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The effects of colonization
Reflection on colonization
The effects of colonization
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Story of a Dead Man
My name is Pierce Montgomery. I hail from a small village town just outside of London. Seven years ago I was a young boy who set out for adventure to the new world. Today I write this as an old man. The following is my story of our colony at Roanoke and the series of tragic events that beset it.
The journey to the new world was a long and tedious one. I was part of an expedition under the authority of John White. From what I remember if my journey I sailed on a ship named Dorothy. The quarters were very cramped and smelled of mildew. The ship was full of a variety of different people. There were carpenters, like myself, farmers, fisherman, and explorers. There were also some people who wad no real business being on the expedition. Aristocratic people, who had no concept of work, but were there just to have a good time, hunt, and search for spoils of the new world. These people were one of the main reasons we struggled so much founding a colony. It took over three months to reach the new world and when we did I had never been so glad to see land in my life.
It was summer when we arrived so the weather was very cooperative. The first order of business for us was to build shelters and find a fresh water source. Luckily for us there was a stream near by. I being a carpenter helped build makeshift homes out of wood and rope. Farmer’s tilled fields and fisherman found the best spots to throw their lines. By fall the colony was up and running relatively smoothly. Everybody did their share of work except for the people from aristocratic people from England. There were fights almost daily about the laziness of these people. They took far more from the colony than they put back in. On the other hand they were the ones who financed our trip to this beautiful new world.
Winter was a very tough time for us. Our crops died and we were very low on food. Our shelters collapsed under the weight of the snow and we didn’t have enough warm clothing. Fourteen colonists died during this time. It was then that we made first contact with the savages. They called themselves the Croatoan and were apparently from a small island located in the bay.
Roanoke: The Abandoned Colony by Karen Ordahl Kupperman; Roanoke Island: The Beginnings of English America by David Stick
They landed in Virginia unaware of the treacherous winter that was nearing. They found out very quickly that the heavenly narrative was quite the opposite. Staying alive was hard for many, especially when the first winter came. A staggering amount of people died the first winter even with the helping hand of the Native Americans. Edward portrayed the relationship between the two groups as peaceful as the Native Americans took the settlers under their wing. He noted that “The old planters (as they thought now come to reape the benefit of their long travels) placed with wonderful content upon their private dividends, and the planting of particular Hundreds and Colonies pursed with a hopeful alacrity, all our projects…in a faire way, and their familiarity with the natives, seeming to open a faire gate for their conversation to Christianitie.” This demonstrates that there was no tension between the settlers and Native Americans. The hospitality shows courteous relationship they shared with one another. Gary Nash shares the same stance of a peaceful friendship when he wrote about trade, stating that “Only a friendly Indian could be a trading Indian. If trade was key to overseas development, then English promoters logically suggested that the Indian might be receptive and generous- a person who could be wooed and won to the advantages of trade.” In other words, there was conflict with one another due
The Jamestown colony in Virginia, established by the Virginia Company, was the first established colony in North America. The Virginia Company would have investors invest in the New World for gold, treasure, or a sea passage in return. Members of the company, eager to find treasure, arrived in the New World. There was no gold or treasure. The members had to survive in the wilderness. They had to face diseases, the “starvation” time, and clashes with the Native Americans until they found the key to wealth – tobacco.
The General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles by John Smith, portrays the enormous troubles the settlers were faced with by the Native Americans. He explains how he was captured by Indians and also saved by a young Native American girl, Pocahontas. He vividly describes the ceremonies and rituals of the Natives performed before his execution. However, the execution never occurred due to the tremendous mercy showed by the king’s daughter who blanketed John Smith’s body her own. Pocahontas went on to persuade the Native Americans to help the settlers by giving them food and other necessities. Despite her efforts to reach peaceful grounds, her people were still bitter and planned an attacks on the colony. Nevertheless, Pocahontas saved them once again by warning the settlers of attacks. Pocahontas went on to marry an Englishman and traveled to England. She resembled the prosperity and good that was to be found in an untamed land.
In the 17th century, England was late when it came to the colonization of the new world. Which went through many changes before it was able to test the waters, forming the first settlements in the mid-Atlantic, Virginia. Under the guise of a noble mission given to them by King James I, the Virginia Company funded the first Colonies in Virginia. Years later, after perfecting their skills at surviving this new land, colonies in the south, Carolina were formed. These two regions both had their share of challenges, but they overcame them in different ways. Each had a method of doing things by force or from trial and error. The world in 1606 was very different than the world of today, but this is a story based on the
As colonial America started to settle in, towns and counties were developing and causing conflict. The early colonial American settlers that “the bulk of the emigrants came voluntarily, and more often than not they were the most “vivid people” of England, those with energy and courage to make a new start in life” (Hawke, 1). To Hawke’s point that the early colonist faced hardships, was when they encountered the Native Americans. This was one of the reasons why colonial Americans were encountering new ways of life, that what they were taught and knew about Europe had to be disregard...
