Early Jamestown Why Did So Many Colonists Die Analysis

585 Words2 Pages

Most people know that Jamestown was a thriving country. However, some people did not know that the first years were hard and tough for the colonists. In fact, the people had a dramatic drop in their population. Before what was happening, one hundred ten Englishmen arrived in May 1607. Even though many people were brought to Jamestown, the majority of them died.They died mainly by three several reasons. Those reasons included the Native Americans, the lack of good water, and starvation.These first years were troublesome. Especially, when the Native Americans Would attack, when they had no good water, and when they had barely any food. The majority of the colonists died because of the first reason, the Native Americans. Native Americans would attack the colonists and would succeed. In the article “Early Jamestown: Why Did So Many Colonists Die?” the author states in Document E, “...6 ships bring some 250 people ( third supply) Of 120 men stationed near the falls, the Indians kill “neere halfe.” This means that the Native Americans killed about fifty colonists. Another quote in Document E that shows the Native Americans killed the colonist is, “Of 100 men at Nansemond, Indians kill 50.” This means that overall the Native Americans killed 101 colonists. Overall, the first problem that led to …show more content…

The lack of good water played a big role in the colonists death mainly because of the diseases it can carry. “Filth introduced into the river tended to fester rather than flush away.” (Blanton 55). This statement means that when the people used the bathroom the had to do it in the river, and that the filth would just stay there and not flush away. On page 57 it shows a graph that shows the rainfall in Jamestown. On the dates 1605 to 1612 it shows that there could have been a drought. Both the diseases and the drought killed the colonists. Overall the second reason so many colonists died in early Jamestown was the lack of good

Show More
Related

  • Summary Of The Documentary The Early Settlement Of Jamestown: Against All Odds

    552 Words  | 2 Pages

    Against all Odds is a very interesting Documentary that follows the early settlement of Jamestown in the 17th century .With endless against the odds situations thrown out in from of the people of Jamestown left and right things seemed bleak. But a lot of perseverance from the early settlers including the Documentaries depiction of the original leader John Smith things seemed to resolve themselves. In Documentary there were several parts where it conceited with what is in chapter three of the Textbook the American Promise. For example, In the Documentary when the subject of the Tobacco business came up it was exampled in the same way as the first page of chapter three. With examples of how the product was grown and distributed out into the world. Making it a very valuable trade to be doing although very labor intensive, which is why it would soon lead into the slave trade. Something that was briefly shown in the documentary mainly to show what lengths the people of Jamestown were willing to go to make things work out in their new home.

    Read More

  • Apathy And Death In Early Jamestown Summary

    1204 Words  | 3 Pages

    In her work, Apathy and Death in Early Jamestown, Karen Ordahl Kupperman argues that the “high mortality rate” of Jamestown was caused by apathy, which formed from “a combination of psychological and physical factors” of disease, malnutrition, and despair. She supports her argument by making parallel connections between the source of death of those at Jamestown to the deaths of American prisoners of war in World War II and the Korean War. Although her claims are interesting to read due to the engaging comparisons she makes to the death rates in Jamestown, her analogy between prisoners of war and colonists is weak due to the two vastly different situation that the people of both times went through.

    Read More

  • Comparing the Settlers of Jamestown, Virginia and the Pilgrims Settlers in New England

    1315 Words  | 3 Pages

    There were vast differences between the difficulties experienced by the first settlers of Jamestown, Virginia and the Pilgrims who settled in New England in more ways than one. While the Pilgrims fled Europe because of religious persecution, the Jamestown colony was established solely as a business venture. While life was difficult for both groups of settlers upon reaching the new world, the Jamestown venture was doomed to fail from the beginning; but where the Jamestown settlers failed, the Pilgrims succeeded. The motives for traveling to America were different for each group but were instrumental in their eventual success or failure.

    Read More

  • Jamestown: Why Did So Many Die?

    649 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jamestown was the first successful settlement established by England. It was first built in 1607 and lasted until about 1614. On the first ship, 100 male settlers set off for a new settlement in the New World. Life there at times was hard for various reasons. They did, however, become 7 7 trading partners with the Indians. 80% of Jamestown’s more than 500 settlers that had arrived had been dead by 1611. The reason for this is because of sickness and disease, lack of resources, and where they chose to build their settlement.

    Read More

  • Dbq Early Jamestown

    734 Words  | 2 Pages

    Everyone knows the story of how the Pilgrims came to America on the Mayflower and started a new life. But what about before the Pilgrims? On May 14th, 1607, 104 English settlers stepped off the crowded boat and started a colony in modern-day Virginia. These people are referred to as the “early Jamestown settlers”. Now, it’s important to know that when we say “early”, we mean the first 544. However, they didn’t actually ever have 544 people there at once. The most they ever had at one time was 381 people, and the least amount was 40. This is because a lot of them died. Why did they die? That’s a good question. Their deaths can be attributed to multiple things, including the climate, disease, and a lack of money. However, those things are mere

    Read More

  • Early Jamestown: Why Did So Many Colonists Die?

    596 Words  | 2 Pages

    Have you ever heard of “Early Jamestown?” The year was 1607, roughly, 110 English men arrived on the coast of Virginia, to search for gold, which the Spaniards also had begun a search for and found an abundance of gold. It is the first permanent English colony in what is now the United States. ‘Early’ Jamestown entails the first five years of settlement in the Americas. The question is ‘Why did so many colonist die?’ Colonist died in early Jamestown because of three problems. These problems were the environmental issues, the relationships with the Native Americans, and the lack of skills the colonist brought with them to Jamestown.

