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Jamestown Research Paper

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Jamestown was the first permanent settlement for Britain established in 1607 on the Virginian coast. In theory it should have been a highly successful settlement. However through the combination of environmental food and human issues it barely survived. The main issue that caused the destruction of Jamestown was ultimately human error. This essay will be analyzing which errors committed by the citizens of Jamestown and their rulers in England mainly caused the destruction of this settlement. Firstly, one main issue that was caused by humans was the food crisis. It could have been wholly avoided if they had managed their resources and time better. For example when they first arrived they spent many months searching for gold instead of creating …show more content…
Many illnesses were brought on by not only this, but swarming insects from the nearby marshes that brought disease. Aside from food, there was another thing that the human error brought on. Many people were sent over by the British government and then attempt to repay investors. They spend more time on trees than they did building their own houses and rebuilding their town. In addition, the governing bodies at Jamestown spent more time scheming the governing. Meanwhile England, which was unaware of all of this discourse, and even more settlers who were mostly gentlemen without proper supplies. In an attempt to house these newcomers, they were placed in the cornfield which they promptly consumed in a solid three days. This again brought back the food crisis, and a small team of people were sent up the river to retrieve corn from the Indians. Instead of returning, they took the corn and sailed back to England. Further negotiations with the Indians went poorly and resulted in the settlers being killed by the Indians when they tried to hunt or gather. All in all this could have been prevented if they had planned out before they

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