Screech, she values him as a friend, and eventually comes to admire Screech's nobility when he abdicates his position as the class valedictorian in favor of Jessie Spano, who had a slightly lower grade point average than he did, but valued the position more. Lisa even went to the senior prom with Screech when she felt sorry that no one would go with him, when he promised to respect her comfort zone and not ask her, but she decided that she wants him to be her prom date. Most of Lisa's time is spent in the company of schoolmates and fellow cheerleaders Kelly Kapowski and Jessie Spano.

text: Unlike the rest of her friends, Lisa does not have a long-term relationship during high school (despite having countless dates), although she has a short term romance with Zack Morris in the episode "The Bayside Triangle," much to the chagrin of Screech. To keep his friendship with Screech, Zack must break up with Lisa. However, this is forgotten about in following episodes. "Screech's Spaghetti Sauce" involves Screech on a date with a girl who is impressed by him, causing Lisa to be in a state of disbelief.

text: Upon graduating, Lisa is accepted into the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Lisa only makes one guest appearance in Saved by the Bell: The College Years when she visits her former classmates Zack, Screech, Kelly, and A.C. Slater at California University in the episode "Wedding Plans", after hearing of Zack and Kelly's engagement. In Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas, Lisa and Jessie were Kelly's bridesmaids for her wedding to Zack. Lisa returns to Bayside High along with Zack and Slater in "Goodbye Bayside: Part 2" (from Saved by the Bell: The New Class), where they are reunited with Screech (now working at Bayside on a work-study program) and their principal Mr. Belding when the school is under threat of being torn down by an alumnus.

text: Mr. Belding[edit]

text: Mr. Richard Belding (portrayed by Dennis Haskins) is the principal of Bayside High School. In his first appearance in the pilot of Good Morning, Miss Bliss, Mr. Belding's first name was Gerald, and the character was played by Oliver Clark. Other than Miss Bliss, the character of Mr. Belding was the only one carried over when the show began production. The character also appeared in Saved by the Bell: The New Class and guest starred in "A Thanksgiving Story" (from Saved by the Bell: The College Years). He is one of only two characters to remain from the beginning of the franchise until the end (the other being Samuel "Screech" Powers). Mr. Belding's name is a pun referencing the onomatopoeia "ding" that comes from a bell, (a "bell ding"). His signature catchphrase is "Hey, hey, hey, hey! What is going on here?", usually uttered after finding out about something ridiculous occurring at the school.[1]

text: Mr. Belding's most frequent nemesis is Zack Morris; however, throughout the series, it is abundantly clear the two like and respect each other, arguably because in "Save the Max" it is revealed that when Belding was a student himself he was a disc jockey and one who would rebel against school authority, prompting the comment that he was "the Zack Morris of the 1960s". On at least one occasion, Belding has even called Zack Morris "the son [he] never had". A small joke was also that Belding was open about his past failures with women prior to his marriage, such as when he was in the U.S. Army and in love with a North Vietnamese girl, where "even she was with the enemy!" Belding's family has appeared in the series on many occasions. The most frequent appearances were by his infant son, named in honor of Zack. When Belding's wife (Becky) went into labor in an elevator, Zack Morris, along with classmate Tori Scott, helped deliver him.

text: Much of Belding's humor comes from his attempts to make jokes, sing or being generally tricked and scammed by Zack. Despite Zack's ideas that he knew Belding inside and out, occasionally Belding would reveal that he had other ideas to deal with issues, thus outfoxing Zack. He also was against the Bayside-Valley High prank war and in spite of his best efforts to call a truce with Valley High's principal, the war continued until then end of the cheerleading competition when one of the students from Valley was exposed.

text: Belding also has a small rivalry with fellow teacher Mr. Tuttle, who was also in line for the position of Principal at Bayside. He also had a friendly rivalry with Brandon Tartikoff over courtship of Belding's wife, but Tartikoff accepted that he got the short end of the straw and accepted the eventual presidency of NBC (thus implicitly breaking the fourth wall, since Tartikoff actually was president of NBC at the time) while Mr. Belding was "happily married and got to be principal of a school of great kids."

