Jamestown Colony Essay

In 1606, wealthy people in London formed a group called the Virginia Company. They wanted a colony in the Americas for wealth. Although the Jamestown colony was the first permanent English colony in the Americas, it is not the first English colony to be told to be settled in the Americas. The Roanoke colony, also known as the Lost Colony, was to be settled in America before Jamestown, but it disappeared.

The Virginia Company of London hoped to get gold from Jamestown, since they knew that Spain had found gold in South America. They could trade with natives for furs, which could be sold to Europe, get wood from the trees, plant vineyards to grow grapes or mulberry trees for silk.

The first colonists arrived at what is now known as Virginia,

With John Smith gone the colony's state worsened. The colonists had very little food. The natives supplied food, but not enough. The weather was also colder than usual. Geologists determined that there was a little global cooling and called it a “little ice age”. Before winter, there were a number of pigs in the colony. The colonists ate every one of them. With the pigs gone, they ate horses, dogs and cats. They even ate rats and snakes. With most of the food gone, some colonists resorted to cannibalism, while others died from starvation. At the end of the winter, only about 60 of the 500 colonists were

The Virginia Company used Pocahontas's baptism and marriage as advertisement. It showed that the Virginia Company was doing good in Jamestown by converting Native Americans to Christianity. In 1616, John Rolfe and Pocahontas traveled to London. Ten other natives came with them. They met the king, and Pocahontas even saw John Smith. Pocahontas was surprised to see John Smith alive because when Smith left, the colonists told Pocahontas he died. In March 1617, John Rolfe and Pocahontas were to go back to Virginia until Pocahontas was ill. Pocahontas died and was buried in England in March 1617. Despite the death, John Rolfe returned back to