Jamestown_Settlement_a_Fiasco

Depending on how you look at it, The settlement of Jamestown can be considered a success as well as a failure. Like every argument there is going to be good and bad things for both side, but one side is going to have a better argument why they are right. Though there are some successes out of the settlement of Jamestown, overall I would have to call it a failure. In this essay I will point out views from both sides but inevitability state why it was more of a failure then a success and would lead to ten years of brutal and almost dumbfounding mistakes. The whole process started off on a bad note, landing these settlers of the new world in a period that they would not be able to grow crops for the year, leaving people starving. Secondly the whole land they were settling on was swampy, leaving it more prone to diseases and bacterial infections . So right from the start this was already showing bright signs for failure. Within the first few months, only about fifty percent of the original settlers were alive, in 1610 only 60 were still alive. Jamestown is the only documented cannibalism in Virginia. Giving them slack that maybe the first year they would have trouble planting if you go to 1610 almost four years after first arrival they have cases of one man chopping up his dead wife and eating her with some salt, and others digging up corpses of the deceased for food. Now you tell me how you can consider this a success' If there weren't loads and loads of wild game they could of eaten and easily killed with there guns, or rivers full of fish that could of also easily been caught, then maybe you would have a better case of why this starvation went on for almost ten years. They have plenty of land and materials needed supplied by the Indians to grow and consume crop yet fail to do so. Almost a decade of starvation can never be seen as a success in my eyes no matter how bright and prosperous they became many many years later. Another big problem was that there were to many “gentlemen” on the first wave of ships to come to Jamestown. These gentlemen were not used to doing labor like farming and fishing. Rather they sent over jewelers, perfumers, miners, all laborers who they thought would bring them riches with the natural resources that were never found there, saffaras was the only thing found but due to its high abundance it quickly lost its market value. another reason for failure, the lack of the prosperous resources they thought they would find. When these certain laborers didn't find these things to make there perfume or jewelry with, instead of helping farm, they did nothing at all. Pure laziness because of no lack of mandatory working hours put into place by and officials. They rather depended on the Indians to supply them with corn, but when they became increasingly aggressive with there guerrilla warfare it became less easy to obtain from them. Finally John smith finally demanded 4 hours of work by everyone a day , witch was not nearly enough to sustain a productive environment. You could say that most people found it easier to give up and die rather then put in the effort to bring change and production to Jamestown, known as the “lay down and die theory”(Hawley). Granite all of these failures, after about ten years things started to look a little brighter, but ten years , a decade of starvation and reckless failures, this is not enough to make for all of that. Once Tobacco was known to be a very profitable export by John Rolfe, things started getting better. This lead to massive amounts of money, but inevitability would lead to the imports of slaves from Africa for the production of this, years of hell, witch was horrific. John smith was the form only savior to the colony, making the rule if you did not work you did not eat. Starting with hours that weren't enough but eventually bringing them up to a reasonable amount to make production a success, but when he had to leave due to an injury, it all went right back down the drain. When he left there were 500 people, when the next ship from England arrives there were 60 left. In general these settlers were just overly lazy and has no will to live. In conclusion thought Jamestown eventually became the root to the Unites states of America, it wasn't all that much of a success. Starvation, Disease, Guerrilla warfare, Cannibalism, and lack aof any motivation to farm destroyed what could of easily became a success within the first year or two , instead of taking more then a decade. Overall, laziness seems to be the main factor in the failure of all of this. With all that was around them, this could have been different if more farmers were sent on the first waves rather then “gentlemen” a very poorly planned operation before hand and while in the works.