Smith and Bradford both arrive to America through a voyage, their voyages took an unexpected turn and they arrived almost dead. John Smith and his colonist arrived in Virginia on the verge of death, these people roughed it out and saved themselves. Just as they arrived to the colony, Smith writes, “Being thus left to our fortunes, it fortuned that within ten days, scarce ten amongst us could either go or well stand, such extreme weakness and sickness oppressed us.” (Smith 72). Smith and the rest of the colonist arrive in America, but are barely alive and their health is way below healthy. They are forced to steal, scavenge, and do anything to survive against the odds. As their leader and president of the colony was withholding all the necessities
Some of the first and earliest hardships that the settlers faced in the Virginia colony is starvation and diseases. When the settlers first arrived they spent much of their time seeking for gold instead of gathering and preparing for the winter that would soon come. Once winter arrived many of the settlers died, “with cruel diseases as swellings, burning fevers, and by wars” (Document B). The settlers were accustomed to their
The two sources that I have decided to evaluate, The Colony at Roanoke by Ralph Lane and a diary entry from John White, provide accounts of first-hand experiences with the Roanoke Colony. Both documents are essential in understanding the beginning of the settlement.
They soon captured john smith and were ready to kill him, but because of one specific person saved him from death and her name was “pocahontas.” when she meet smith she was at the age 11 and was the daughter of the chief of the natives. He soon escaped again to go search for food and never returned. As he returned he spoke to his men and told them “dont work, dont eat.” This became his motto until he died. Next company who arrived were the “Pilgrims.” this company was named the “Plymouth plantation.” they soon after set sail after the Virginia company. They left with 100 men and women an most of them had died because of natural causes or something else. (pg.7)The person who lead them on this exploration was the person by the name of “William Bradford.” he was born on march 13, 1560 in Austerfield, u.k. He was one of the signatories to the Mayflower compact the ship they boated on. When they arrived they landed on the north eastern part of the u.s. Called Massachusetts. After the first two months they formed permanent settlement for the europeans. During there first winter there the original settler had died, but the people were able to save the settlement paper that brought peace with our neighboring native
During the early 17th and 18th century, indigenous Native American tribes, English colonists, and West Africans were scattered across the Potomac Region of the United States. Native Americans of the Potomac region lived in villages, particularly Nacotchtanke and Nameroughquena. The Indians relied on agriculture as a means of survival—they grew crops, hunted animals, and caught fish, using their own technology. After settling in Jamestown, Virginia, English colonists were desperate to discover “instant wealth” by searching for gold and participating in the trans-Atlantic trade. Soon the Europeans would learn to earn a living through interactions with the indigenous peoples, who showed them that farming, manufacturing, and trading was the ideal path to follow. Initially, West Africans arrived in the Potomac region as indentured servants to work on tobacco plantations, but were later subjected to slavery, a cruel institution prejudiced towards people with darker skin tones and different ethnic backgrounds. The settlements in the early 17th and 18th century sparked an economic relief for European colonists, who manipulated the knowledge of the Native Americans and labor of
After numerous failed attempts at discovering “India”, the Spaniards finally made it to the Americas, where Spain had granted settlers the right to assume ownership of the native people. The Spanish had the Native Americans maintain the land the Spanish had stolen from the tribes to grow goods that the Spaniards sent back to their motherland. Because of the unfairness of the Encomiendas System, the native people only received a small portion of what their oppressors had been receiving, which is what made their cheap labor so useful. Providentially, the English were greeted to the new land by the natives who already inhabited the space and were given help in their time of need. The natives shared food and shelter with the New Englanders until shipments from England brought over the supplies the colonists lacked. Through forming this close-knit bond with the natives at such an early stage in their settlement, the English had created a trade route from the Native Americans to the English superiors.Lamentably, the helpful
The start of this short story consisted of the story of a body. This body was the grandfather of Miranda and Paul. Their grandfathers widow exhumed his body three times, moving the body all over from Texas to Louisiana. She wanted his body with her constantly. When the grandmother passed she was burried next to his body. The grounds they were burried on soon were sold. The bodies were dug up and moved left were they once layed were empty graves. One day, Miranda and Paul went out to go hunting. They stumbled upon the empty graves. When they saw them they layed down their guns and hopped the fence wanting to seach for treasure. After hopping the fence, they both climbed in the graves and dug around on the dirt. Miranda
We have started our long journey to North America. It shouldn’t be that much farther according to John Smith, our leader. Our journeys purpose is to start a new English colony in North America. While in North America we have also been instructed to find some gold and silver. This trip has been long and exhausting, I can’t wait to reach our destination and catch up on as much sleep as possible. One of my main fears is to come across some natives that might be a friendly as we think. No telling what could happen to us and our people.
Getting the first settlers to their new home was the easy part, once they arrived to their destination the conditions were everything but what the colonist hoped for. With Liberia being on the west cost of the country the living conditions were harsh. The land was swampy and made it very unhealthy