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- Preceded by the Roanoke Colony and the Popham Colony
- Founded: May 14, 1607
- Three ships used: Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery
- No women were aboard the first ships
- Site chosen for defensive advantage
- Land was swampy, infested with mosquitoes and had no good drinking water
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Key Dates
- June 1606: King James I charters the Virginia Company to establish a settlement near the Chesapeake Bay
- April 26, 1607: Colonists arrive
- May 14, 1607: Site chosen on the James River, 60 miles from the Chesapeake
- 1607: Pocahontas allegedly saves Captain John Smith from death at the hands of Chief Powhatan
- 1608: Most of Jamestown destroyed by fire, Pocohantas provides supplies
- 1609-1610: John Smith leaves Jamestown, most colonists die that winter of starvation and disease
- July 30, 1619: First representative assembly in the New World convenes at Jamestown
- 1622: Over 300 settlers killed in Indian attack
- 1624: Charter revoked by King James I, due to mismanagement and poor relations with Indians
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Historical Overview
Jamestown was in many ways a failed experiment: Begun with high expectations from the investors who financed it, by 1611, it had amassed little besides a record of deaths, losses, and disasters, and exported nothing of value. A turn in fortune came with the discovery of tobacco as a suitable export crop, making colonists such as John Rolfe (the husband of Pocahontas) wealthy and regionally powerful, and leading to an economic boom that fueled further investment and expansion. -
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Jamestown Colony Questions
OPEN THREAD: Colonial Bank becomes the biggest bank failure of 2009 1 AnswerPeople of authority in this world, should realize life is not or never was based on non-materialistic, physical things like money, oil, fine cars, jewelry or an... read more
Which of the European colonial powers in the Americas treated the Native American population the best? 2 AnswersNo European colonial power treated the Native American population the best. None not one. From the time Columbus came into the new world and to the time the E... read more -
Jamestown Colony Commentary and Criticism
- Clemson University: Did Pocahontas save Captain John Smith?
- The Daily Collegian Online: Letter to the Editor: Anglicans, not Puritans Founded This Country (2002)
- Vanishing American: Jamestown: The Controversy (2007)
- Ethics Scoreboard: The Newport Statue Revisited: Where Responsibility Lies (2007)
- NPR: Jamestown's Early Days Were Brutish and Short (2007)
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