text: Belding remains the one constant between all the series and in the second season of The New Class, he is reunited with Bayside High alumnus Samuel "Screech" Powers, who is studying to become a teacher. Screech becomes Mr. Belding's administrative assistant until the end of the series, when Belding decides to take a job as dean of a College in Tennessee.

text: In 2012, Dennis Haskins reprised his role as Mr. Belding on the hit Nickelodeon series Victorious in the episode "April Fools Blank".

text: Tori Scott[edit]

text: Tori Scott (portrayed by Leanna Creel) arrives at Bayside during senior year, making an immediate enemy of Zack Morris by parking her motorcycle in his usual parking space on her first day. Eventually, things thaw between Tori and Zack and they later begin dating, but broke up in the episode "The Will" due to Zack's sexist behavior. After the episode "School Song," Tori is never seen or mentioned again.

text: Bayside faculty[edit]

text: Mrs. Culpepper[edit]

text: Mrs. Culpepper is the school’s de facto art teacher (although she is seen teaching history during Cut Day) and made appearances in both junior year and senior year. She is always involved in comical situations in which she bumps into lockers and mistakes inanimate objects for living things due to her bad eyesight. At one point she even accidentally made Mr. Belding think she is in love with him; when he talked to her about her "crush" she became completely flustered, and later punched him the face for continuing to "reassure" her that he had no romantic designs towards her.

text: Mr. Dewey[edit]

text: Mr. Dewey (Patrick Thomas O'Brien) is a math teacher who also oversaw detention. He represented the archetypal down-on-his-luck, more-bored-than-the-kids, depressed teacher but seemed to be respected by the kids on the grounds that nothing they did bothered or registered very much with him. He spoke in a monotonous voice, is sarcastic, always wore glasses, and once auditioned for American Gladiators. Mr. Dewey also appeared in the New Class.

text: Doctor Mertz[edit]

text: Dr. Mertz (Avery Schreiber) is a science teacher that seems to want the students to enjoy his class, giving out awards such as a molecule hat to Screech. His Science test stresses Kelly because she has concert tickets that she won't get to use if she fails. Zack hoping to get on Kelly's good side arranges for Screech to tutor Kelly. The plan backfires when Kelly develops romantic feelings for Screech. Kelly manages to pass Dr. Mertz's test but finds that without the need for a tutor, she and Screech really do not have much in common.

text: Mr. Dickerson[edit]

text: Played by Raf Mauro, Dickerson is a history teacher known for his unfriendly demeanor and an impossible midterm that no student had passed in three years, something he seems to be very proud of. In the episode "The Fabulous Belding Boys," Dickerson has a nervous breakdown and is replaced by the very popular Rod Belding.

text: Mrs. Simpson[edit]

text: Mrs. Simpson (Pamela Kosh) is the nearly deaf, British-accented teacher who taught English class. She also appeared at the beginning of junior year and embarrassed Kelly and Zack by referring to them as “Bayside’s Most Beloved Couple” just a short while after they broke up. She said she didn't like Zack, and once wore a hearing aid that she discarded because the titular bell caused painful sound waves to assault her. She also made an appearance in the pilot episode of The New Class.

text: Coach Sonski[edit]

text: Coach Sonski (played by comedian Monty Hoffman) is the wrestling coach at Bayside High. He is overweight with a testosterone-laden personality, and has been shown to be a sexist (mainly in "Hold Me Tight"). He depends on Slater as his star athlete.

text: Coach Sonski is also shown as Bayside's auto shop instructor in the episode where Jessie's new stepbrother comes to California. He retains his sense of humor as well as his macho attitude throughout the episodes, though he once confessed to watching Oprah because he is "sensitive to dames".

