Jamestown Research Paper

Jamestown was the first permanent settlement in North America, founded in 1607 in Virginia. About 104 men and boys arrived at a new settlement in Virginia and named it after their king, James I, which was Jamestown. This new settlement was surrounded by many powhatan people that lived there. Although, even though English have found a new settlement, many colonist died. Colonists died in early Jamestown for three big reasons: their water was bad, they lacked key skills, and they had bad relations with the Powhatans.

Although some historians consider the Native Americans responsible for Bacon’s actions, could it be that Bacon was only after the native’s land and property and would do anything to obtain the land for his own financial benefit? In this essay, I will discuss Jamestown, Virginia in the 1600’s, and the conflicts between the settlers, Native Americans and the royalty from England that were sent to govern this area. This essay will also discuss why Bacon should not be considered a hero by taking into account the conflicts between the Governor Sir Berkeley and his corrupt government, the rebel Nathaniel Bacon, the settlers or tobacco farmers, and the Native Americans

Colonists and Natives were too confident and they tried to survive in the deathful fighting's and attacks! In 1607 the first English colonists arrived on the James River. They were sent by the Virginia company to find riches like gold, copper, and metal. They brought 104 men with them and three ships: The Susan Constant, the Discovery, and the Godspeed. When they arrived on the James River they also founded Jamestown which was the first English settlement in 1607 although before the colonists even got to the New World the emperor Powhatan was in power. Although why did so many colonists died in early Jamestown between 1607 and 1611? The reason why so many colonists died in Jamestown between 1607 and 1611 was because of disease, attack of Natives, and drought. So in the next few paragraphs, I will prove using historical evidence that colonists died because of disease, drought, and attacks of natives.

Of all the English settlers that arrived in early Jamestown from 1607 to 1611, 80% of them died. The first three ships arrived at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay bringing just over one hundred settlers who would attempt to establish the first English settlement. Fifty miles up the James River, the colonists chose a piece of land that seemed to be full of resources, and called it Jamestown. Those who study early Jamestown often wonder why so many colonists died despite the resources that were originally thought to be available. Environmental problems, lack of settler skills, and poor relationships with Native Americans were the main contributors to the high percentage of colonists’ death.

The deaths of approximately 440 colonists from Jamestown, England's first permanent colony, got many people wondering "Why did so many colonists die?" There are many factors that caused Jamestown to struggle so much, and begin a voyage back to England. A major reason why many colonials died was because they didn’t bring nearly enough supply's, nor did they try to become friends with their surrounding neighbors, the Native Americans.. The evidence that was discovered lies in documents and or journal entries, nearby plants, and annual weather.

One of the reasons I think why the colonists died was that lack of rainfall. Doc B stated, “ “0” on the chart means average tree ring size and therefore average rainfall “ (Doc B line 4). This matters because most of jamestown's rainfall was below zero. I feel that this might have killed the colonists because they were technically in a drought and they didn’t have any water to drink.

The founding of Jamestown was brought about in June of 1606 when King James I, granted a charter to the Virginia Company of London. The Virginia Company of London was a joint stock company established during this time with the purpose of growing settlements in North America. This group of London entrepreneurs had hopes of profit in building a secure settlement on Jamestown Island, and with the help of three ships and 100 colonists, The London Company became the first English Settlers in North America.

In spite of the many Indian massacres, Jamestown still grew to be a successful colony. The London Company was the main founder of Jamestown. The London Company's founders believed that there were precious metals in America so they sent a group of settlers to Jamestown. The trip to the Americas was not a very easy one for these settlers. They had to overcome many obstacles just to get to the Americas. In 1619 the House of Burgesses was formed which marked the first legislative body in America. Jamestown was plagued by many disasters. They were faced with one continuous disaster, Indian wars. They fought over land with Indians for many years. The London Company, creation of the colony, and

Jamestown land was desirable because of the many trees for building houses and ships,growing crops, and good hunting ground.

Throughout the 17th century, the English faced many hardships. The settlers of Jamestown had faced misfortune of the new land such as disease and malnutrition, and failure of crops. Over time the English built their economic and social structure with perfecting crops, indentured slaves and building a new society that would spark others to explore.

James town was the first settlement in North America and was developed mainly to supply to the mother country with new goods. Being the first settlement James Town had challenges they had to overcome versus Massachusetts which was a town started by a religious group known as Puritans who had no obligation to England other than coming to North America to practice their religion freely.

Since the first civilization Jamestown, the colonists slowly adapted and improved the environment of the land and gained more and more people due to the rapid overpopulation in England. But as the more advanced and smarter the people got. They began to import and export goods to other countries as a growing country, the British began to levy all kinds of trade regulation and taxes, all to stop the aid it was giving to other world power country that British was enemy and the selfish greed British had to only be the one gaining from the colonist. Therefore causing unsettling feelings of the colonies towards them, as they felt they are been treated unfairly and taking away what they felt is their own right and own money.

The first biggest reason why the colonists died is because of water and food. These are some of the evidence that supports my idea. The first reason is that in document A it tells us that many people died and got sick when they drank brackish water because it was salty water and was very harmful to life and caused people to get extremely sick. My second reason is that in document A it also tells us the colonists died by the deadly disease caused by the brackish water. My last reason is cited in document B that during the time period of 1605-1615, there as very low rainfall which as the reason there was a great loss in the production of crops and no food for the colonist to eat. These all are the reasons and evidences that support my argument.

First, the colonists were not aware of the infectious diseases that the Europeans brought to the land. For that, they do not carry any treatment that was capable of helping them to fight infections, as a result many died.

The English settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, was founded on May 14, 1607 by Captain Christopher Newport and his fleet of a hundred or so Englishmen. During the next nine decades, this settlement would begin as "a verie fit place for the erecting of a great cittie(Tyler, 33)", and develop into "nothing but Abundance of Brick Rubbish, and three or four good inhabited houses(Miers, 107)." Two major factors led to the gradual decay and destruction of Jamestown: (1) The profit-before-survival attitude of the English settlers, and (2) the persistence of the Indians of the area to drive the English from their native lands.