...The Deaths of Many The year of 1607 was when the first English settlers arrived and built a fort on a place called James Island, soon to be known as Jamestown. Of the 110 original settlers, only forty survived at the end of December. When January came, there was a restock of English colonists which did save the colony from total extinction, but even that was not enough. In the next two years, hard times came when Captain John Smith, who provided much needed leadership, was sent back to England. In the awful winters of 1609-1610, two thirds of the settlers died. Many of the colonists of Jamestown died because of the unsanitary water, an unprepared population, as well as, the very unfortunate drought. First, many colonists died because of the contaminated water provided in Jamestown. In document A, it describes how Jamestown gave the colonists brackish and polluted water. As the water levels rose, many rivers and creeks became brackish or salty water, therefore making fresh water very rare. Also, according to the historian Carville V. Earle, he claimed that the human waste which got dumped into the rivers, festered and did not flush away. The toxins and harmful diseases...
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...The colonists’ incentives were riches and gold, as well as potentially spreading Christianity and possibly finding a trade route to China. Many dangerous obstacles such as warships were ahead, which could lead to failure like the previous unsuccessful settlement of Roanoke Island. While the colonists were expecting lots of land filled with gold, the Powhatan Indians were already living along the coast of Jamestown. The English settlers built a fort known as Jamestown, but unfortunately over half the settlers ended up dying. More colonists, most young and poor, came with the desire of working off their debt. They produced the...
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...Death in Jamestown The first years of the first permanent English colony, Jamestown, was not easy. Around 110 Englishmen settled off the Chesapeake Bay on the coast if Virginia in 1607. Many of these colonists were looking to gain religious freedom or start new lives. However, many of these colonists died due to brackish water, lack of skills, and bad relations with the Powhatons. One of the factors that contributed to the high death rate in Jamestown was water. Water cause problems for the colonists in 3 ways. For instance, the water was too salty to drink (Document A). The tides would cause to salty water to flood the freshwater, so the colonists had no other water to drink. Then when they drank the salty water, they would get sick. Also, the water was full of trash (Document A). The colonist threw their trash and waste in the water, but the waste would fester instead of flush away. And again, the colonists had no other water, so they would get sick. Lastly, there were many droughts around the time the colonists settled. The droughts left no water for the crops (Document B). Since the colonists could not grow enough crops, famine spread across Jamestown. Therefore, water and the lack of water cause many problems for the Jamestown colonists....
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...On the way to Jamestown, the colonists had no idea what dangers lay ahead. In the years of 1607-1611, the English colony of Jamestown was a despairing place. Without proper provisions or occupations, most of the settlers there died. The leader of the colony, John Smith, insisted they persevered and kept going. When they first got to the settlement, the settlers thought they were going to find great riches. After a few weeks, it was evident that there was no gold to be easily found. The Powhatan tribe surrounding the settlements were angered when white men tried to trade with them and, attacked the settlements often. Because of Indian attacks and disease, 80 percent of all the colonists that arrived had died. There were many problems which contributed...
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...know that at the same time something terrible was happening in America. Some colonists had sailed from England and came to America to explore and find riches. During the years of 1607- 1611 these colonist were dying by the hundreds in Jamestown. The colonists were met with problems, and many to come, because they had too many people not trained correctly to endure what was to come. They also had a large amount of colonists that were gentlemen, wealthy people who were not trained to work with their hands. The moment the settlers arrived in America difficult thing were stirred up. Colonists made the Native Americans mad, because they had begun stealing land from the natives. The colonist began to die from disease, Indian attacks, starvation and many other things . One of the main reasons the colonists were dying was because of disease. The summer sickness of 1607 killed half of the colonists (Fausz, 63). Of the original settlers in May of 1607 there were no apothecaries, which could have assisted with medical issues and needs. Another concern that contributed to death by disease was that fresh water supply...
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...Early Jamestown: Why Did So Many Colonists Die? Suppose you have to live in an infested, uncommon, and to you an inhabitable land. You come with 100 other men, some dressed in cloth, some dressed in rages. How would the relationship be between you, the environment, unknown aliens, and your “companions?” The spring of 1607, three English ships with a hundred passengers came across the Atlantic, through the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, and up the James River. Their intention was to create the first permanent English settlement in the “New World”, teach the ways of Jesus Christ to the Native peoples, find a trade route to China, and gather riches. Though only in the first few years of this “permanent” settlement, it started to parish. People...
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...10 men originally settled in Early Jamestown, but by the end of the first winter only 40 survived. The English came to America in 1607 to be the first permanent English settlement in the New World. They settled in a place that they soon called Jamestown, Virginia and the joint stock company called The Virginia Company, helped pay for the settlement. All of the first settlers were men and by then end of the first six months, 80 percent of them died. Early Jamestown was a colony of English settlers in America that lasted from the years 1607-1611. Something that puzzles historians is how many colonists died in Early Jamestown. Many colonists in Early Jamestown died because of environmental issues, their relationships with Native Americans and their lack of settler skills. The first reason why so many settlers in Early Jamestown died was because of the environmental issues. Brackish water was the only water made available to the settlers in Jamestown. Brackish water contains salt and is not sanitary to drink. You could drink and drink this water but never get hydrated from it. Diseases and bad health resulted...
