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Jamestown: The first permanent colony in North America

By Tania Dooley
Image Credit: Scott Pruett Via Unsplash

        Jamestown was the first English settlement in North America.  In the year 1607 a group of British citizens, who worked for the Virginia company, boarded a ship and headed for North America.  By now, a least a hundred years had passed since Columbus made his famous voyage to the New World.  According to History.com "The Virginia Company planned to search for gold and silver deposits in the New World, as well as a river route to the Pacific Ocean that would allow them to establish trade with the Orient."

Image Credit: WikiCommons bby Wikikid777, public domain
Jamestown Settlement, ships at a harbor.
     John Rolfe was a man important to the Jamestown colony because he successfully cultivated a crop that would make it economically stable. Economic stability was important in order for that town to survive.  There had been other colonies in America that began optimistically but because of the lack of basic necessities, and the sometimes dangerous conditions such as Native American attacks, they would have to abandon the colony.  Economic stability for Jamestown meant that people living there could trade their tobacco for their necessities from England: tools, livestock, and household goods such as clothing and supplies.  The crop grew in abundance in Virginia, however, it required a lot more work than other crops, so eventually Virginians would plant corn and grains.

Image Credit: Raphael Rychestsky Via Unsplash

     According to History.com Jamestown would succumb to it's own problems such as "disease, famine, and violent encounters with the native population" but it is still considered America's "first permanent English colony in the New World."

References

10 Things you may not know about the Jamestown colony. Retrieved September 13, 2020. from https://www.history.com/news/jamestown-colony-settlement-facts



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