text: Mr. Tuttle[edit]

text: Tuttle (portrayed by Jack Angeles) is an enthusiastic, overweight teacher (perhaps a foil for the thin, dour Mr. Dewey). He is well-liked by the students but had a mutually unfriendly relationship with Mr. Belding, stemming largely from Tuttle having been runner-up to Belding when Bayside had chosen a new principal. He also served as a leader in the local teacher's union, a driver's education teacher, and a music teacher.

text: Ms. Wentworth[edit]

text: Ms. Wentworth (portrayed by Carol Lawrence) is the Social Studies teacher during sophomore year who piqued Zack’s interest in his family heritage by assigning a family research project. She also taught the class about subliminal advertising, which led to a predictably hair-brained scheme from Zack. Ms. Wentworth is one of Bayside's more enthusiastic and unorthodox teachers. Like Mr. Tuttle, she is one of the few teachers who genuinely seems to like Zack, and seems to be popular with her students, because she is serious about her job but treats them nicely and has a good sense of humor.

text: Bayside students[edit]

text: Violet Ann Bickerstaff[edit]

text: Violet (Tori Spelling) is a nerdy character (appearing in 3 episodes in seasons 2 and 3) who was originally dating Maxwell Nerdstrom, but she dumped him in favor of Screech (whom she commonly addresses by his real name "Samuel"), as Maxwell had treated her poorly. In her first appearance, she knocks over Screech's mother's statue of Elvis Presley. This leads to a moneymaking scheme by the gang to get $250 for a new statue. Violet comes from an upper class family who disapproves of her relationship with Screech, mainly due to the fact he is from a lower class, despite the fact he and Violet share many common interests. In another episode, Violet is shown to have a beautiful singing voice, but is too shy to sing solo for Bayside's abysmal school choir until Screech supports her. She then quits the choir after Screech embarrasses her at a disastrous dinner with her folks, but when he comes out and sings her opposite, saving the day for her it convinces the Bickerstaffs that he is a good guy, and they say they no longer object to him dating their daughter.

text: Ginger[edit]

text: Ginger (portrayed by Bridgette Wilson) is a pretty but vacuous blonde (appearing in five season 4 episodes) who dates Zack a few times, but annoys him because she has little to say beyond asking him if she has lipstick on her teeth.

text: Rhonda Robistelli[edit]

text: Rhonda (portrayed by Kirsten Holmquist) is Bayside’s resident tomboy. She is a tall, lanky girl with disheveled blond hair (appearing in 3 first-season episodes). She and Zack have one date, during which she forcibly plants a kiss on his lips. Rhonda also tries to join the cheerleading squad in "Save That Tiger" and tries out for the team when one of the regulars is injured right before the big competition against Valley. Her audition is clumsy and the girls eventually talk Jessie into taking the spot.

text: "Big" Pete Stonebreaker[edit]

text: Pete Stonebreaker (Bryan Cooper) is one of the tallest nerds at Bayside (appearing in two episodes in seasons 3 and 4) who made his first appearance in an episode during the Malibu Sands storyline as a volleyball player when Screech was trying to recruit some members to replace Gary, an injured volleyball player. He seems to be a leader amongst the nerds, and has been able to fit in socially at times with more popular students.

text: Louise[edit]

text: Louise (Lara Lyon) is a nerdy Bayside student with blonde hair in pigtails and horn-rimmed glasses (appearing in 3 episodes in seasons 2 and 4) who is sometimes shown as a friend of Screech's. She enrolls in the Army JROTC program at Bayside after Zack convinces her that in the US Army men outnumber women. She is placed on Zack's "nerd team" in a physical competition to compete against Slater's better qualified team. Zack learns a lesson about leadership when he must encourage his team to realize their potential, which included telling Louise she could climb a rope. She returns in the episode "1-900-Crushed", where she confides she has feelings for the jock "Moose", whose feelings are mutual, but she worries about the mismatched relationship. She is the queen bee of the school's nerd clique, and Zack goes out on a date with her during his campaign to earn the nod for writing the new school song, knowing she would convince Bayside's geeks and dweebs to vote for him. Slater tells another high-ranking geek that Zack's "date" with Louise could set a precedent where other popular guys begin dating geek girls, which inspired the geeks to cast their votes in the song contest for Screech's entry.

