Facts about Jamestown

King James I charted the Virginia Company of London in 1606 with the sole goal of colonizing the eastern coast of North America, while its investors started planning a colony six years prior.

King James VI and I (James I of England and James VI of Scotland) was the longest reigning monarch of Scotland (57 years), while it was a sovereign state, ascending to the throne at the age of 13 months (Queen Elizabeth II reigned for over 70 years, however, over the United Kingdom as a whole).

They aimed to establish a permanent colony in North America. There have been previous attempts, however, no colony survived. Historians claim that all previous attempts to establish a permanent settlement failed, most likely due to colonists choosing to live with indigenous inhabitants of North America.

It was named in honor of King James I.

All colonists were either men or young boys. There are suggestions that women were reluctant to immigrate overseas with the initial group of colonists, and thus first female settlers arrived in 1608.

The first group was tasked with the construction of various buildings, including houses, fortifications, and a storehouse. The second group was to focus on agriculture, and the third was supposed to survey the area.

The nearest fresh water depot, James River, was located 94 kilometers away from the settlement.

It was far inland, with three sides surrounded by water, to minimize the threat of an attack from Spanish colonists. One of the main factors was the fact that the terrain was not inhabited by Natives, so the British would not provoke them with their arrival.

Winfield was a founding member of the Virginia Company of London. He arrived in North America with initial settlers and was appointed the president of Jamestown. Because of frequent clashes with Captain John Smith and other colleagues, he was sent back to England in 1608 after being demoted.

The Powhatan Indians inhabited eastern Virginia. During the British colonization of 1607, there were approximately 14,000-21,000 Powhatans living in the region surrounding Jamestown, the Tsenacommacah.

The construction of fortifications was not yet completed, so the settlers used naval gunfire from the ships docked nearby. That prevented Jamestown from being overwhelmed by hundreds of Natives storming the settlement.

When the fortifications were completed, Captain Christopher Newport sailed back to England to gather more supplies for colonists.

During the first crucial months, Chief Wahunsenacawh, commonly referred to as Chief Powhatan, supported the colony with food offerings. However, over time, the settlers started growing bolder toward Powhatans, demanding more supplies, especially during the drought in 1609.

The settlers drank salty water, most likely contaminated with arsenic. They contracted various diseases, such as dysentery, and did not possess sufficient hunting abilities. Food offerings from the Powhatans were not enough to supply the whole colony, and soon it succumbed to famine.

A new group of settlers arrived in Jamestown in 1609. However, ships carrying enough supplies for the colony had run aground in Bermuda. The winter of 1609 and 1610 is referred to as “Starving Time.” Because of the increasing hostilities with the Powhatans, who decided to lay siege to Jamestown, many settlers refused to leave the fort in fear of being kidnapped or killed by the Natives and thus were forced to consume whatever was available, including various animals, such as horses, dogs, and rats, and leather from their belts or shoes. The settlers also exhibited cannibalistic tendencies, consuming deceased colleagues.

The number of colonists dropped by more than half. Historians state that the Powhatans allowed the remaining settlers to plant crops and rebuild what was lost.

The initial governing party demanded that the settlers focus on agriculture, but it is suspected that people were not keen on working together. They were more interested in hunting, despite lacking the skill, and were unsuccessful. If not for the food offerings from the Natives, the settlement may have been deserted like all the previously established by the British, i.e. Roanoke.

New colonists consisted of skilled carpenters, farmers, laborers, and shipwrights. Moreover, the number of supplies brought from England allowed Jamestown settlers to survive and expand.

It tells the love story of Captain John Smith and the daughter of the Chief of Powhatan Indians. The story looked different in real life, however, and stories about Pocahontas told by John Smith have been contested.

For instance, the movie claim Pocahontas saved Smith’s life, but there is no evidence backing this theory. Historians claim there may have been a situation when Smith, while visiting the Powhatans to gather more food supplies for the colony, was offered to undergo an initiation into the tribe. If that was the case, and it had involved him being tied up, Pocahontas, as a daughter of the Chief would most definitely know Smith’s life was not in any danger.

It was a result of mutiny aboard the ship. Since his name was among those chosen to govern the settlement, it saved his life from being hanged. He was elected president of Jamestown in September 1608.

It means a “playful one.” Matoaka was the daughter of the leader of Powhatans living nearby Jamestown. She was approximately 11 years old in 1607 and got engaged in aiding the settlers by delivering food to Jamestown. She was prone to dialogue with newcomers, contrary to her father, who lost patience with greedy settlers in late 1609. However, during the 1613 armed conflict between Jamestown and the Powhatans, she was captured, baptized, and converted to Christianity.

Soon after, she gave birth to a boy named Thomas Rolfe and left for England in 1617 with her husband and their child. She became something of a celebrity, an example of a “civilized savage”. She was even introduced to King James I. Pocahontas died in 1618 at the age of 20 or 21, probably of the black death.

It is the most iconic and famous landmark of Jamestown.

Upon Rolfe’s arrival in Jamestown in 1610, he started a plantation with South American tobacco seeds he probably gathered in Bermuda or Trinidad. It brought great financial support to the colony. It could have, however, cause conflict between the British and Spanish colonists, since any smuggled South American tobacco would have been the property of the Spanish.

There have been cases of planting Spanish spies among the residents of Jamestown, and there is historical evidence of the British executing at least one of them—the councilman Captain George Kendall, whose execution was carried out in 1609.

South American tobacco was much sweeter and quickly gained popularity in England.

Those were not the first enslaved Africans brought to North America, however. The Spanish shipped them to their colony, San Agustin, established on September 8th, 1565.

It was the first step in creating the body of government that developed into the present-day United States of America. It developed into the House of Burgesses in 1642, and since 1643, it had been the colony’s law-making body.

One of the most memorable members of the House of Burgesses was the Founding Fathers of the United States - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry.

It lasted until 1622 when Chief Opechancanough coordinated an attack on the settlement. Out of 1,200, approximately 400 settlers were killed. The death toll would be higher if not for the Powhatan boy living with the English, who warned the settlers of the planned attack, allowing most of them to flee.

It is known as the Second Anglo-Powhatan War. As usual, the Powhatans withdrew after several months, giving the newcomers a chance to either leave or learn their lesson. However, with the aid gathered from England, the settlers retaliated and fought the Natives until both groups reached peace in 1632.

The governor had constantly refused military aid to a planter named Nathaniel Bacon to expel the Natives from their lands surrounding the British colony. Once he dealt with the Indians himself, he was joined by poor farmers who opposed the governor because of high taxes. Bacon pointed their anger toward the governor and the settlement of Jamestown. As a result, the governor was driven out, and the settlement was set aflame.

As a result of Bacon’s Rebellion, which led to the final, although not only one, burnings of the settlement, the seat of the government had moved to Williamsburg.

Frequent flooding, caused by rising sea levels, and the general location of the settlement, affects this still active dig site, and its treasures.