    Read More

  • Early Jamestown Dbq Essay

    417 Words  | 1 Pages

    Another reason why so many colonists died was because of their relations with the Native Americans. If they did not cut people’s heads of (Document D) because they didn’t want to trade, maybe they could of got some food. They also went through a series of 3 wars with the Powhatan Natives. The first war lasted from 1610-1614 (4 years) which really affected the colonists during the Starving time. If they did not massacre the Natives, maybe they could've traded for

    Read More

  • Jamestown DBQ

    687 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout history, humankind has done just about everything wrong; from slavery to bowl cuts. We are creatures of habit, greed, and want. We all believe in hope that eventually history won’t repeat, but we creatures of habit are doing very little to stop it. Our habitual patterns cause chaos and disrupt in war most of the time, so the fact that the colonies usually failed and died isn’t surprising. Jamestown was the first “successful” colony but all the people in the colony mainly died. We love to look the other way and say that they died because they didn’t know the land or because the natives were evil but the truth is; the Jamestown colonists died because of their stupidity, mistrust, and greed (a.k.a human nature).

    Read More

  • Essay Compare And Contrast Jamestown And Plymouth

    1167 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Jamestown, while at sea they were stranded for weeks off the British coast, and they had dwindled food supply. Several of them died because of the poor food supply. Also, as soon as the settlers of Jamestown were spotted, they were immediately surrounded by attacks from Algonquian natives, uncontrolled diseases, and internal political strife. More than half of the colonists that were on the ship died from famine and illness in their first winter. Their Captain, John Smith tried making peace with the natives before returning to England, however the following winter, another disaster struck Jamestown and it was the period of the “starving time.” Unfortunately, only 60 out of 500 colonists survived. They were not only in need of food supply, but they had been in drought for a very long time. They tried hard to survive everything they went through, but many of them couldn’t survive. Like Jamestown, Plymouth also went through so much to survive. Plymouth had a very important event happen while on their journey. The Mayflower Compact occurred at the same time. During the Mayflower Compact, women had by far the hardest time out of all groups of passengers. Of eighteen women that went with their husbands, no single woman came on the Mayflower. Sadly, all but 5 of them died. Their death rate was 72%, which was above the 58% for men. 25% for boys, and 18% for girls. Plymouth colonists struggled from a lot of the same things the Jamestown colonists did. In Plymouth, their voyage over sea was too long with no proper food supply, except on good weather days, which were hardly ever. They also, experienced internal political struggles, and sickness. Something new they experienced was weather problems. On the Mayflower, death usually came at a young age. All their horrible experiences also caused many deaths, but they never gave up on trying everything and anything

    Read More

  • Indentured Servants In Colonial Virginia

    550 Words  | 2 Pages

    The harsh conditions of the Chesapeake colonies indiscriminately killed anyone who lived there. According to Taylor, “Despite the importation of fifteen thousand indentured servants between 1625 and 1640, Virginias population increased by only seven thousand…the extremes of the Chesapeake environment shocked English bodies...”

    Read More

  • Jamestown Why Did So Many People Die Essay

    532 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first years of settlement at Jamestown was tragedy struck for English settlers. In May 1607, 110 English settlers arrived in Virginia to start a colony. They wanted to find resources and become rich. By 1612 however, almost of the settlers who had arrived at Jamestown were dead. So why is the reason why so many people died? There are three factors to consider including the environment, settler skills, and their relations with native Americans.

    Read More

  • Jamestown Vs. New England Colony

    1276 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Jamestown colony was located near present day James City County, Virginia. Jamestown was the first permanent settlement by the English in what is in current day known as the United States. The location of Jamestown was selected primarily for the fact that it provided a favorable defensive location against any other foreign powers that may have tried to gain control of the colony. John Smith, Robert Hunt along with others provided inspirational leadership for the colonists but even so starvation became a very apparent problem. The hostile relations with the local Native American people and a lack of any profitable exports only made matters worse. Despite this and a horrible winter bearing down on them, the colonists persevered. At the end of the first winter only 60 of the original 214 English colonists survived. (jamestown virginia) The settlers who came over on the initial three ships were not well-equipped for the life they found in Jamestown. In addition to the “Gentry” who was not accustomed to manual or skilled labor, they consisted mainly of English farmers who were not prepared physically or emotionally for the problems that would face them. (old and sold antique digest) Yet despite this they persevered and wo...

    Read More

  • Comparing Jamestown

    1105 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Jamestown Thesis

    1045 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1607 King James ordered the drafting of a new charter for a new colony in the new world,he declared the name of the aforementioned colony Virginia. The founders of the first colony in Virginia named their first settlement Jamestown, after their monarch. The first winters the settlement starved. Fortunately, Cpt. John Smith assisted in helping the colonists. However, his wounds caused his return to England. The colony then suffered a relapse. Several other men tried to help Jamestown but all but the last one failed. The author wrote an informative essay but the thesis had several errors. The essay, The Labor Problem at Jamestown’s Thesis, was that the colony’s long period of starvation was caused by the Englishman’s ideas about the New World,

    Read More

  • Nightmare In Jamestown Movie Analysis

    621 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this documentary by The National Geographic, The New World: Nightmare in Jamestown captures what it must have been like for the settlers of Jamestown. It takes place in an archeological site which is owned by the APVA where they found remains of the original men who first arrived to the New World and who set up the colony at Jamestown. They were sent by the Virginia Company in hopes of being able to bring home gold and other riches that the Spanish had already been taking advantage of. Unfortunately, in the process, they faced disease, death, hunger, and hostility from the Indians.

    Read More

More about Early Jamestown Why Did So Many Colonists Die Analysis

Open Document