Jamestown Argumentative Essay

With the arrival of Anglo-Americans, Native Americans lost much more than just their land. Tribes were forced onto reservations, stripped of their culture, wealth and place in society, with no hope of regaining what they owned unless by complete assimilation. For the latter half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, many Anglo-Americans continually pushed for Native Americans to abandon their cultures and “savage” ways. However, despite the many attempts to force Natives into Anglo-American culture, many Native Americans found ways to negotiate with the demands of the Anglo-Americans through mainly social, economic and legal means.

Two scholars, Erikson and William Balée believe that almost all aspects of Native American life have been perceived wrong. Although some refuse to believe this, it has been proven to be the truth. Throughout Charles C. Mann’s article from The Atlantic, “1491”, he discusses three main points: how many things that are viewed as facts about the natives are actually not true, the dispute between the high and low counters, and the importance of the role disease played in the history of the Americas. When the term “Native American” is heard, the average person tends to often relate that to a savage hunter who tries to minimize their impact on their surrounding environment. For the most part, this is not the case. In reality,

The colonists were not prepared for their new beginning. They had very little food and no ways to get food so most starved. Why? They brought no farmers to grow their food. They also couldn 't go out to hunt because of the Indians. In 1609, a group of men sailed up the Bay in an attempt to trade goods for grain. However, they betrayed the colonists by returning to England because they knew it wouldn 't be enough to get them through the winter. (Hume) There were also too many gentlemen. Out of the 110 men 47 of them were gentlemen. A gentlemen is a person of wealth who doesn 't work with there hands. (Smith) These men had no skills to assist with gathering any food. The Jamestown colonists planned poorly by not being able to obtain or grow food and by bringing to many gentlemen which was a big reason why a lot of the

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)

When most people think of the beginning of North America they think of the first successful settlement, Jamestown, but this was not the actual first attempt in the New World. The settlement at Roanoke was the first attempt to colonize the New World in 1587. The colony on the island Roanoke is often referred to as the “Lost Colony” because of its unusual disappearance. The disappearance of the colony Roanoke, is one of the most significant events known to archeologist, historians, explorers and enthusiasts as America’s longest ongoing historical mystery. The colony of Roanoke Island had shaped the foundation of North America with the first American born, helped the English learn from their mistakes by successfully creating a settlement and became

The colonists of Early Jamestown did not know what they were going to experience in the New World, and they were not prepared. This took place from 1607-1611. The colonists arrived in Chesapeake Bay in 1607. They had hopes to find new land. Sadly, out of the 500 colonists that arrived in Jamestown, 80% died.Just between 1609 and 1610, 110 settlers died from famine and disease. In 1607, there was only one surgeon for hundreds of men. Colonists died in early Jamestown because of three main problems. These problems were Starvation, Native American Relations, and Disease. Listen to how almost 350 settlers died in these five years full of hardships.

Traveling hundreds of thousands of miles through dangerous paths American pioneers took on hardships as they sought westward in hopes of a better life. The journey westward began in the early 1800s when the US exploded with new territory’s nearly tripling the US’s size. It all started in 1803 when the US bought the Louisiana Territory from France. Quickly, many farmers picked up their belongings and headed out west to the rich, fertile land for a fresh start. Next, Andrew Jackson invaded Florida claiming it for the US which was also another opportunity for settlers to begin a new life. The last major territory the US gained was the Pioneer Paradise, Oregon County. Many people of all different backgrounds headed there for all different reason

Many colonists died because of brackish water, starvation, and Indian attacks and relations. They settled in Virginia near Chesapeake Bay in the Spring of 1607. They wanted to be first English settlement in the “New World”, which was in North America. Before there trouble they had just built their settlement and were improving the town. They also added military bases. They had settled near the Powhatan Indians. They had lots of trouble especially with the native americans. Colonist died in early Jamestown because of three main problems. These problems were brackish water, starvation, and Indian relations.

In the year of 1607, King James l was the ruler or King of England. The King allowed 110 men to travel on a journey to find gold in a place that is now called Jamestown named after their Ruler. Many colonists died in Jamestown because of the Indians who attacked and killed many. Doc B is a timeline written by J. Federick Fausz in January, 1990. It is a Magazine Article entittled “An Abundance of Blood Shed on Both Sides: England’s first Indian war 1609-1614. This timeline shows how many people and how people died in Jamestown from 1607-1610. According to Doc B, of the 542 English settlers in Jamestown between 1607-1610, about 150 men were killed by Indian attacks. Doc B’s article shows that the Indians might have killed the English settlers

Jamestown was repeating cycle of death, it started May 14th, 1607 when colonists set sail from England to Anchor in Chesapeake Bay. The Colonists came to Jamestown in search of possible riches and to convert natives to Christianity. however, within the first 6 months 70 of the 110 original colonists had died, due to water supply/drought, bad planning, and relations with the natives.

In American history, many overlook the violence that occurred when New England colonists encountered the Native Americans. When the New England colonists arrived in Plymouth in the 1620s and interacted with the Native Americans, they lived in peace with each other for more than 50 years. The colonists instigated a war with the natives to gain more land from the Native Americans and resulted with a massacre. This resulted in colonialism affecting the lives of colonists and Native Americans because both experienced forming an alliance, enduring social change, and deaths.

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.

Unfortunately, British settlers at Jamestown and the Algonquian tribe had a strained relationship. When looking at primary documents, it is evident that there was a great deal of enmity between them. In Document 3-1 of Reading The American Past, an indentured servant describes some of the horrors that he witnessed during a surprise attack from the Algonquian tribe. He mentions how 26 men were killed by natives and a captain was decapitated. Furthermore, fear was struck into their hearts when they realized all the weapons and armor were stolen. This brutal tragedy would lead anyone to understand why the Virginia settlers would despise the Algonquian tribe. After this event, they saw them as more uncooperative and barbaric than ever. Before the

The common agreement to what happened at Jamestown is the near Native American tribe, the Powhatans, were cruel, vial, and refused to help the struggling English who would almost die out because of malnourishment. Though the Powhatans refused to feed the malnourished English people, even with the English leader John Smith begging for help, the Indians felt threatened by the English because of their presence, weapons, and John Smiths threats. Therefore, the Powhatans cut off ties with the English for the fear of starting violence (Doc G). The “starving time” had nothing to do with Powhatans lack of help and originated in the lack of skill the English people had and the violent treatment to the Powhatans.

The Native Americans that inhabited the Americas, particularly in the Puritan colony of Plymouth in Massachusetts and the area that encompasses the English colony of Virginia in the eastern coast of North America, had their lives drastically changed upon contact with Europeans and served different roles for both different colonies. Native Americans living near the Plymouth were crucial to the survival of the Puritans in the Plymouth colony while the Native Americans in the Virginia colonies were in constant warfare with the English colonists in Jamestown.