Early Jamestown Dbq Questions And Answers

It was not an easy beginning at Jamestown. In 1607, 104 colonists made the venture through Chesapeake Bay and up the James River, coming across a little island which would become known as Jamestown, but little did they know about the dangers they would face. So, in early Jamestown, why did so many colonists die? Colonists died in early Jamestown for 3 primary reasons: their water, lack of key skills

Disease wiped out a number of colonists and was very difficult to stop. The main cause of disease was the filthy water the colonists were drinking. “Disease in the early years (attributed) to Jamestown’s position at the salt-fresh water transition” (Doc A). Salt would intrude into the fresh water and cause disease to whomever drank the water. But salt wasn’t the only factor that made the water unsanitary. “Filth (was) introduced into the river tended to fester rather than flush away” (Doc A). According to the colonists’ plans, the waste would be washed out through the freshwater transition, but in reality, the waste festered back into the water due to rising sea levels. Many of the Jamestown colonists were wiped out from diseases, and there wasn’t enough doctors to save them all. There were only 2 total surgeons to heal the all the infected colonists (Doc C). With the amount of colonists sick, the amount of doctors at Jamestown was surely not enough to heal all the patients. Disease was one of their biggest challenges because there was no way to overcome it, yet, it was not their only

The tides also contributed in killing colonists because when it is a high tide, the salt water would come into their freshwater rivers and creeks, making the water brackish and would make it bad to drink. Drinking too much brackish water is not good for you and can give you a disease and kill you. The tides also mixed the water which further contaminated the water. Droughts killed many colonists in the Jamestown drought in 1607 to 1611 shown by document B that shows tree rings which

Colonists and Natives were too confident and they tried to survive in the deathful fighting's and attacks! In 1607 the first English colonists arrived on the James River. They were sent by the Virginia company to find riches like gold, copper, and metal. They brought 104 men with them and three ships: The Susan Constant, the Discovery, and the Godspeed. When they arrived on the James River they also founded Jamestown which was the first English settlement in 1607 although before the colonists even got to the New World the emperor Powhatan was in power. Although why did so many colonists died in early Jamestown between 1607 and 1611? The reason why so many colonists died in Jamestown between 1607 and 1611 was because of disease, attack of Natives, and drought. So in the next few paragraphs, I will prove using historical evidence that colonists died because of disease, drought, and attacks of natives.

The abundance of natives in the woods was in the thousands. At first, when the colonists arrived, they met the natives and they both were friendly to each other for around 2 years. But when the settlers nourishment expired, they went to the only people that had food and knew how to grow it in such bad conditions. Of course when their resources ran out, apparently their intelligence did too. There fore, they tried to take the food by force instead of asking. That's when the natives killed 134 colonists in around 1609-1610.

One of the reasons I think why the colonists died was that lack of rainfall. Doc B stated, “ “0” on the chart means average tree ring size and therefore average rainfall “ (Doc B line 4). This matters because most of jamestown's rainfall was below zero. I feel that this might have killed the colonists because they were technically in a drought and they didn’t have any water to drink.

Jamestown, an English colony, was in a constant spiral of death and struggles that included diseases, lack of resources and the Powhatan (natives) between 1607 and 1611. Diseases including multiple waterborne diseases from brackishness and a few others just in general. The lack of resources that included clean water and food in general as well as people that defended the colony. The colony was also faced with the challenge of the Powhatan from bad trades to war, they were basically rivals the entire time of 1607 to 1611 were there.

The colonists couldn’t get all the necessities for life, so they had to ask their only neighbors for help, the natives. Francis West and his men sailed up the Chesapeake Bay to trade corn with the natives. In the novel “The Virginia Adventure,” Ivor Noel Hume wrote about how the colonists received the grain in exchange for corn. He writes, “Though West was able to load his (small ship) with grain, the success involved ‘some harshe and Crewell dealinge by cutting off towe (two) of the Salvages heads and other extremetyes.” In order to get food, they cut off two natives heads. This sparked anger in the natives and it caused a dispute between the colonists and natives. The natives were angry with the colonists for killing their men, so they started to kill the colonists in return. Another reason the natives played a role in the death rate of the colonists was because the colonists planted themselves right in the middle of all the Powhatan tribes. The Jamestown settlement was surrounded by Powhatan settlements, meaning that Jamestown would be surrounded and have nowhere to go during native attacks. The last reason the natives contributed to the decline of the colonists was because the natives started to threaten the colonists. The natives said that anyone who left the settlement would be killed on sight. The evidence on the topic of the native’s relationship helps explain

There is a question that has been unanswered for generations. Why did so many colonists die in Jamestown. But what was Jamestown exactly? The purpose for Jamestown was for it not only to be the first English colony, but also to find gold.

The success of Jamestown was, however, hardwon “Our men were destroyed with cruel diseases as swelling, burning fevers, and by wars, and some departed suddenly, but for the most part they died of mere famine. There were never Englishmen left in a foreign country in such misery as we were in this new discovered Virginia” (Document B). This description of the fledgling colony was not an uncommon one as many of the other colonists also

While killing one another, is already not socially proper the Settlers also cramped the American Indians on their land. They decided to place their forts in center of Powhatan settlement asking to attacked bu the natives. The map on page five depicts the placement. As well as placing the forts in Powhatan land they also have some by sea, in wait of the Spanish ships. While being preoccupied, of the Spanish invaders out in sea they have forgotten of threats five miles away. The colonists are unprepared to make peace with the Native Americans, my evidence illustrates how they hurt and mistook the power the alliance would have which would benefit them greatly since they did not have

There were more reasons why so many colonists died. There was Starving Time, they came during a drought, and the well they had would mix with salt water. The Native Americans in that area that JamesTown was in. They would trade with them for a good deal. But when John Rolfe and Pocahontas left to England. The Native Americans refused to trade with the settlers. With Winter coming and they wouldn’t be able to grow their crops, plus the Native Americans not wanting to trade with them, Starving Time came. There were a lot of settlers that died in the harsh Winter known as the Starving Time. Document B says, “Inference can you make about the cause of this ‘starving time’” (The Lost Colony and JamesTown Droughts). With the settlers having a drought

Document E states, “disease returns, 100 at Jamestown sickened and half the number died” (Fausz 63). If, once again, half of the colonists die in just one summer people die in one summer just because of diseases, that would not be good. In Document A, Blanton states that the shallow wells that the colonists built were vulnerable to drought and salt water intrusion (55). If salt water got into their drinking water, they could get sick quickly. Disease, which claimed so many, is a major reason why the colonists

Almost all colonists at one point met native americans and some got a bad first impression of them. When colonists first arrived they wanted to claim land but what they did not know is that the land was already inhabited by native americans who believed that the land should be shared and not owned. Because of that belief when the colonists started to claim land natives began to fight for supplies like food, water, and land. When fighting, natives had an advantage in the battles as they knew the land and had effective weapons. The colonists also lost most battles because they were outnumbered about 10-1 in terms of settlements to

In the beginning of times, living in a new places wasn't necessarily easy. English settlers began arriving at the Jamestown River in the Chesapeake Bay. Why did so many colonists die? Colonists died because of lack of water and the lack of good working men, and their bad relationships with the Powhatan Indians.