The Pros And Cons Of British Colonization

After the failure of Roanoke, British colonization of the New World petered out for a few decades. In the 1600s, the tides changed. The English began colonizing again, founding numerous colonies with many different goals in mind. The purpose and makeup of each colony was different, but most of them had one thing in common. The colonists were often unprepared for the challenges that they would face in the New World, for a variety of reasons. For example, many settlers didn't realize how different the new land was from their homeland, and so didn't prepare for the challenge of harsh winters. Many also underestimated the natives, and made potentially fatal mistakes in their dealings with them. Lastly, citizens who funded certain colonies had purpose

in mind for them, like farming a certain crop or mining precious metals, that just wasn't possible for the land they had chosen to settle. All of these misconceptions and mistakes led to a loss of not just money, but colonists' lives.
Another reason that many colonists found themselves unprepared for life in the New World was misconceptions fed to them by those who funded the colonies. Many of the English colonies were proprietary, meaning that land had been given to the a citizen by the king to be settled by colonists. Many of the men who were given land had their own ideas for how it was to be used, and their ideas often didn't mesh well with the realities of the New World. For example, many colonies were founded as a source of gold or silver, when in reality there was very little gold or silver to be found on the east coast, where the English colonies were forced to settle down. Another incorrect expectation was that soil in America was fertile, capable of turning out cash crops at an exceptional rate. The truth was that much of the soil in the northernmost territories was not suitable for most crops, or at least not the crops that proprietors had in mind. So many proprietors were forced to throw away money on futile attempts to make their dreams into a reality, because the real America was not at all similar to what they had expected of it. Had proprietors done their research on the land they intended to colonize, they could have saved themselves a lot of time and money.
Many early explorers had come back to Europe with fantastic stories of fertile land to be sowed, and endless riches to be gained.

This led many to believe that North America wouldn't be a hard place to survive – an assumption that would prove both incorrect and dangerous. Many of the first settlers in America failed to bring adequate supplies because they were not anticipating such harsh conditions. For example, the Jamestown colony of Virginia was founded in May of 1607, and the settlers were vastly unprepared for nearly every aspect of colonial life. Though what a new colony like Jamestown needed was farmers and craftsmen, most of the settlers who'd come over from Europe were well-off, used to being waited upon and pampered. The new colonists were extremely averse to the sort of physical labor needed to make a colony successful, or even to prepare the colony for the coming winter. As a result of this, more than a third of the colonists died the following winter. Similarly, Pilgrims who settled in Plymouth in 1620 arrived unprepared for the harsh winter, despite the numerous colonies before them who had shared the same problem. About half of the settlers were dead by 1621. In 1628, colonists of the Massachusetts Bay colony arrived in what is modern-day Boston, and it happened again – about 1/3 of the original colonists died because they were not prepared for winter. Despite many colonies suffering through the same problem, companies and government officials continued to send hundreds of citizens off unprepared, to face horrible challenges, and sometimes death. Many of these deaths could have been prevented, had the leaders of the colonies attempted to learn from past mistakes and adequately arm their citizens for the coming

hardships.
Another factor that settling Europeans failed to anticipate was conflict with natives. Many Europeans thought of natives as unintelligent savages, who used just the brute force of their size and strength to fight. Many colonies would make the mistake of threatening or attacking native tribes, not expecting them to be as clever and dangerous as they were. These colonies then suffered, as they not only lost contact with natives, but made enemies of them. This meant that in addition to losing a source of information vital to their survival, they created yet another challenge for them to face, another obstacle to their survival. Roanoke was one of these colonies. Upon arriving in the New World, the colonists were actively hostile towards the natives, leaving them with no allies in their area. In addition, they lacked necessary supplies and knowledge to sustain a colony, so alienating all of their neighbors wasn't the most strategic move on their part. Allies, particularly native allies, were essential to the survival of any colony in that time, and Roanoke suffered for their decision to separate themselves from their neighbors. In contrast, John Smith, of the Plymouth colony, made direct, diplomatic contact with the Powhatan tribe, their neighbor. After establishing a relationship with the leader of the tribe, the colony received aid from them, in the form of supplies and knowledge of the area. However, when Smith left, the colony fell back into it's old ways, and the relationship between Plymouth and the Powhatan broke down. As a result, hundreds of Plymouth colonists died the following winter. Had settlers and proprietors considered the impact that the native people may have on colonies, and created a plan to maintain diplomatic relationships with neighboring tribes, many lives could have been saved, and many colonies could have grown and prospered sooner than they did.
The failure to prepare the early English colonies for the challenges they would face created resentment in the settlers, who felt as if their leaders should have known better, or been more prepared before risking other's lives. This resentment only increased as their struggles became more pronounced and their need for supplies and reinforcements grew, and was not met by their homeland, at least not right away. Although reinforcements and supplies were often sent to struggling colonies by England, the two countries were so far apart that communication was hard to establish, and resources were slow to reach the New World, especially in the colder months, when they were most needed. The resentment of the first colonists could be considered foreshadowing for what was to come. Settlers would continue to grow angrier and more bitter towards Britain until the colonies compressed rage created a full-blown rebellion in 1775 – the first year of America's Revolutionary War. The first colonists bitterness toward the distant Britain was the basis of the first dissidents.
The colonization of America by England was performed in in a careless, haphazard manner that cost many lives. Many colonists and proprietors didn't do enough research on the area they were settling, leading to a lack of preparation among fledgling colonies. Many settlers also didn't pay attention to the struggles of colonies that had been settled before them, which could have shown them what hardships to anticipate and prepare for, such as the difficulty of New England's harsh winters. They also underestimated the advantages that being friendly with their native neighbors could bring them, as well as the fierce enemies they could become if they were threatened or provoked. These problems need not have existed, but the colonies leaders and founders lacked the foresight and humility to look into the future and attempt to predict possible hardships.