Jamestown Settlement In Virginia

Jamestown, Virginia was the primary permanent English settlement in the New World and was founded by Captain John Smith. Tobacco was the main cash crop, and John Smith had to be strict to make sure people worked hard enough to get their food. It was a joint stock company where colonists had rights like Englishmen did.

The creation of Jamestown started on May 24, 1607. Captain Christopher Newport led three ships, the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery. "They named both the river and their colony after King James I of England" (Jamestown 28). They did not want to leave England completely or they would not have named those two things after him. They probably felt that they needed to name these things after him because he was the main leader and investor of the expedition. The colonies agriculture and Industry started off slow. "They failed to produce silk, grapes, and other items because of the Virginia climate" (Jamestown 29). They had trouble growing these because they thought that they would grow as they did in England but the climate was much different. They brought a lot of stuff over that they thought would work but did not and this trial and error resulted in a long process before they finally found the first product that grew or worked. "The first agricultural products to be successfully raised were hogs and Indian corn" (Jamestown 29). There was more than one leader that contributed to keeping Jamestown up and going. Captain

The first establishment of the New World was Jamestown in 1607. This colony was founded by King James I. King James sent merchants and adventurers that were looking to profit from land and wealth to the New World just as the Spaniards did in Mexico and Peru. The London Company issued a Virginia charter to form plantations in Virginia. This was lead by Sir Thomas Smith, one of the wealthiest merchants aboard the ships to the New World. There were approximately 104 settlers that arrived on a peninsula along the James River. These settlers wanted to make a profit to take back to England. This peninsula was known as Jamestown. The colonists in this low lying swamp area was stricken with disease, contaminated drinking water, and was attacked by Spaniards or Native Americans. This was a serious threat to the early settlers of Jamestown.

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.

Jamestown-1607, the first British settlement in the new world. The voyage was funded by the Virginia Company, and many Natives were around the area.

The Jamestown settlement was one of the first settlements outside of England. The Settlement was officially established on May third, 1607. One cold day in England in December one hundred five settlers and thirty-nine crew members set sail. It was a long voyage it was approximately three thousand seven hundred thirty-six miles. On a ship that is a long time on a ship, the journey was about five months. It was also very harsh. When you are in the middle of an ocean the waves are going to be tall, cold and very deep. Also on most days there were many storms.

Scientists have found the bones of four members of Virginia’s Jamestown colony. All had died more than 400 years ago. Their graves also held artifacts that showed us the lives and deaths of these early American leaders.

Although Virginia and Massachusetts were both settled by English colonists and shared many similarities, both of these colonies were also very different from one another. Some of these differences included the types of people who settled there, their economy, government and writings.

Both small and big things the early americans did affected the growth and ways of their colony of Jamestown by a lot. For instance, when they first began there journey to find a new colony, they sent 144 men aboard, some being the spoiled, greedy gentlemen and some being the poor, hard working commoners. Since each group of people were very different compared to the other, it created fights and bickering among the men, dividing them on the ships. They may have not even found land yet, but already trouble was brewing.

1. This list shows the personnel decisions made by the Virginia Company in terms of their selection of the original settlers of Jamestown. If the decision had been yours, how would you have changed the list to ensure a successful settlement?

Traveling aboard the Godspeed, Susan Constant, and Discovery, were 104 men that landed in Virginia in 1607. They called this new place Jamestown and it was the first permanent English settlement in the New World. Jamestown had a great defensive position incase of any attacks. It also provided the new settlers a warm climate with fertile soil, which allowed large plantations. Unfortunately they used almost all the land to grow tobacco and not food, and this led to them having a food shortage. The real reason to grow tobacco was for them to make money, they traded the tobacco for goods or for amounts of money. Jamestown, lead by Captain John Smith, was soon turned into a normal successful colony.

The colony of Jamestown had a rough beginning. The location was very poor; men had to dig wells for water, but the drinking water was horrible. The land was also wet and swampy making a great home for disease carrying mosquitoes. After a year, almost half of the settlers died of disease and starvation. The men being ignorant had not bothered to farm or gather food for the winter because they had been too distracted by looking for gold in hopes of becoming rich. They also struggled with the Indians in the beginning, but John Smith eventually saved the colony by not allowing anyone who did not work eat. This made the settlers plant food and build their shelters. He also maintained peace with the tribe of Powhatan, and the tribe agreed to trade

Jamestown, Virginia was the first permanent English settlement that was successful what the United States of America is now. The colony was created by Virginia Company, which King James 1 chartered. It was developed as an approach the English Crown could use to colonize the North America where private investors funded the colonization, and in turn, they would share the profits. Jamestown was a suitable settlement since water surrounded it thus was easily defensible from possible Spanish attacks and the water was deep enough for the English to tie their ships at the

Jamestown, Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay; three colonies whose origins lie in the early sixteen hundreds. Enduring hardship after hardship, they struggled to survive with disease, savages, and each other. Through the midst of their strife, however, they developed systems of government that would address the needs of their inhabitants, ultimately becoming a basis for the government we have today.