text: Moose[edit]

text: Moose (portrayed by Mark Clayman) is a very dumb and childlike jock, much like his fellow football teammate Ox (appearing in two episodes in seasons 2 and 4). He is seen dating Louise in the episode "1-900-Crushed", and also has a minor speaking role in the episode "Student-Teacher Week."

text: Maxwell Nerdstrom[edit]

text: Nerdstrom (portrayed by Jeffrey Asch) is a rich nerd (appearing in two episodes in seasons 2 and 4) who is Violet Bickerstaff’s boyfriend and treats her rather poorly, although he does buy her a gold-plated pocket protector. His poor treatment of her is one of the factors in her becoming Screech’s girlfriend. While most of the nerds comport themselves with a bumbling dignity at most, Nerdstrom goes above and beyond, behaving as a pompous, stuck-up geek. He defeats Zack in a game of poker, but gets his comeuppance in the end. Perhaps Maxwell's most noted accomplishment at Bayside is mistakenly kissing Screech’s dog, "Hound Dog" believing him to be Jessie, to everybody’s delight. He is later humiliated when Screech pointed out that Maxwell kissed his dog and tells Maxwell to stay out of Violet's life.

text: Ox[edit]

text: Ox (Troy Fromin) is a member of the Bayside football team and an archetypal "dumb jock" (appearing in nine episodes in seasons 3 and 4) who pals around with Slater when Slater is without his friends. Despite being a jock, he dates a female nerd, and is often shown to be gentler and more sensitive than his size and oafish behavior would suggest. He is among the students who get drunk senior year at the toga party. A similar character named "Moose" also appeared on the show, however.

text: Belding family[edit]

text: Rod Belding[edit]

text: Rod Belding (portrayed by Ed Blatchford) is Mr. Belding’s brother and steps in as a substitute teacher during junior year, after Mr. Dickerson has a mental breakdown. He initially makes a hip impression on the students because of his happy-go-lucky attitude, world-weary demeanor, and tales of defying authority and schoolwork. Rod arranges to take the students on the rafting trip for their annual class trip (ruining Mr. Belding's plans to visit Yosemite Park) and attempts to teach them about it. Mr. Belding is overshadowed by his brother’s connection with the students, which is evident in a minor confrontation they have when Mr. Belding tells his brother he is not to be teaching the kids whitewater rafting on official class time. After Zack accuses him of being jealous of Rod, he soon finds out what he's really like on the inside. During a confrontation with the brothers, Rod tries to skip out of the trip just to meet a stewardess named Inga. Mr. Belding is furious that Rod would abandon his commitment to the students and orders him never to come back to Bayside. Rod leaves as Zack ducks behind some lockers to avoid his sight. Not wanting to upset his students, Mr. Belding claims that Rod is ill. However, when he offers to chaperone the trip instead, the students happily and gratefully accept. Zack, who had secretly overheard the incident, tells his principal that “we got the better Belding.”

text: Mrs. (Becky) Belding[edit]

text: Becky Belding, Mr. Belding’s wife (portrayed by Louan Gideon), is featured in the episode “Earthquake!”, in which she, Zack and Tori get stuck in an elevator after a minor earthquake. During the time in the elevator she goes into labor and gives birth to the Beldings' son with the help of Zack, who becomes the baby's namesake.

text: Penny Belding[edit]

text: Richard Belding’s niece (portrayed by Jodi Peterson) is blonde and bubbly, but no one wants to date her as she is related to the Principal. During Zack’s sophomore year at Bayside, he earns himself a Saturday school detention. In order to be released from serving time and to be able to attend Kelly’s upcoming party, he signs a treaty with Mr. Belding agreeing to take Penny out on a date on Friday in lieu of serving his sentence. After making this agreement, Kelly informs Zack that her birthday party would also be that Friday, since the Max was booked on Saturday. In order to make Kelly’s party, Zack trains Screech to imitate him, so that he could take Penny out on the date instead; this works out well because Penny is attracted to Screech, but she angers Kelly when she says that she is hot for “Zack,” thinking that was who Screech was.

