Jamestown, Virginia

Ships such as these might have landed in Jamestown. These ships are reconstructions of the original ships.

Jamestownis atownin theUnited States.It was founded on May 13, 1607, by about 100 men and boys and women who came toVirginiafromLondon,England.They named the town Jamestown afterKing James.These men hoped to findgoldand silver in order to become rich.There was no gold or silver in the land because of itsgeography,which they did not understand at the time. However, they did find out that they could make lots of money from growing and sellingtobaccocrops, due to the marshy soil. Soon, they were making their fortune from tobacco instead of gold.Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in what would become the United States. The town was built onJamestown Islandalong theJames River.This location was selected because the localNative Americantribes did not live on theisland.Built on a peninsula, it was a good place todefendthemselves from otherEuropeancolonists.

Background

Before Jamestown, fourteen colonies had been attempted inNorth AmericabySpain,Franceand England.Out of these, only two Spanish colonies survived making Jamestown the third European colony that succeeded for any period of time.The first colony attempted by Spain was in 1526 atSan Miguel de Gualdape.Very little was known of it, including that its location was somewhere on thecoastof present-dayGeorgiaorSouth Carolina.

In 1562,Jean Ribautestablished a colony of FrenchHuguenotscalled Charlesfort onParris Island, South Carolina.He left about 27 men there while he returned to France.Meanwhile, the men of the colonyrevoltedagainst theircommander.They built a boat and attempted to return to France.

The English attempted to establishRoanoke Colonyin 1587. But this was a failure.James I of Englandissued acharterin 1606 to set up asettlementin North America. At the time the English called the entire coast (above Florida) Virginia afterElizabeth I of England,the "virgin queen". One of the purposes of the new colony were to find ariverroute to thePacific Oceanto establishtradewith theOrient.

Three ships, theSusan Constant,theGodspeedand theDiscoveryset sail fromLondonon December 20, 1606 bound for Virginia.Onboardthere were 106settlers(4 were boys) and 39crewmembers.However, it is not known how many may have died during theVoyage.They arrived on April 26, 1607.

The Settlement

The first day, between 20 and 30 men explored the site but then they came under attack byIndiansatdusk.The people of Jamestown found there were many problems to their colony. The water was bad for drinking. Many insects lived around the swampy land. The insects gave the people who lived there diseases. The leader, CaptainJohn Smith,made the rules for the men. One of the rules was, "You don't work, you don´t eat." The settlers traded with thePowhatan people.They gave the Powhatans tools, pots, and knives, in return forcornandvegetables.

Two thirds died before another ship arrived from England in 1608 with more food and more settlers. During the harsh winter of 1609, most of the settlers starved to death and the survivors resorted tocannibalism.

Related pages

• Roanoke Colony
• Starving Time
• Powhatan People(Native tribe from Viriginia)
• Jamestown Settlement

Other websites

• America the Story of Us: Life in JamestownonYouTube
• Jamestown: The Original Expedition ShipsonYouTube