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Jamestown Death Dbq

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Jamestown Death Dbq
Jamestown, breaking apart and almost failing, death lurking around every corner. Nobody ever knew who was next to die at Jamestown. In May of 1607, a large boat with about 104 english settlers sailed up the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay to what is now Jamestown, Virginia looking for riches. After they got there, they were soon overwhelmed with death from poor settler skills, deadly brackish water, and the 15,000 Powhatan Natives lurking near by. Nobody was ever prepared for the amount of death caused by starting a new settlement in the Americas. One of the leading causes of death in Jamestown was the deadly, brackish water. The clean, fresh water was invaded by saltwater. The tides played a major part in the horrible water. The tides would …show more content…
There contained only one surgeon and no doctors at all on the first ship over to Jamestown. There were 47 gentlemen that came over in May of 1607, the leaders should have focused on bringing over more farmers or doctors instead of people that don’t like to do labor (Doc C). Many lives probably could’ve been at least longer than some of them were. The doctors could have possibly saved some of the people. The farmers would’ve been able to grow more food, and that would mean the “starving time” could’ve been less dramatic. There are many things the colonists could’ve done better to save themselves and the other colonists, but with the poor settler skills many lives were lost. In 1609, Francis West and thirty-six men navigated up the Chesapeake Bay to attempt to trade for corn and other goods with the Powhatan Indians. Although Francis West was able to get a reasonable amount of grain for the colony, it was not easy to get it. There is evidence that it is possible the English forced the Indians to trade with them by cutting off people’s arms and legs and other extremities (Doc D). Jamestown, breaking apart and almost failing, death lurking around every corner.There are many reasons why the colonists died in Jamestown. But, the main reasons are the bad water, very poor settler skills, and the poor relations with the natives. It all started with Europeans looking for the perfect place to settle for riches and

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