The chosen location had its advantages like protection from Spanish ships, yet the most unwanted inconvenient was represented by the swamp waters as well as the terrible summer heat and last but certainly not least, the neighbors represented by the Powhatan Confederacy. We can ask ourselves why did these business men - most of whom, incidentally, claimed the title captain- came to the New World? Reasons varied, but many shared hopes, nurtured by the London Company, of achieving glory and quick fortunes- the same goals that had motivated the Spanish conquistadors a century earlier. Although some among this ambitious crowd looked for easy passage to the Pacific, most were obsessed with the search for gold.
In 1603, James I became king and he was eager to colonize North America. In 1606, he granted a charter to two companies of adventurers, one located in Plymouth and the other in London. In 1607, both of these companies established new colonies on the North American mainland. A fleet of three ships commanded by Christopher Newport - the flagship Susan Constant and two smaller escort vessels, the Discovery and the Godspeed- entered the Chesapeake Bay in May 1607, sailed up a river the colonists called the James, and thirty miles along, founded a settlement they called Jamestown. The site the colonists chose was a low, marshy peninsula jutting out into the river at a spot where the James narrowed considerably. One advantage of this location was its easy access to deep water; another was the protection it offered from Indian attacks. The London Company had made sure to carry aboard its ships experienced craftsmen - blacksmiths, carpenters, bricklayers, masons- who could accomplish the physical work necessary to build a permanent colony. These men were particularly important because another third of the 144 colonists who sailed to Virginia (104 survived the voyage) were, according to prevailing English standards, "gentlemen"- that is, they enjoyed at least some measure of wealth and status at home and considered their positions in the new settlement to be management rather than labor. They contributed little to the viability of Jamestown as a colony and generally refused to do anything, such as chopping down trees or plowing the soil that did not directly involve their private gain.
Good leadership was crucial, because the settlers faced grave problems: They had to construct defences against the Indians, they had to stockpile food for the winter, and they had to find something they could export to England so that the London Company would continue to support them.
Trouble with the Indians began early, because the Jamestown settlement encroached on some traditional hunting grounds. Most of the thirty or so tribes in the region that lay between the Potomac River and the Great Dismal Swamp belonged to what Thomas Jefferson later called the Powhatan Confederacy. Powhatan’s first personal contact with one of the Jamestown settlers came during the winter of 1607, when John Smith, who had been exploring the Chesapeake, was captured by Indians loyal to Powhatan and brought to the bark-covered house of the chief.
The colonists had had a difficult summer: once the heat set in, so did the epidemic diseases. Many colonists died, and those who didn’t were often too fatigued to work. The survival of Jamestown was now obviously in doubt, and food was the central concern. Therefore Smith, who had been deprived of his seat on the Jamestown governing council because of his excessive shipboard arrogance, proposed that he lead an expedition to find more trading partners. The leadership at Jamestown concluded that it had nothing to lose: If Smith returned with food, they would eat; if the Indians killed him, his death would be no loss. Although, Smith may have temporarily solved the colony’s Indian problem, Jamestown’s circumstances in early 1608 remained desperate.
Salvation came along with the discovery of tobacco and the financial gain that this product offered. Since 1619 Jamestown had exported 10 tons of tobacco to Europe and was a boom-town. The export was increasing to the extent that they were able to afford two imports which greatly improved their production and actually their whole life. Tobacco can well be credited with establishing Jamestown as the first permanent English colony in the New World.
In 1603, James I became king and he was eager to colonize North America. In 1606, he granted a charter to two companies of adventurers, one located in Plymouth and the other in London. In 1607, both of these companies established new colonies on the North American mainland. A fleet of three ships commanded by Christopher Newport - the flagship Susan Constant and two smaller escort vessels, the Discovery and the Godspeed- entered the Chesapeake Bay in May 1607, sailed up a river the colonists called the James, and thirty miles along, founded a settlement they called Jamestown. The site the colonists chose was a low, marshy peninsula jutting out into the river at a spot where the James narrowed considerably. One advantage of this location was its easy access to deep water; another was the protection it offered from Indian attacks. The London Company had made sure to carry aboard its ships experienced craftsmen - blacksmiths, carpenters, bricklayers, masons- who could accomplish the physical work necessary to build a permanent colony. These men were particularly important because another third of the 144 colonists who sailed to Virginia (104 survived the voyage) were, according to prevailing English standards, "gentlemen"- that is, they enjoyed at least some measure of wealth and status at home and considered their positions in the new settlement to be management rather than labor. They contributed little to the viability of Jamestown as a colony and generally refused to do anything, such as chopping down trees or plowing the soil that did not directly involve their private gain.
Good leadership was crucial, because the settlers faced grave problems: They had to construct defences against the Indians, they had to stockpile food for the winter, and they had to find something they could export to England so that the London Company would continue to support them.
Trouble with the Indians began early, because the Jamestown settlement encroached on some traditional hunting grounds. Most of the thirty or so tribes in the region that lay between the Potomac River and the Great Dismal Swamp belonged to what Thomas Jefferson later called the Powhatan Confederacy. Powhatan’s first personal contact with one of the Jamestown settlers came during the winter of 1607, when John Smith, who had been exploring the Chesapeake, was captured by Indians loyal to Powhatan and brought to the bark-covered house of the chief.
The colonists had had a difficult summer: once the heat set in, so did the epidemic diseases. Many colonists died, and those who didn’t were often too fatigued to work. The survival of Jamestown was now obviously in doubt, and food was the central concern. Therefore Smith, who had been deprived of his seat on the Jamestown governing council because of his excessive shipboard arrogance, proposed that he lead an expedition to find more trading partners. The leadership at Jamestown concluded that it had nothing to lose: If Smith returned with food, they would eat; if the Indians killed him, his death would be no loss. Although, Smith may have temporarily solved the colony’s Indian problem, Jamestown’s circumstances in early 1608 remained desperate.
Salvation came along with the discovery of tobacco and the financial gain that this product offered. Since 1619 Jamestown had exported 10 tons of tobacco to Europe and was a boom-town. The export was increasing to the extent that they were able to afford two imports which greatly improved their production and actually their whole life. Tobacco can well be credited with establishing Jamestown as the first permanent English colony in the New World.
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