text: Zack Belding[edit]

text: Richard and Becky Belding’s son, born when Zack, Mrs. Belding, and Tori get stuck in an elevator. He also appears in two episodes of Saved by the Bell: The New Class.

text: Morris family[edit]

text: Derek Morris[edit]

text: Derek Morris (portrayed by John Sanderford) is the father of Zack. He is a businessman who spends little time with his son. He is very strict and opposed at first for Zack to marry Kelly in the TV Movie Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas.

text: Melanie Morris[edit]

text: Melanie Rhonda Morris (portrayed by Melody Rogers) is the mother of Zack. She's more fresh and less strict than her husband Derek. She adores Zack but still she knows some of her son's tricks. She supported Zack's marriage but couldn't do much to aid him in order to respect her husband, in the TV movie Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas.

text: Kapowski family[edit]

text: Frank Kapowski[edit]

text: Frank Kapowski (portrayed by John Mansfield) is the father of Kelly and her six other siblings. Kind and loving, he worked at a defense plant, but is laid off in the season two premiere "The Prom". He is also seen at Zack and Kelly's wedding in Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas giving Kelly away, and at the reception with his wife and two of Kelly's younger brothers.

text: Billy Kapowski[edit]

text: Billy Kapowski is Kelly’s baby brother, whom she places in the care of her friends in the episode “The Babysitters” so that she could have her cheerleading picture taken for the school yearbook. Zack is often left alone with Billy as the others make excuses or have other commitments to attend to. Because of this, Billy and Zack bond quickly to the point where Zack distrusts anyone else to care for the baby. He is forced, however, to allow Jessie and Lisa to look after him in their Home Economics/Parenthood class. They lose track of Billy when Screech goes to fetch Billy for Zack but mistakes a doll for the baby. The gang eventually find him in Mr. Belding’s office, and at the end of the episode he speaks his first word: “Zack.”

text: Kyle Kapowski[edit]

text: Another brother of Kelly's, he disrupts the end of one of Kelly and Zack's dates. Kyle later dumps water on Zack from the second floor of their house after Kelly decided against going steady.

text: Nicki Kapowski[edit]

text: Nicki Kapowski (portrayed by Laura Mooney) is Kelly’s tomboyish little sister who develops a crush on Zack. She becomes convinced that Zack feels the same way after he mixes up her phone call with Kelly's (while running the "Teen Line"). Although she is only thirteen and in the seventh grade, she nonetheless shows up at Bayside High to visit Zack, sporting a more feminine look and demanding a kiss. After trying various ploys to turn her off (including dressing up like a geek and trying to gross her out with a pet spider), Zack finally has to tell her the truth: he isn’t interested in her; he is in love with Kelly. More angry than hurt, she insults Zack for trying to scare her away instead of having the courage to tell a thirteen-year-old girl how he really feels.

text: Harry Bannister[edit]

text: Harry Bannister (portrayed by Dean Jones is Kelly's grandfather from the movie Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style. He invites Kelly and her friends to stay at "The Hawaiian Hideaway", a rustic hotel in Hawaii. However, someone else is out to buy his land and build a hotel/resort complex, and the gang has to save it.

text: Slater family[edit]

text: Maj. Martin Slater[edit]

text: Major Martin Slater (Gerald Castillo) is A.C.’s strict but loving father, who is frequently transferred due to Army obligations. Although he wants his son to attend West Point and enter the military as he himself had done, he eventually changes his views when he sees that Slater wants to attend college on a wrestling scholarship and figure things out from there. He is more frequent in the first season than any of the others. It is later revealed in "Saved by the Bell: The College Years" that Martin's last name was actually "Sanchez," causing an embarrassed A.C. Slater to realize his father concealed his Latino heritage (presumably simple due to his decidedly non-Latino appearance) to avoid rampant bigotry as he entered the military.

