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Leadership In Jamestown

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Jamestown was settled in 1606 and was the first successful British colonization of continental North America. Like other attempts at settlements, Jamestown had rough beginnings. Due to a winter so cruel that it almost wiped the colony out and relations with the Native Americans that were tenuous at best, the settlers did not have large food supplies or hopes for Jamestown. Nevertheless the settlement got back on its feet. Stellar leadership and the planting of tobacco were Jamestown’s saving grace, allowing it to grow, flourish, and set itself apart from the other colonies. Without proper leadership, it becomes difficult for groups to succeed. Jamestown was faced, from their beginning, with a major issue. Most of the settlers did not want to work, instead they wanted to look for gold, ultimately causing a lack of food and all around preparedness. John Smith changed this, “Taking over in 1608, he whipped the gold-hungry colonists into line with the rule ‘He who shall not work shall not eat’.” (American Pageant, 22) With his golden rule, Smith perforated work and change throughout the entire colony. Good leadership and a little tough-love pushed the colonists to new limits and pulled Jamestown out of a depression. …show more content…

Jamestown initially used traditional farming methods, planting food to eat, not necessarily to sell, but because of harsh winters and lack of workers this did not succeed initially and the settlers often went hungry. Things really took off, when the colonists of Jamestown started harvesting tobacco, “Virginia’s prosperity was finally built on tobacco smoke” (22) Pushing the frontier on, the settlers created large plantations for farming tobacco, creating a massive industry. The installation of tobacco cultivation in Jamestown helped to cause the progression from dying settlement to profitable

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