Essay On Early Jamestown

There were 110 men willing to risk everything they had to have a new lease on life. These men were headed to Jamestown, the first permanent settlement. By the end of December only 40 settlers would survive. So, why did so many colonist die? Well many colonists died because of their water supply, their relationship with the natives, and because of their knowledge of survival. These factor lead to early death for most of the colonist.

The early 1600’s was supposed to be a revolutionary time for England. England surveyed land in a new territory, now known as the United States, and came to a conclusion that this was an area they could thrive in. Although England believed this land was habitable, it would require a lot of time and work to be sustainable. The first departure from England happened in October of 1609; this ship holding 600 anxious Englishmen came near disaster. Once arrived these men realized they lacked the knowledge of how much work was required. Instead of putting in the efforts to thrive, these men wasted their time and consumed the minimal food they brought along with them. These men brought their poor work ethics to Jamestown; Edmund S. Morgan, an award winning historian, says “The colony’s long period of starvation and failure may well be attributed to the idleness of the first settlers, but the idleness is more an accusation than an explanation.” Although these men had not known what a hard days work was, I believe that these Englishmen lacked the knowledge and willingness to urbanize Jamestown.

Historians who practice historiography agree that the writings from the beginning of what is now known as the United States of America can be translated various ways. In James H. Merrell’s “The Indians’ New World,” the initial encounters and relationships between various Native American tribes and Europeans and their African American slaves are explained; based on Merrell’s argument that after the arrival of Europeans to North America in 1492, not only would the Europeans’ lives drastically change, but a new world would be created for the Native Americans’ as their communities and lifestyles slowly intertwined for better or worse. Examples of these changes include: “deadly bacteria, material riches, and [invading] alien people.” (Merrell 53)

The first reason why so many Colonists died was because their water. They had very bad water in Jamestown their water was very murky the water did not get flushed it fested in the water that they swam and drank in. A lot of the Colonists died from that because it was not healthy for them because the water also had human waste in it.

Throughout the seventeenth century, conflict between Europeans and Native Americans was rampant and constant. As more and more Europeans migrated to America, violence became increasingly consistent. This seemingly institutionalized pattern of conflict begs a question: Was conflict between Europeans and Native Americans inevitable? Kevin Kenny and Cynthia J. Van Zandt take opposing sides on the issue. Kevin Kenny asserts that William Penn’s vision for cordial relations with local Native Americans was destined for failure due to European colonists’ demands for privately owned land. On the other hand, Cynthia J. Van Zandt argues that despite military disputes among the two bodies, trade alliances between the groups continued. Van Zandt further claimed that relational failure stemmed from conflict among various Europeans nations advocating for dominance over the New World. The overarching purpose of the argument is to determine

During 1607-1611, early Jamestown colonists died to many reasons like starvation, occupations, and drought. Colonists did not have many resources to live a long life. That is why they died so fast through 1607-1611. Colonists died because they tried to find a new settlement for more land so they can have more resources and for a stronger defense, but instead they got attacked and there was not a lot of food there to feed them all. Colonists died by attacks by Indians. They also died by filth fester that which made the water bad to drink. They also died because the fish only showed up in spring and early summer. Colonists also died during winter because they had no food. The last two reasons they died is that gentlemen did not do any work. Also, because they had no water because of the long drought. These are the reasons colonists died are

At least a half-dozen accounts, by people who lived through the period or spoke to colonists who did, describe occasional acts of cannibalism that winter. They include reports of corpses being exhumed and eaten, a husband killing his wife and salting her flesh (for which he was executed), and the mysterious disappearance of foraging colonists.The Starving Time at Jamestown in the Colony of Virginia was a period of starvation during the winter of 1609–1610 in which all but 60 of 214 colonists died. 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.

It a very big reason that so many colonists died. Ivor Noel Hume, says “Though Francis West was able to load his small ship with grain, the success involved some harsh and cruel dealing by cutting off two of the Salvages heads and other extremities.” (Hume 61) So not only did they not have enough food, but they had to cut off two people’s heads to load it. There was also not enough food for all of the colonists. Quoting Dennis B. Blanton, she says “The island is not situated at a point of great natural food abundance. Fish are present in local streams but only in the spring and early summer.”(55)This was a big problem because in the winter they would not have any food. Plus because of the drought, there was no rain which meant no water to water the crops. They also died because they only had one farmer (Smith 59). Because they had only one farmer they didn’t have enough food.There were many reasons that there was no food, but one was that there was only one farmer. If this farmer happen to have an accident or die, then there would be no one to plant crops and provide food. This is one of the reasons that so many colonists died from

In the article “Early Jamestown” it states, “The arrival in January of a resupply ship saved the colony from total collapse but in the next two years, hard time continues.” This contributes to some of their deaths because by now the supply ship wasn’t to get there on time to save a little more people and that is how some of the colonists died. When the colonist got grain they doubted that it was going to work for them to last through the Winter until the supply ship returned after Winter. Soon the “ Starvation time” would take place after they ran out of grain and that means that there will be no more food until the supply ship gets there but until then they had to survive on what they had so that means some of them died because they were starved to death. There are more reasons they died so let’s talk about

Looking back to the 1500s, the English had been situating settlements in Ireland and used a familiar model in the New World. The early years of Jamestown were difficult for the settlers. The land was hot, humid, and mosquito-infested, and the settlers were mostly aristocrats and artisans that spent much of their time searching for gold. Those who didn’t die on the trip, died once they arrived from diseases and starvation. In 1607, about 3 ships-each holding more than 100 English passengers, arrived on the Chesapeake Bay region of Virginia. Settlers were excited, given that they would be the first permanent colony in the New World. Most settlers were in search for riches and others in search of a new home. Settlers ranged from the ages of 17 to 35 years old. The first years for the English settlers were harsh and devastating. By 1611, two-thirds of the settlement had died and all hope was lost for the settlers. The 3 main circumstances that caused a majority of English colonists at Jamestown to lose their lives were the environment, the social and religious conflicts with the Natives, and the lack of survival skills.

Starting over in a new unknown world can be terrifying. The Jamestown colonists had hard trials, some survived these trials, some weren 't so lucky. Poor planning, Indian attacks and lack of medical care are the three main reasons the so many colonists died during the early years of their settlement in the new world.

Many colonists died in Jamestown because the Indians attacked the settlers coming to their land. Doc B is a timeline adapted by J. Frederick Fausz in 1990. The timeline is from a magazine article entitled,” An Abundance of Blood Shed on Both Sides: England’s First Indian War, 1609 - 1614.” This is showing us how many and how people died in Jamestown between the years of 1607 and 1610. According to Doc B, of the 542 English settlers at Jamestown,

One of the reasons that so many colonists did not survive was due to the lack of food. “The Lost Colony and Jamestown Drought,” shows the estimated amount of rain that Jamestown received over the years. Since rain affects plant growth, plants were not able to forw. This meant there was not a lot of plants or crops around. Ivor Neol Hume explains how the

o 3) Jamestown eventually became identified as a “death town” because of the aaaainumber of colonists who would die when they arrived.

Thesis: The English were a prideful group, entangled in ethnocentrism, that caused a condescending and harsh treatment of the Native Americans, while the Native Americans were actually a dynamic and superior society, which led to the resentment and strife between the groups.