Was Jamestown A Success Or Failure

In 1607, Jamestown, Virginia was founded. This colony would later become the first permanent settlement of the English in the Americas. As a result of recent advancement in technology, the settlement has been under extensive research. On account of the findings of this research and the corresponding awareness raised, it is greatly disputed whether Jamestown was a success or failure.
On one hand, Professor Edmund S. Morgan contends this colony to be a failure and a “fiasco” (43). Morgan’s justification is simply that the settlers took way too long to learn how to successfully run the colony on their own. Morgan states that this problem derives from five possible reasons. First, the choosing of the settlers. This “odd assortment” (49) consisted of wealthy gold-hungry lazy gentlemen, their servants, prisoners, and uncooperative and unsuitable artisans, whom all did not know how to farm and build a colony. Next, at their arrival, faced angry Indians, commencing their

shaky relationship. In addition, there was poor organization and direction of the colony. Although there was a council, it proved to be very ineffective, similar to other attempts to a solution (i.e. military regime). Lastly, the idea of collective organization of labor in the colony verified to be unsuccessful. The already narrow-minded settlers now had to work together to operate the farms, and with very little to no incentive. Furthermore, once there was a reorganization in 1609 and private allotments began, the “farmers” only revealed to be unable to support themselves or the rest of the colony with adequate food.
On the other hand, Professor Karen Ordahl Kupperman disputes that Jamestown was a prosperity and declares it a foundation for upcoming successful English colonies.

She states that the first affluent decision was establishing the colony on a peninsula. This would provide defense against the English enemy, the Spanish. Furthermore, Kupperman advocates the colony’s mistakes as necessary trial and errors that provided a chance for the settlers to learn from their faults. She then continues on to say how many of the setters were those eager to succeed and therefore worked to build their own communities, in which they saw a future prosperity in separation. All in all, Kuperman highlights that the colony had the key ingredients of “widespread ownership of land, control of taxation for public obligations through representative assembly,… normal society through the inclusion of women, and development of a product (tobacco)” (43). Therefore, the colony represented a realistic portrayal of how human’s

worked.