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,

in the spring of 1607. About 100 men sailed into Chesapeake Bay. There, they built a fort, and called Jamestown. They named the fort Jamestown after their king, King James I.

The natives common there were the Powhatan. The English called the natives the Powhatan after their leader, Chief Powhatan. At first, Powhatan thought the English came to invade. The Powhatan grew worried and occasionally attacked. 

At the first year, the colonists were doing badly. They planted few crops and planted the crops late. They expected the natives to help them. Gold was scarce, and many colonists were more focused on finding gold than farming. Natives occasionally attacked. The water was noxious, since it contained arsenic and also had bacteria like typhoid living in the water. The summers were hotter than in London. There were also insects that carried diseases like malaria that went to Jamestown during the summer. During the first summer, many colonists caught malaria and died. By the spring of 1608, only 38 of the original colonists were alive.

John Smith explored Chesapeake Bay at the summer of 1608. At the fall of 1608, John Smith takes charge. John Smith sets up harsh rules. "He who works not, eats not" was one of Smiths' rule. It means that those who do not work, does not eat. The rules helped improve the colony. Soon many more colonists came from England. Later on, Smith gets captured and taken to Powhatan. Smith tells Powhatan that they were not here to conquer. They were only here to get wealthy. The Powhatan then gets more helpful, by willing to trade food for jewels or tools.

In September of 1609, John Smith gets into a gunpowder accident. While Smith was sleeping, the gunpowder he was carrying for his musket exploded. Smith said, "I threw myself overboard into the river, nearly drowning as my men struggled to pull me back into the boat." To put out the fire, Smith had to dive into the river. Although Smith survived, he is badly injured. He went back to England, leaving George Percy in charge.

The winter of 1609 was bad for Jamestown.

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

alive.

Thomas Gates came from England to be the new leader of Jamestown. He arrived at 1610. Gates found all the survivors in poor health. One of the survivors, William Strachey, wrote "Viewing the fort, we found the palisades torn down, the ports open, the gates from off the hinges, and empty houses (which owners' death had taken from them) rent up and burned for firewood." Gates tried to help Jamestown, but it was no use. On June 7, 1610, he told the remaining settlers to board his ship and leave Jamestown. On June 8, the settlers were surprised to see a ship headed to Jamestown. Lord De La Warr, Jamestown's new governor had arrived (Strachey was Jamestown's leader, like John Smith, De La Warr is Jamestown's governor). With him were supplies and 300 men. Gates ordered the ships to head back to Jamestown. The settlers started to repair Jamestown. 

The Virginia Company started pressuring Jamestown to make money. The Virginia Company of London were losing its money. John Rolfe had the idea of planting tobacco. John Rolfe planted tobacco from the West Indies. He made his first shipments to London in 1614. The tobacco was popular causing it to be Jamestown's cash crop. Many more colonists came to be rich. It also included the first indentured servants to work in the plantations. Soon, the indentured servants were replaced by slaves. 

In 1614, Pocahontas was captured by Samuel Argall a captain in charge of finding the Northwest Passage. She would only be returned if the natives gave them food, tools, or prisoners they took a few years ago. The natives gave some food and prisoners, but little or no food back. The colonists then took it by force. 

Pocahontas was soon taught Christianity. She learned how to read the Bible and how to write. John Rolfe grew interested in Pocahontas. Their friendship soon turned into a romantic relationship. In time, Pocahontas continued her Christian studies and was later baptized (when she was baptized, she took the Christian name Rebecca). John Rolfe then asked Pocahontas to marry him. Chief Powhatan also agreed to the marriage. He thought that the marriage would bring the Powhatan and Jamestown together. John Rolfe and Pocahontas married on April 5, 1614. 

The friendship between the Powhatan and Jamestown settlers helped maintain peace.

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

Virginia.

In 1618, Chief Powhatan died. His brother Opechancanough, became the tribe's leader. He told the English that peace would still remain. The English however, continued to expand. They did not respect Powhatan territory and pushed farther and farther. Opechancanough viewed them as invaders. The peace with the Powhatan and Jamestown was over. As more settlers came in, more land was lost. On March 22, 1622, Opechancanough ordered the Powhatan to take the tools the English use and kill as many English as possible. The Powhatan killed about 347 English. They burned the homes and farms. Without the farms, the colony's state worsened. Even if the colonists would plant again, they feared it would be attacked by the Powhatan. The colony's condition became the same as when they were starting. About 400 settlers died that winter. 

With the news of the raid reaching the Virginia Company, they decided to have a war against the Powhatan. They sent soldiers to Virginia to attack the Powhatan. The soldiers pretended to be friendly by letting the natives plant crops. Then, just before harvest, the soldiers would burn the crops. The natives and colonists still fought. Very few money was made on Jamestown. Soon, the Virginia Company started losing money. In 1624, the company collapsed. King James I took control of Jamestown as a royal colony. The colony maintained, but so did the wars. Opechancanough kept attacking until he was captured on April 1644. While he was captured a guard murdered him. After Opechancanough's death, the Powhatan were forced to sign a treaty which moved them to a reservation on the Pamunkey River.

The treaty that the Powhatan signed gave them a reservation. There, the English could not take any land. It also caused the Powhatan to be taxed. Each year, they were to pay a small tribute of beaver skins to the capital. The natives still kept on attacking.

In 1676, a group of Virginia colonists revolted against the governor, William Berkeley. They thought that the governor was doing nothing to stop the natives from attacking. The revolt was called the Bacon's Rebellion after Nathaniel Bacon, the man who led the revolt. They burned the capital during the revolt. 

Soon, people left Jamestown to live in other parts of Virginia. Many of the buildings in Jamestown were burnt. The capital was moved to Williamsburg. Jamestown was abandoned. This was the fall of Jamestown.