text: J.B. Slater[edit]

text: J.B. is Slater's younger sister. She shows up suddenly to visit A.C. and Zack develops a crush on her. This makes A.C. angry as he knows how big a womanizer Zack is, and forbids them from seeing each other. Once J.B. learns of this, she confronts Slater angrily and tells him to butt out of her love life. He eventually accepts that she will be dating his best friend and thus wouldn't be so bad. He still warns Zack to "treat her right". She does not appear in any other episodes besides "Slater's Sister."

text: Jessie Spano's stepfamily[edit]

text: Leslie[edit]

text: Leslie (Barbra Brighton) is the aerobics instructor (in the two-part season 3 episode "Palm Springs Weekend") as well as Jessie's future step-mom. Although Zack makes a pass at her in the beginning of the episode, the gang later finds out Leslie is marrying Jessie's dad. Jessie refers to her future step-mom as an "aerobics bimbo", insults and lies to her, and asks her dad flat-out to not marry her. Her father firmly says he loves Leslie and is marrying her, period. Jessie then refuses to attend the wedding. At the end of the episode, however, Zack convinces Jessie to do the right thing and they arrive (though slightly late) to the wedding on a golf cart, where Jessie apologizes and Leslie forgives her.

text: Eric Tramer[edit]

text: Eric Tramer (Josh Hoffman) is Jessie’s stepbrother from New York (in the two-part season 3 episode "The Wicked Stepbrother"). At first excited to have a new stepbrother, Jessie quickly grows to dislike his rough, confrontational and offensive personality. Eric causes trouble and conflict at Bayside, particularly with Zack who feels threatened by the new prankster bad-boy, even going so far as to offer up Mr. Belding’s car for auto shop class dissection to get Zack into trouble. However, after a punch and a speech from Jessie (after he said she was "just a chick"), he reforms his ways, entirely reassembles Belding’s car, and apologizes to all. He was planning to return to New York City, but the gang, particularly Lisa, who had developed feelings for him, convinces him to remain at Bayside.

text: Turtle Family[edit]

text: Mr. Turtle[edit]

text: Mr. Turtle (Henry Brown) appears in the episode "The Lisa Card". He was Lisa's father, who gave Lisa her first credit card for 'emergencies only,' however, she spends nearly $400 on clothes with the credit card. At the end of the episode, she confesses that she spent the emergency credit card balance on clothes, and Mr. Turtle forces her to pay the credit card off herself.

text: Judy Turtle[edit]

text: Lisa's mother Judy Turtle (Susan Beaubian) appeared in two episodes of the series, "Operation Zack" and "Drinking and Driving". In "Operation Zack", she is Zack's doctor after he accidentally breaks his leg when Mr. Belding bumps into him in the locker room. In "Drinking and Driving", Lisa crashed her car after getting drunk at a party, and has to deal with the repercussions of her actions, including telling Judy what she did to her car.

text: Powers Family[edit]

text: Roberta Powers[edit]

text: Roberta Powers (Ruth Buzzi) appeared in the episode "House Party". She is Screech's mom, who is a huge Elvis fan. In the episode, she trusts Screech to be home alone for a weekend and gives him a long list of rules to abide by. Her favorite Elvis statue gets broken by Screech's girlfriend, Violet, and the gang has to throw a party to raise money for the statue replacement.

text: Kimberly[edit]

text: Kimberly (who was uncredited) is Screech's cousin who appeared in the episode "The Aftermath". She was one of Zack's blind dates, which was intended to cheer Zack up after his rough breakup with Kelly. Slater, Jessie, and Lisa start wondering how Screech is related to her, due to the strong dissimilarities in their appearances, until Screech tells them she is adopted.

