AMS Jamestown and Plymouth Essay PDF

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Essay for an American Studies course...

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The Founding of Jamestown and Plymouth Plantation In 1606, James I issued a charter to the London Company to found new American colonies. They set out for Virginia, but in 1607, but only 104 of the 114 men had survived the journey. They sailed up a river they named the James and eventually established their colony on the peninsula near the northern bank. Even though they thought they had chosen a good area to settle, the land turned out to be low, swampy, hot, and humid, causing outbreaks of malaria. It was also surrounded by thick woods. So many Jamestown colonists had died that the colony was facing extinction; however, in 1608, John Smith, an English captain, led it to recovery. After a period of starvation in the winter, the colony was saved by relief expeditions. Jamestown's success was due to expansion by attacks on Indian tribes, the cultivation of tobacco, the 'headright system' that was established to recruit workers, and most importantly, agricultural technologies developed by Natives. In 1608, a group of Separatists from the hamlet of Scrooby fled England in search of religious freedom, where they could worship without interference. After they obtained permission from the Virginia Company to settle in Virginia and got assurances from the king, they left Holland and crossed the Atlantic with the hopes of creating the kind of community they wanted and spreading the gospel. These Puritans, led by William Bradford, left too late in the year to settle in their original destination, so they wound up creating a settlement north of Cape Cod, naming it Plymouth. They signed the Mayflower Compact to create a civil government and protect their allegiance to the king. Plymouth's population decreased during the first winter due to malnutrition, plague and disease, and exposure. The only reason the colony was able to survive and grow was due to the assistance the colonists received from natives. A semi-military

regime imposed discipline on the settlers, encouraging them to trade furs, corn, and crops. Finally, William Bradford got legal permission for the settlers to live there, distributed land among the families, and used earnings from the fur trade to pay off the colony's financial debt. The colonists' belief in God helped them survive through difficult times....