This paper traces the founding and early history of Jamestown, England's first enduring settlement in the New World. Beginning with King James's authorization of the London Company's 1606 voyage, the paper covers the colonists' arrival at Chesapeake Bay, the construction of Jamestown, and the severe hardships that followed — including food shortages, disease, and fire. It examines John Smith's pivotal leadership role, the devastating "Starving Time" of 1609–1610, and the eventual arrival of Lord Delaware with supplies and reinforcements. The paper concludes with the colony's growth, the introduction of tobacco cultivation, the marriage of Pocahontas and John Rolfe, and the conflicts that followed Chief Powhatan's death.
More than one hundred years after Christopher Columbus landed in the New World, the English King James authorized two companies of merchants to establish a new colony there. These companies were called the London Company and the Plymouth Company. The London Company, later known as the Virginia Company, was the first to make the voyage. It was commanded by a famous sea captain named Christopher Newport. They set sail in December 1606 with three small ships and one hundred and five people, including carpenters, blacksmiths, barbers, and masons, to help build the colony and set up trade upon their arrival in America.
The voyage was long and difficult. When the first colonists reached the New World, they arrived at Chesapeake Bay and named each side of the bay Cape Henry and Cape Charles after the King's two sons. Out of the bay flowed a great river that they named after King James. The London Company had permission to start a colony of 100 square miles near the northern shore, so they followed the river about 30 miles inland and built Jamestown. To make it a proper town, they were granted permission to mint money, enter into trade, and enforce laws under the King. They soon built tents and began constructing more permanent buildings.
It was not long before the people in the colony began to suffer. First, they grew hungry. They had arrived too late in the year to plant crops, and it was difficult to find clear, flat land. Everyone was given food rations from the supplies brought from England, but some of that food had already spoiled. The people then fell sick with fever. By September — only nine months after leaving England — about half the colonists were dead. To make matters worse, a fire destroyed the small settlement just a few months later. Some historians believe they all would have perished had it not been for a young man named John Smith.
"John Smith governs and saves the colony"
"Food crisis nearly destroys Jamestown; relief arrives"
"Tobacco trade, Pocahontas marriage, and Indian attack"
"Jamestown endures as America's first English colony"
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