Brackish Water: Killing the Colonists One by One Only 60 out of 500 colonists survived in the winter of 1609. The main reason so many colonists died was because of the brackish water. Brackish water is developed when saltwater and freshwater mix, making the water no longer drinkable. In Document A by Dennis B Blanton, it states, “Reliable sources of freshwater would have been scarce by the seventeenth century.” Also, in Document A by Dennis B Blanton, it states, “filth introduced into the water tended to fester rather than flush away.” Clearly, the evidence supports this statement because scarce freshwater meant that the colonists had no water suitable to drink and water is needed to live. Also, filth and sewage in the water meant it couldn't
On Wednesday, February 15th, I was able to have the opportunity to listen to Andrew Lipman. Andrew Lipman is the author of The Saltwater Frontier: Indians and the Contest for the American Coast. In the novel, he explained the life of Native Americans living in New England and on the coast of Long Island. During this time, most individuals relied on trading natural resources. In order for profit for the resources, the colonists and Native Americans used wampum. Wampum was used as a sacred gift in Native American culture as a peace offering, funerals and marriages. Colonialists had an advantage towards using wampum. They used beads as a commodity for furs. Native Americans relied on canoes for transportation. Canoes can hold up to fifty people.
For example, in Document A, it states “Fish are present in local streams, but only in the spring and early summer are they there in impressive abundance”. This means that there was only lots of food limited times per year and there would not have been much food in fall and winter time. Also, they had just experienced failure of a colony nearby who all of the colonists of Roanoke Island mysteriously disappeared. This could have had an affect on the number of people who died because they might not have been ready to build another colony and might have benefited from waiting a few more years to build a new colony. Disease would spread quickly among all of the colonists. This is because Jamestown was not huge meaning that if one person or a few people had a disease of illness, it would spread around quickly.
In document F, you can see that there is such a shortage of food that people resort to stealing their fellow colonists' clothes to pay for things like “butter and beef out of a ship”. You can also use the example of a resource shortage in document B, which shows a graph of the average rainfall during the first few years that the colonists lived there. From 1605-1612, Jamestown went through it’s longest, harshest drought. This meant there was very little food and water during that time. When you remember that the time period we are looking at is only from 1607 to 1610, it seems like that drought could have been a major factor in why a lot of the colonists died. Lastly, document D shows us that it was not just the colonists struggling. Native people also were having trouble finding food. An expedition of colonists was sent out to try to trade with some of the natives, but they had to force them to give anything. All the colonists got was a small shipload of grain and some very angry natives. The crew of that ship determined that the amount of grain they had would not do anything substantial for the colony, so they headed back to England, eating the grain along the way. So the colony never even got the grain, but they did have to deal with some very angry natives, which on its own is another reason that a lot of them didn’t
The first reason Jamestown colonist died is because of the environmental issues. The colonist first arrived in the area at the start of a long drought. The drought lasted six years, from 1607-1613. (Doc. B). This was about the third longest drought Jamestown has had in about a century. When there is not enough water for crops, people starve because there is no longer any food (Doc B). Therefore, water was a major issue in the Jamestown colony. Not only di...
Looking at the early English colonies in the Chesapeake Bay region, it’s clear that the English had not learned any lessons from their experiences at Roanoke. Poor planning, a bad location, unrealistic expectations, flawed leadership, unsuccessful relations with the local Indians, and no hope of finding the mineral wealth the Spanish found in Mexico, all contributed to failure. The first colonists in the Chesapeake region were not only ignorant, lazy and unambitious, but their attempts were hampered before they had begun. However, a solution to these problems was found in a single plant: tobacco. Nevertheless, this cash crop ultimately created numerous problems for the colonists. The ignorance and indolent acts of the Chesapeake colonists to unsuccessfully restore the colony by themselves led to the demise of the colony as a whole especially regarding the planting of agricultural goods for food.
