On May 14, 1607, three ships carrying 110 people sailed to the land of Virginia, named after the virgin queen, Queen Elizabeth I of England. They traveled through Chesapeake Bay, and settled at the mouth of James River, naming their settlement “Jamestown”. Within a year, half of the colonists were dead. How? That is the question archeologists have pondered for years: How did so many Jamestown colonists die? Well, there are three crucial reasons why so many settlers perished. Those are: Lack of survival skills, an appalling environment, and miserable internal and external relations.
First of all, the first 110 people of Jamestown were oblivious of how to stay alive. To begin with, the ship list from Document C, of the DBQ Project, shows us that 47 of the 110 original settlers were gentlemen. Document C later states that a gentleman “was a person of wealth who was not used to working with his hands”. Furthermore, the colonists did not consist of any women. Instead of reproducing to keep the colony alive, England kept refueling Jamestown with new settlers every time the population was low. Clearly, these were the wrong people to start a permanent colony. …show more content…
The map from the Hook Exercise depicts how Jamestown was surrounded by Powhattan settlements. Although this benefited trade, it resulted in a combat for resources. Resources were in bulk, but still limited. Furthermore, long droughts enabled decades of starvation. For example, the drought that Jamestown colonists endured from 1606-1612 decimated the population. In conclusion, environment and location were pivotal for the deaths in
First of all, the first 110 people of Jamestown were oblivious of how to stay alive. To begin with, the ship list from Document C, of the DBQ Project, shows us that 47 of the 110 original settlers were gentlemen. Document C later states that a gentleman “was a person of wealth who was not used to working with his hands”. Furthermore, the colonists did not consist of any women. Instead of reproducing to keep the colony alive, England kept refueling Jamestown with new settlers every time the population was low. Clearly, these were the wrong people to start a permanent colony. …show more content…
The map from the Hook Exercise depicts how Jamestown was surrounded by Powhattan settlements. Although this benefited trade, it resulted in a combat for resources. Resources were in bulk, but still limited. Furthermore, long droughts enabled decades of starvation. For example, the drought that Jamestown colonists endured from 1606-1612 decimated the population. In conclusion, environment and location were pivotal for the deaths in