Jamestown Settlement

What do we think of America? We need to take a step back and look at how it all started. The first British colony to be settled in a new world was on an island just off the coast of present day North Carolina. The settlement was on the Roanoke island, and was called the Roanoke Colony. Sir Walter Raleigh authorized the colonization of North America and sent forth two ships, these ships were sent out in 1584, and afterwards, he sent three more ships with a 117 people. The leader of the expedition went back to England for more supplies and upon his return to the Roanoke county in 1590. He found settlers had all but vanished. Even today the fate of the Roanoke Colony remains a mystery. Almost 20 years later, King James I gave rice to two companies to settle and trade along the Atlantic coastline. The Virginia company was authorized to build settlements in the south from Virginia to New York. The Plymouth company was allowed to settle north from Maine to the Chesapeake Bay. Many of us know the story of how the pilgrims came to the new world for religious freedoms and how they colonized in Massachusetts. In the first successful colony, however, was called Virginia. And it all started with the settlement of Jamestown. Jamestown was the result of the Virginia company and their determination for survival and financial rewards. Oh, and did you know that Virginia was named for the virgin queen, Elizabeth I? And Jamestown was named after King James, the first. The Virginia company decided to build their settlement in the southern part of the Atlantic coastline. In 1606, three vessels set sail to the same river and headed off for the new world. The ships were comprised of about a 105 men. The ships were the Susan constant, discovery and the God speed. The Susan constant was the largest of the three, with captain Christopher Newport at her controls. The ships traveled to the high seas from one continent to the oven. They reached the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in the spring of 1607. Newport and his ships approached the river that they named James and honored the king. They traveled north until they reached a small Peninsula. The Virginia company advised the settlers to build inland so they would be free of attack from Spanish warships. They finally ended their journey 35 miles up the river at the site that would be the future settlement known as Jamestown. Thus, the second settlement by the British had begun in the new world. The colonists, all men lived for their dreams in constant search of treasures and wealth, what they failed to do was prepare themselves for the upcoming winter months when stores of food and supplies. Instead of growing crops and hunting meats, they spent too much time looking to fill desires of gold. To settlers hoped the local natives would be able to provide food for them in the coming months, but because of severe droughts and short supplies, the Indians had little to share, and by the end of 1607, more than 60 out of the 105 men had died due to starvation and disease, as well as being killed by Indians. Once survivor came to the rescue of the settlement, captain John Smith took command of Jamestown and applied strict rules for the men to follow. In the past, he noticed some men struggled together food and supplies, while others relaxed or went on foolish quest for gold. Smith required each man to put in an equal day's work. John Smith had a simple rule for all. No work, no food. The men were to dig wells, plant crops, and build a sturdy shelters. While they did this, Smith visited the local Indian villages and traded beads and iron knives for supplies like meat, fish and corn. This revived the Jamestown settlement. However, in 1609, Smith was injured in an accidental gunpowder explosion, and needed to return to England from that moment on life in Jamestown took another turn to the worst. The winter that followed was to be the darkest hour in Jamestown's history. The winter of 1609 1610 was known as the starving time. The settlers decided it was time to abandon Jamestown and return to the mother country. The sudden arrival of British ships and a governor named lord Delaware prevented them from leaving the settlement. The new arrivals brought fresh foods, supplies, and new clothing. Returning to the methods of captain John Smith, the settlers began to work hard and raise their own crops and gather their own food. What resulted was their first cash crop that would make the Virginia colony extremely prosperous. In 1612, another settler by the name of John rolfe began to grow tobacco in the rich Virginia soil. As his crops proved plentiful, other settlers followed rolfe and raised tobacco too, Virginia soon became known as the tobacco colony. In 1619, the Virginia company gave the settlers a stake in their own government, thus the first form of representative democracy was born in the new world. With over 1000 colonists living in the settlements along the James river, each settlement was allowed to elect two men to represent them in a new government. They called themselves purchases. The burgesses traveled to Jamestown to meet with the colonial governor to help make laws for the colony. The House of burgesses was the governing body of the colony of Virginia. In 1621, the Virginia company realized that the settlers would be more successful if they gave each man their own piece of land to farm. They also sent the first ships full of women to join the male settlers of the Virginia colony. This decision was instrumental in having settlers marry and raise families in the new world. The Virginia colony continued to grow and prosper, producing many of our country's founding fathers, such as George Washington. Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and James Madison.