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Essay about Was the Settlement of Jamestown a Fiasco?

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Issue 2: Was the Settlement of Jamestown a Fiasco?
Yes:
Edmond Morgan builds an easy to understand case of explaining the initial failures of the Jamestown colony. He credits the failures to chaotic organization, laziness, the makeup of the population, and poor ideas for prosperity. Morgan argues that one reason for failure was a lack of organization. He states that Jamestown lacked leadership. The colonies government was made up of a council and a president. The president had virtually no authority, and the council spent most of its time arguing and not actually accomplishing any governing. Once the colony established a governor, and they went through several, other problems arose. The next problem that Morgan brings to attention …show more content…

45) Kupperman also makes claims that Jamestown modeled success for future colonies. “Jamestown was not just the earliest English colony to survive; its true priority lies in inventing the archetype of English colonization. All other successful English colonies followed the Jamestown model.”(Kupperman p. 38) “The key to building English societies abroad, however messy and incomplete, was discovered in Virginia and all successful colonies henceforth followed its model.”(Kupperman p. 46) She cites colonies such as Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay as following the Jamestown model. In conclusion, this student feels as though Edmond Morgan focused primarily on the initial failures of the Jamestown colony and judged it accordingly as a fiasco. One could see where Karen Kupperman’s argument is more relevant and a better way to judge the history of Jamestown. She takes into consideration the initial failures of Jamestown, but overall points out that Jamestown learned from its mistakes. Jamestown’s success can be attributed to its normal civilians grabbing ahold of the reins, and adopting capitalist style planning. The fact that Jamestown became successful and gave future colonies a successful model to study should be reason for it to be looked upon as a success story and not a chaotic failed fiasco.

Issue 5: Was

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