Like Virginia, Massachusetts Bay was settled by Europeans. Both companies’ discovered natives were already occupying the land prior to their arrival. In Virginia, there were the Algonquians and in Massachusetts Bay there were a large number of Puritans.…
They were destined to die. In the early spring of 1607, the people of England sailed to the East Coast of Virginia. Sailing to the mouth of the Chesapeake bay, and working their way up the James River. The settlers came to the New World with expectations that were unbelievably high, and with a strong reason. Some can for gold, and riches. Some came to teach others the ways of Jesus Christ. Some came for a hidden trade route to China. Others may have hopes to be apart of the first permanent colonization in the New World. In the end, the Jamestown colony were to become the first long-lasting settlement in America. As the colonists saw the land of America, they were exposed to freshwater streams, “‘faire meddowes and goodly tall trees.’” The settlers…
In the May of 1607, a group of Englishmen set out on three ships up the mouth of the James River, which is in the current state of Virginia, in search for land, and gold; they would soon use this land as a money making town in which they would farm and trade. The people that funded most of these travelers trip were English investors that supported the idea. The land that they found would now be called Jamestown. Upon arrival, many of the citizens of the new-found colony died. About 60% of the colonist brought in 1607 had deceased. This was all because of the environment, the diseases they were unprotected to, and the absence of rainfall.…
Starting in 1607, colonists selected with what they believed to be an easily defended location, inland setting they believed would offer security. However, the site was low, swampy, hot and humid. In the summer outbreaks of malaria occurred. Since the settlers had no prior exposure, and therefore no immunity to infections of the new land. They quickly ran into other major early problems. First, the area had thick woods which made it difficult to clear for cultivation. Second, the land laid within the territory of powerful local Indians, confederation led by an imperial chief, Powhatan. Thirdly, promoters of London demanded a quick return on their investment; the colonists spent their energy on searching for gold. They quickly found out that there wasn’t any gold in Virginia. Among those problems, the London Company had little interest in creating a family-centered community. So, at first no women were present in Jamestown, making it difficult to establish and semblance of a society. Also, greed and rootlessness contributed to the failure to grow a sufficient food; inadequate diets contributed to colonists vulnerability to disease. When John Smith came along in 1608, he organized raids on neighboring villages to steal food and kidnap natives. Soon after that the “starving time” many people succumbed fevers before cold weather came. The local Indians…
Jamestown is located in present day Virginia. These colonists in Virginia were located by the Chesapeake Bay. The colonists met the Powhatan Indians on their journey to Jamestown. The three topics in this essay about these colonists are Disease/Sickness, Weather, and Native American Conflict.…
In 1606, hundreds of settlers flocked to Virginia in search of wealth and treasure. However, the colony soon began to collapse due to disease and starvation. Despite the challenges the new Virginia colonists faced, they expanded and improved their colony socially and economically with the arrival of the tobacco cash crop, indentured servants, and slaves. While many historians delude the success of Virginia’s first colony, Jamestown, to John Smith, the real savior was John Rolfe’s discovery of tobacco.…
The English settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts were both established in the early 1600s but the reason why and how they were established differed tremendously. The first permanent English settlement began in the Chesapeake Bay area in 1607 (Reich, 2011, p.59) and in Massachusetts in 1620 (Reich, 2011, p.69). Each settlement encountered the Native American people once they landed in their respective area, but each handled the situation a little differently. The Puritans knew that it would be in the best interest of the colony to watch and interact with the Native Americans. The settlers could learn new ways to plant fields and harvest food from the Native Americans. These skills would be essential to survive in this new environment. Puritans never treated the Native Americans as equals but understood the importance of a good relationship with them (Nash, 2010 pp. 75-79). The Virginia colony saw the Native Americans as an obstacle and a threat to the profit in which they came to Americas to pursue. This resentment would lead to many battles for land, food and resources. Neither of the colonies capable of accepting the Native American people as equals. This bias towards other races was even more evident in the Virginia colonies once indentured servants and slaves started to come over to work the tobacco fields (Nash, 2010, pp. 53-58).…
In 2007, the Jamestown settlement celebrated its 400th anniversary. The governing body of Virginia, the Virginia General Assembly, held a session there, a parade was held, and even Dick Cheney and Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom attended a ceremony honoring the historic site where English settlers would first find a permanent home in the future United States (Lessig and Payne, 2007). Looking backward, it seemed almost inevitable that the settling of Jamestown was the beginning of the United States as it’s known today.…
In 1607, 104 British men arrived in America, settled on the shores of the James River and established the Jamestown Colony. In 1620, the Mayflower brought Puritan families from Holland to settle on the new land and then they established the Plymouth Colony. Both groups created the two of the earliest settlements in America. Three distinct differences between the two colonies are their relationship with the Native Americans, the purpose for the settlements being created, and the location and climate of both establishments.…
Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement. Its founding expedition was launched by the Virginia Company of London, purely for profit. The 144 men who set sail for America in 1607 were entrepreneurs, meaning that their main reasons for settling in Virginia were for economic gain. The expedition was chartered by James I of England, making the future site of Jamestown a royal colony, and therefore supported by England. The men who traveled to Virginia were not known for their work ethic; they would rather have other people do the hard work for them. The majority of their work upon reaching Jamestown consisted of searching for gold, lumber, tar, pitch, and iron. These items were wanted for export by England. Because the settlers spent…
When the English settlers founded Jamestown in 1607, slaves were not being used anywhere in America. The Jamestown settlement was very important for the English because it started a continuous English presence in America. The original goal of the settlers was to spread christianity to the native communities(Johnson 23). After a while, the English discovered that tobacco could be easily produced in the Americas and they quickly began producing it in mass. Due to Jamestown’s mass production of tobacco, slaves were needed to work on plantations which ultimately led to chattel slavery spreading throughout the country(Johnson 27). The progression of slavery in America had three sections: The discovery of tobacco, the need for slaves to grow tobacco and other colonies adapting to the newly found slave labor, and without Jamestown…
When the colonists first came to the New World in 1607, they settled near a river, naming the river ‘The James’. James Fort, a colony the people had built near James River, was renamed Jamestown in honor of Kind James 1 of England who was ruling at the time. The men of Jamestown didn’t build decent shelters and didn’t know how to farm, causing starvation for them all. Their luck changed however, once they found and grew tobacco, making them rich and able to feed themselves…
How could two totally different groups with different intentions, and way of living have anything in common? Jamestown and Plymouth were both different groups of people coming from England to America for very distinct motives. There were many differences between the two, but they also had some resemblances with their venture and establishment in the territory. The two groups, both experienced the same consequences when they landed in America.…
Jamestown had been one the first English settlements in the New World. The English had settled here before the Pilgrims’ predestination. Jamestown is known for its hard living conditions and its difficulty to grow crops. During the spring of 1607, King James I sent out over 100 passengers to sail into the Chesapeake Bay. John Smith was a dominant figure that helped the colonist get through their first year in the wilderness. But as time went by, not all of those settlers would be alive. The environment and climate, food source, and different occupations were the few reasons why so many colonists died during 1607-1612.…
The site for Jamestown was picked for several reasons, all of which met criteria the Virginia Company, who funded the settlement, said to follow in picking a spot for the settlement. The site was surrounded by water on three sides (it was not fully an island yet) and was far inland; both meant it was easily defensible against possible Spanish attacks. The water was also deep enough that the English could tie their ships at the shoreline - good parking! The site was also not inhabited by the Native population.…