1607-Jamestown:The First English Colony

The Starting of Jamestown

            Jamestown was founded in 1607. It was established in Virginia and would soon be the most popular colony. This was also the first English colony. It was founded by the London Company. The London Company was made of merchants who wanted to start a money-making colony. The company sent 144 settlers in 3 tiny ships to go get valuable goods for them and send the goods back on ships. When they landed on shore they decided to settle in a swampy peninsula. They believed that it would be easy to protect from Indians. They called it Jamestown after King James I.

The Troubles Jamestown Faced

            Jamestown faced many troubles in the beginning. They didn’t know, but the swamp they settled in would soon be infested with disease-carrying mosquitoes that would kill them off. A very powerful Native American group also surrounded them. To make matters worse, none of them really new how to farm and weren’t very hard workers. They were a mixture of gentlemen and craftsmen. The food they had come with disappeared quickly. They started to trade with the Indians for supplies. Trading with the Indians was very hard because most of the Indians would rather kill them then trade. Hunger and disease started to kill off the settlers. Every few days another settler would die. In 1608 Captain John Smith came to help them out. He took over Jamestown and made everyone work. If you didn’t work you didn’t eat. One day when he was in the woods Indians captured him. The Indians were about to kill him until Pocahontas saved his life. Together they kept peace between the British and the Indians and also traded for them. In 1609 he left because of a gunpowder explosion. The next winter was known as the “Starving Time.” Only 60 of the 500 settlers survived.

How Jamestown Affected the Future

            Jamestown effected many things. They were the first to learn to grow tobacco for trade. Jamestown established peace with that Indian clan by the marriage of John Rolfe and Pocahontas. The settlers of Jamestown were able to walk the woods and plant and reap their crops from then on. Jamestown also started the first English colony. This colony turned out the be the most popular colony in later days.

Jamestown in the process of being built.

Bibliography

1. Hart, Diane. History Alive! The UNITED STATES. Palo Alto, Teachers' Curriculum Institute, 2002.
2. Colonial Authority: Jamestown, Virginia. http://www.understandingrace.org/history/gov/colonial_authority.html. August 29, 2007/1876.