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...So many colonist died in Jamestown because the colonists had bad native relations, water problems, and diseases. These things were problems because bad relations led to heads being chopped off and the natives attacking. Water problems led to the colonists fighting for water. Finally diseases led to many dying and Jamestown almost going extinct. But how close was Jamestown to being down to their last survivor? Bad native relations, this was a problem for the colonists because they needed to trade with the natives for whatever they needed. Like food, lumber, and maybe some clothing to keep warm during the winters. With the bad relations had to come extreme prejudice, such as beheading. The colonists, in order for the natives to consider trading, had to behead two of the indians own. A lot of colonists died from the natives because they were unhappy of the way colonists were treating them. Natives intruded on the colonists land and captured the colonists out looking for RSS. These bad native relations led to almost 40% of the deaths of the colonists....
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...disaster if it had not have been for the strong leadership of Captain John Smith. His motivation to survive, solid relationships with Native American tribes, and sturdy leadership skills were fundamental in the success of Jamestown, North America’s first permanent colony. A New Settlement It was the year 1606 when the London Company executed a plan for a new colony. Despite the previous failure of the Roanoke Colony, the group...
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...Jamestown was established in 1607 when 100 passengers sailed to the mouth of Chesapeake Bay in early spring. They sailed to Chesapeake Bay in hopes of finding possible riches, spreading English culture, and to find a possible route to China. However Chesapeake was not empty, there were about 15,000 Powhatan Indians living in small villages along the James River. During which Jamestown was being established, a drought occurred due to irregular rainfall, and the river, which was their main source of water supply, developed impurities from the high tides, which lead to diseases. By the end of December, 40 of the 110 settlers were still remaining. But did not only die from the droughts and impure water, so, why did so many colonists die? Colonists...
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...“Jamestown and triumphs” Julie Atkinson Reconstructive US History Professor Brumbaugh December 20,2014 Before the settlers landed in Jamestown, The Indians occupied the land and lived there for centuries. They were the first people to arrive in Jamestown. Some say there were 25,000 Indians; others say around 50,000 of the American natives, who lived on the land. There were about thirty different tribes whom the powhatan chiefdom took charge. However, each tribe had their own chief. In time there would be a change; King James 1 of England granted for another colony to be established under the Virginia Company of London which consisted of many wealthy Englishmen who wanted to invest their money into the company. They expected to open new lands for financial and patriotic explorations and use the resources of the new world. They wanted to establish English shipbuilding industries and to convert the Indians to Protestant Christianity. The Spanish were aggressive to convert the Indians to Roman Catholicism. Since there were already Spanish colonies in America, the English needed to develop new employment opportunities for the English. For this reason, English people wanted their own colonies. Around the time of 1607, there were three ships sailing from England: the Susan Constant, the Godspeed and the Discovery. They held around hundred and fifty English men, and boys who sailed four months before they reached Jamestown. During their voyage they encountered crowded conditions...
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...In 1607, King James I, had given his blessings to the colonists, in hope of creating the first English colony. Carrying more than 100 passengers heading to the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, towards the James River. As the course of time continues, colonists don’t realize many would die before their colony would flourish. Most colonists died between 1607 and 1611 due to lack of real workers, lack of water and from death. First of all, very few of the first and second settlers were real workers that would contribute to building a colony. In May of 1607, the first set of settlers got to Jamestown in a total of 110 settlers. For the first group of settlers, only 29 of them had known occupations such as, surgeons, carpenters, masons, blacksmiths, etc....
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...disembarked near the James River. What they did not know was that they were not alone; there were at least 15,000 Powhatan Indians living in small villages. Furthermore, one reason that can have caused many deaths could have been because of the drought that they had to live through. According to Doc B, in the years, 1600 and 1610, Jamestown suffered the longest unbroken period of drought....
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...The “Starving Time” took place during the winter of 1609 to 1610 where nearly three-quarters of the English colonists died. The food supply diminished as they colonists focused more on finding gold to keep their wealth. The colonists had many disagreements with each other during that time. They also lacked skilled craftsmen because the rich refused to do any physical labor. During their time at Jamestown, the English colonists had suffered through a massive food shortage, due to their lack of skilled craftsmen, and proper use of firearms, which resulted in many of their deaths. During the winter months at Jamestown, the colonists went through what was later called the “Starving Time.” They were faced with a major food shortage. When the colony was established the idea was to receive food from two different places. They were expecting to receive periodic supply ships and trade with the Native...
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...The beginning of the Jamestown colony was filled with challenges. English settlers arrived at the James River in the Chesapeake Bay region, now known as Virginia, in the spring of 1607. Some were looking to start a new life, while others aimed to get rich. Unfortunately for most, the venture ended tragically. By 1611, 400 of the initial 500 colonists had perished. The reasons for this high death rate can be attributed to inadequate water supply, a lack of skilled labor, and poor relations with the Powhatan people. Water posed several problems for the settlers. Firstly, the drinking water was brackish, meaning it was too salty for safe consumption. This made the settlers sick (Doc A). Additionally, because of the tides, the river water was often...
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