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
This caused them to be greedy, because they always thought they deserved more. Document E is about population and how it inflated and deflated (hint; it mainly deflated). It says in 1609-1610, 37 deserted and that doesn’t count all who fled home in previous years. That means a lot of colonists didn’t believe in the colony, and thought their chances in Britain were better. They didn’t feel the need to wait it out because being poor and safe was better than rich and dead. Some wouldn’t call this greedy but it is because most of them went with free will and didn’t have to come. They were tricked with the whole gold thing but if they wanted to leave they should have done it sooner. Not to mention England kept ending men to take more land to get more power. It’s ridiculous they made it it as far as they did, the natives should have attacked as soon as the British came. The British are greedy and feel the need to take more and more, all the documents chosen can support this. Greed killed the
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
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...”
The characteristics that came to shape the life in New England were the rocky, barren soil, the extreme climate and the rich waters. Although there was farming in New England , colonists looked to other means of survival. They looked to the rich waters for fishing and trade. The coastline of New England was very fertile with sealife. So, fishing became a way of commerce and trade providing a steady economy to New England. Because of the rocky soil and extreme climate, the colonists were forced to plant many different crops on a small pa...
First, the inhabitants of the New England area were far healthier. Their clean water supply was a sharp contrast to the contaminated waters of Chesapeake Bay. Air was also fresh and clean in New England. Chesapeake Bay colonists were plagued by disease due to their unsanitary way of life, and New Englanders could expect ten extra years of life because of migrating there in fact, on average, they lived to be nearly 70, close to the same life expectancy as today.
The first settlement was built by the English and consisted of 117 men, women, and children on Roanoke Island; which is off the coast of North Carolina. Within three years all of the colonists had disappeared leaving no trace of what happened to them. Analysis of tree rings has shown that Roanoke Island had the worst three-year drought in the past 800 years during the time they settled and disappeared. This is just one of the many challenges that colonists faced.
Few object to the therapeutic use of fluoride to stop tooth decay, but fluoridation, the addition of fluoride to the public water supply, can spark avid controversy. Most dentists, medical groups, and government officials argue that fluoridation is a cheap and risk-free venture that doubles cavity prevention. In contrast, a small minority of dentists and conservative political groups argue that fluoride is a hazardous, poisonous substance that should not be consumed. Some antifluoridationists even claim that fluoridation is an untrustworthy form of socialized medicine. But rather than just attacking fluoridation as socialized medicine, opponents originally claimed that it was a conspiracy to poison or brainwash Americans through the water supply. This theory arose in the 1940s when the scientific community refused to endorse or reject fluoridation, thus allowing the debate to expand into the social sphere. While fluoridation opposition may be subconsciously inspired by naturalism, the social development of fluoridation into a Communist or fascist conspiracy resulted from a conscious effort by conservatives to suppress a growing government.
I chose to watch the Frontline episode on “Poisoned Waters”. This documentary showed the environmental issues involving case studies on the Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound. By examining how these rising pollutants along with industrial contaminants like PCB, lead, mercury and agricultural pollution. America has kept from making many of the nation’s waterways fishable and swim able again. This was a goal set by Congress nearly four decades ago.
In the documentary, Blue Gold: World Water Wars, it follows several people and countries world-wide in their fight for fresh water. The film exposes giant corporations as they bully poorer developing countries to privatize their own supply of fresh water. As a result of the privatization, corporations make a hefty profit while the developing countries remain poor. Blue Gold: World Water Wars also highlights the fact that Wall Street investors are going after the desalination process and mass water export schemes. This documentary also shows how people in more developed nations are treating the water with much disregard, and not taking care of our finite supply. We are polluting, damming, and simply wasting our restricted supply of fresh water at an alarming speed. The movie also recognizes that our quick overdevelopment of housing and agriculture puts a large strain on our water supply and it results in desertification throughout the entire earth. The film shows how people in more industrialized nations typically take water for granted, while others in less industrialized nations have to fight for every drop.