text: Malibu Sands employees[edit]

text: Stacey Carosi[edit]

text: Stacey Carosi (portrayed by Leah Remini, appearing in six episodes of season 3). She works for her father, Leon Carosi, at the Malibu Sands beach resort as a staff manager, in charge of all of the other members. Zack Morris is quickly smitten with her, and is disappointingly shocked to learn that she is the daughter of his boss. Throughout the summer, she and Zack progress from flirtation to hostility to eventual romance, marked by their kiss under the fireworks during the Fourth of July celebration.

text: Leon Carosi[edit]

text: Leon Carosi (portrayed by Ernie Sabella) is Stacey's father, who takes a strong dislike to Zack due to his constant snarky remarks and attempted courting of his daughter. He is also the gang's greedy boss for the summer. He also is very narcissistic, pompous and sometimes bumbling and thinks highly of himself and his daughter. However, despite his dislike of Zack, he eventually warms up to him towards the end of Zack's summer employment and says he approves of Zack and Stacey dating. He is similar to Mr. Belding who is always trying to get rid of Zack.

text: The Max's employees[edit]

text: Max[edit]

text: Max is the owner of The Max (played by Ed Alonzo, in 20 episodes during the first two seasons). He often advises the students of Bayside on their choices and dilemmas, and re-inforces his points with magic tricks. He is also the gang's friend.

text: Jeff Hunter[edit]

text: Jeff Hunter (played by Patrick Muldoon) has a brief tenure (in three episodes of season 3) as the Max’s manager who likes Kelly Kapowski. As a result, Zack and Kelly break up, allowing Jeff and Kelly to begin a relationship. Unfortunately, very soon afterwards Jeff’s infidelity was revealed when he is seen dancing with and kissing a girl at an over-18 club known as The Attic. Kelly breaks up with him as a result.

text: Miscellaneous characters[edit]

text: James the Actor[edit]

text: James (portrayed by Mark Blankfield) is an out-of-work actor who takes a job as a waiter at the Max (appearing in two episodes in seasons 2 and 3). He claims that he was a student at acting school. Most of the work he seems to get as an actor on the show is in the employ of Zack. In the season 3 episode "S.A.T.'s," Zack hires James to do a double role as Stanley Alan Taylor (S.A.T.), who orders Mr. Belding to lighten up Zack's workload after his grades have dropped, then to play an admissions officer for Harvard who acts snooty and elitist to everyone. In the season 2 episode "Rent-a-Pop," Zack hired James to impersonate his father after Belding demanded he meet with him as a condition to go on a ski trip in order to report on Zack's failing grades; to which Zack was convinced his real father would not let him go if he knew the truth. Zack then has to hire James again to play Mr. Belding after his real father accepts a letter to meet Belding once more, where James falsifies Zack's grades as spectacular. James the Actor also made two appearances on Saved By the Bell: The New Class.

text: Frank and Laura Benton[edit]

text: Frank and Laura Benton (Stephen Mendel and Jennifer McComb) are a homeless father and daughter, respectively (in the two-part season 3 episode "Home for Christmas"), who catches the eye of Zack and the gang around Christmas time. Laura, who works in a department store with Kelly, seems to be a tentative love interest for Zack; she is very shy around Zack about her homelessness. Zack, Slater and Screech get Frank to a hospital when he passes out at the mall from hunger, and then they find out he is Laura's father. Laura's boss accuses her of stealing a suit jacket that Kelly set aside to buy, so Frank would have an outfit that he could wear to job interviews. Later, Laura's boss apologizes and gives Laura the jacket for free. Eventually, the Morris family takes in the Bentons until they could “get back on their feet.”

text: Kevin the Robot[edit]

text: Kevin the Robot (operated and voiced by Mike Lavelle) was a creation of Screech’s with artificial intelligence (appearing in three episodes during seasons 1 and 2), who lives in Screech’s room and usually dishes out advice and witty remarks. His appearances include him as Screech's assistant when Screech is doing a magic show; and as assistant hall monitor when Screech is nominated for the post by his classmates, to make up for forgetting Screech's birthday.