Early Settlers in Jamestown
Throughout time, English settlers have come over to America for different reasons. Most of them left their home New England for religious persecution, some left for resources and to start somewhere fresh. Some settlements struggled more than others, for example, Jamestown dealt with Native Americans, lack of leadership, starvation and limited supplies upon arrival. The Massachusetts Bay colonies had their fair share of struggles and successes unlike Jamestown which was almost a complete disaster until 1613 when they began to plant the tobacco crop.
The next three paragraphs will discuss and identify the similarities and differences between the two settlements who developed their colonies in the early 1600’s through 1700.
Jamestown was established in the year 1607. These settlers chose to colonize there because the area was along waterways which would help them defend against attacks from the sea. Another main reason was because they had easy access for docking. The settlers also thought they had access to an abundance of fresh water, but later they lost many lives due to dehydration because the water was brackish.
The Jamestown settlers were part of the Anglican faith, which was the official church of England. There wasn’t much of a family life at Jamestown because there weren’t any women there. The first settlers that created Jamestown were all male. There reasoning for this was because they were trying to build an outpost and prepare the docking for resources coming in for a profit. At the time they felt as though women were unneeded because there was a lot of hard work that needed to be completed.
Ann Burras was the first female to arrive in Jamestown in 1608. Pocahontas was a native from Virginia who was part of the Powhattan tribe. She was the daughter of the chief Powhattan. She helped them with supplies and taught them the ropes on how to survive. Later, Pocahontas became educated and was baptized. She married a settler named John Rolfe. The English people believed that they should spread Gods word and to convert the natives that they encountered to Protestant Christianity. One could say that many people there became lost in their faith due to the challenges that they faced at Jamestown, this includes cases of cannibalism during harsh winters and lack of food. Many of them died from starvation and different illnesses. Economically, Jamestown suffered strenuously due to the lack of supplies. Even their water source was contaminated with salt water which brought a lot of disease and death upon the colony. It appeared their only hope for food and resources was from the Powhattan Natives. The settlers were very instrumental with the Native Americans, but they soon became hostile towards the Powhattan tribe by stealing their food and resources and attacking their camp sites. Their greed may have been the down fall for many years to come. An article by Live Science said, “There were never Englishmen left in a foreign country in such misery as we were in this new discovered Virginia.” In 1613, Jamestown began to plant tobacco which later became an economic empire. Tobacco was exported out of Jamestown with over a million and a half pounds a year by 1630. Jamestown struggled but this crop soon helped them develop and lead to their success of a colony.
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was settled in 1630, by the puritans who decided to leave New England due to persecution in the church. They felt as though the church of England wasn’t living up to their ideals. They believed the church needed to be purified of the wrongful influences of Catholicism. Eric Foner said in his American History book, “They followed the ideals of French-born swiss theologian John Calvin.” (53). The puritans wanted liberty and they wanted to govern themselves for what they truly believed. The first group of puritans to emigrate to America was a group called the pilgrims. They made a settlement called Plymouth Colony which was constructed from an abandoned Native American camp site which was earlier wiped out by disease. There settlement was than completed, and laws and regulations were sent into play. Anyone who didn’t live up to their religious and societal laws were told to leave the colony. Towns governed themselves and governors were elected by church member only. Unlike Jamestown there were many families in this colony. Women usually married at age twenty-two and usually gave birth to around seven children. Both men and women were viewed spiritually equal, but all the ministers there were men. Men worked in the field and provided for their families while the Women cared for their children and were devoted to their care. Massachusetts Bay overshadowed Plymouth. It was founded by a group of merchants who wanted to facilitate the puritan cause. After this, 21,000 puritans moved there, this was called the Great Migration. Many new families started a new life in Massachusetts. The puritan’s way of life was devoted to God, but their devotion to god may have gone too far when they started to falsely accuse people of witch craft from 1692-1693. The Salem witch trials were a series of court hearings and prosecutions of people which were mostly women. If they were found guilty they were killed. During the trials, 200 were accused of witch craft and 20 were executed. The puritans believed if the accused person had a specific mark on their body, then that would be a sign of a witch. The also believed that witches sink in water and the innocent would float. Many years after the trials they learned what they did was wrong, and they apologized to the families of whom they falsely accused.
These early settlers all had accounts with Native Americans. The Jamestown Colonists were attacked from the start by the natives, they eventually began to trade with them and learned from them, but the lack of supplies they had, and the weather really impacted them negatively. They ended up stealing from the natives due to starvation and they attacked their campsites for food and resources. This started a larger conflict that escalated over time. The colonists captured Chief Powhattan’s favorite daughter whose name was Pocahontas. she eventually married a colonist John Rolfe. She learned English and was baptized. She later moved to New England where she later died in 1617 from an unknown illness. The puritans arrived in 1629, and they had negative opinions about the Native Americans because of their religion. They thought the natives were inferior because of what they believed and how they lived. The puritans did try to convert the Indians to Christianity which did not work because they didn’t want to give up their language and their way of life for another. They did have conflicts just like many other colonists, but they did trade with them as well. Native Americans valued generosity to others. The natives helped the pilgrims at Plymouth and they had their first Thanksgiving which is now a national holiday in the United States. Each tribe was different. Some compromised or defended their home, some fled their homeland, and some chose war. War wasn’t the main reason which killed off many of the natives. Disease was the number one cause of death because they didn’t have immunities like the colonists did to these certain illnesses.
In conclusion Jamestown was created for opportunity to find gold and resources. They arrived ill prepared and when they did arrive they didn’t start preparing which is the big reason why so many people died there. In the winter of 1609, 500 colonists came over but only 60 lived through the winter. The lack of leadership also negatively affected their success. Everyone there had different jobs and skills sets so it became very disorganized. They killed Natives to steal their resources and they even ended up eating each other. They stole from each other as though it was every man for himself. On the other hand, the puritans came over because of religious persecution. They left to have a new start. They came to spread the word and to worship God, in a way they thought New England failed to do. Both settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts had conflicts with the natives but they also traded and learned new trades. Jamestown began to plant the tobacco crop which made them economically stronger than they’ve ever been. Each settlement made it through the struggles, both groups had moral conflicts with themselves, but they both survived which lead to further expansion of America which is now The United States of America.
Work Cited
- Britain in the New World. (2008-2018). Retrieved from U.S History Pre Columbian to the New Millennium: http://www.ushistory.org/us/index.asp
- Britannica, T. E. (2008). Massachusetts Bay Colony. Retrieved from Encyclopaedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/place/Massachusetts-Bay-Colony
- Foner, E. (2017 ,2014, 2011, 2008, 2005). Give Me Liberty An American History Brief Volume 1. In E. Foner.
- Jarus, O. (2018, July 24). Jamestown: Facts and History. Retrieved from LiveScience:
