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How Did So Many Colonists Die In Jamestown

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In 1607, King James I sent 110 men to sail across the harsh Atlantic ocean to start the first permanent settlement in the New World for the English. The settlement, Jamestown, was located at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay and up the James River in what we now call Virginia. Eventually, most of the settlers died out before the colony could flourish. They had a scarce amount of clean water, lack of labors, and deaths caused by diseases. This resulted in competition with native americans and harsh living conditions.

The first reason why so many colonists died was because the had a scare amount of clean water. Tides affected the health in Jamestown because they could get diseases from the lack of water flow in the rivers. Tides also caused water levels to rise and caused wells and freshwater streams to become brackish. Brackish water is a mixture of salt and freshwater, which is unsanitary to drink. Water was also not sanitary because human waste that got dumped into the rivers would fester and not get flushed away. The longest drought Jamestown faced was between about 1605-1613. As the colonist settled, they face a severe drought which also resulted in a scarce amount of water. In the winter of 1609-1610, …show more content…
As years past, most of the settlers died from diseases and native attacks. The poor water quality resulted in the spread of diseases. By the August of 1609, in total 524 colonists had arrived in Jamestown. In the summer of 1607, half of the population was killed by a sickness which left the colony with 44 settlers. This was just the beginning. When starving time came around in the winter of 1609, 110 colonists died from famine and diseases while 50 settlers were killed by indians. This was known as the “starving time” because the majority of the people died during this time. By the end of the year 1609, two-thirds of the settlement died leaving the colony with only 90

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