Early Jamestown: Why Did So Many Colonists Die?
For all of you who think that you have it bad, well think about this. In May 1607-1611, about 110 English men arrived at the mouth of a great bay on the coast of Virginia. It is now called the United States; the first years of settlement weren’t so easy. The reason why so many colonists died is because of the environment, lack of skills, and the bad relationship with the Indians.
One of the reasons so many colonists died is because of their environment. They we’re catching diseases from the waste in the water. They we’re bathing and swimming in the water that had waste in in. They had thought that the waste in the water washed away (document A). This explains why so many colonists died because they had no resources or anything to help cure the diseases.
The second reason Jamestown colonists died is because they didn’t have any food because they didn’t have any rainfall. They had died from starvation. They didn’t have any rainfall to grow any crops, to feed them. In the years 1606-1612 Jamestown suffered its longest unbroken period of drought. Then in 1609-1610 the rivers were froze so they couldn’t get any fish. This evidence helps explain why so many colonists died because it tells that they were starved.
The third reason Jamestown colonists died was because they had a bad relationship with the Indians. In document D it says “some harsh and cruel dealings by cutting the two heads of the salvages and other extremities.” This means that they had to kill them to get what they wanted. Then in 1607-1610 certain attacks from the Indians happened. This meant that they had a bad relationship with Indians.
So with this information, why did so many colonists die? They died because the lack of skills, the relationship with Indians was bad, and their environment. You should remember this because you never know what will happen and its good information for you if you were to write about the same...