When English colonists began settling in North America they died at a startling rate. Jamestown, settled in 1607, was the first English colony that lasted, but it nearly did not. Of the 104 men and boys who landed on May 1607, only 38 were still alive by January 1608, when 100 new colonists arrived. Things continued to be so grim that in the winter of 1609-1610, later known as the "starving time," survivors resorted to cannibalism (Ghose), and the population of settlers in Virginia shrank from 300 to 90 (60 in Jamestown) ("Jamestown Chronicle Timeline"). Yet in 1620 the Pilgrims voluntarily left England for Virginia. During their first winter in the New World, half of them died. Meanwhile, hundreds more settlers came to Virginia. What …show more content…
According to History.com, "The Virginia Company planned to search for gold and silver deposits in the New World, as well as a river route to the Pacific Ocean that would allow them to establish trade with the Orient." The men involved were not interested in making homes; they wanted to make money. Their behavior was selfish and their intent was to live as wealthy men back in England. They did not care about the place they came to except as a source of profit. Jamestown was "composed only of men whose goal was monetary gain, treated the native people harshly and behaved in an undisciplined unruly, sometimes riotous behavior manner that undermined the ability of the colony to function effectively and achieve the financial goals of the governing councils in England." …show more content…
Virginia’s warm climate, long growing season, and fertile soil made it ideal for growing crops. Land of the Brave’s list of facts about the southern colonies states, “The warm climate made it possible to grow crops throughout the year and was ideally suited for plantations.” and that they “exported agricultural products to other colonies.” (“Southern Colonies”) After they realized there was no water route to the orient, and no gold or silver, the surviving colonists found a cash crop and survived “Thanks largely to Rolfe’s introduction of a new type of tobacco grown from seeds from the West Indies.” (“Jamestown Colony”) They established large plantations and began to import workers, first as indentured servants, later more and more as