by Doug had previously visited Historic Jamestown in Virigina, and was not interested in visiting again, so I was flying solo on this one. After visiting, I can understand why he wasn’t interested in a second trip.
In May 1607, 104 Englishmen arrived here to establish a permanent English colony, Jamestown, named after King James I. They were financially backed by the Virginia Company of London, who provided directions and expectations.
However, the first few years were marked by disease and famine, not to mention difficult relations with the Powhatans — though if not for these indigenous native Americans providing food, the colony surely would have failed. At the end of the first year, only 38 of the original settlers survived.
Another 200 colonists arrived in 1609, but by the end of the year the relationship between the colonists and the indigenous peoples had deteriorated badly.
A drought left little food, and the English seemed to think they were entitled to anything that the Powhatans had. Attacks by the Powhatans ensued, and the colonists were confined to their fort, eating leather — and fellow settlers who had died (that’s right, cannibalism!).
Accounts indicate that 80-90% of the original colonists died from disease and starvation by the end of this “starving time” at the three-year mark of their adventure.
Additional colonists arrived in 1610, and by 1612 the settlement had finally turned profitable growing tobacco under the leadership of John Rolfe.
In 1614 Pocahontas, the daughter of Chief Powhatan, married Rolfe, which did lead to some years of peaceful relations between the two groups.
1619 was a notable year. Governor Yeardley created the first representative legislative assembly — the beginning of government in what eventually became the United States of America.
In that same year, the first captured Africans also arrived to work the tobacco fields. And 90 women were shipped over from England for the purpose of becoming wives and starting families.
That’s a mixed bag of notables, to be sure.
In 1622 relations with the indigenous peoples soured again Apparently, they didn’t like the English encroaching on their lands (if they only knew what was coming in the future).
An attack on the fort resulted in the death of nearly a third of the formerly 1,200-strong colony. A decade of warring followed, following by tenuous peace, followed by more slaughter. Lather, rinse, and repeat.
Fires in 1676 and 1698 destroyed much of the original Jamestown, after which the capital of the Virginia Colony was moved to Williamsburg. The heyday of Jamestown was over.
It wasn’t until late in the 19th century that Jamestown was recognized as a site of historical interest for preservation. By then, needless to say, there wasn’t much left for preserving.
People weren’t even sure where the Jamestown Fort used to stand. It took until 1996 for the foundations of the fort to be rediscovered!
While the history of what happened at this site is interesting, the “problem” is of course that 400 years later, there isn’t much to see.
The archeological museum, Voorhees Archaearium, has lots of broken bits of pottery, beads, nails, bits and pieces excavated from wells and privy pits, etc.
I suppose it’s a bit of a miracle they’ve found anything at all. Archaeological work continues on the site, so it’s possible that further discoveries may reveal more about the history of this ill-fated early American settlement.
