After the Spanish made some fortunate discoveries in South America, the English were determined to strike gold in the north, however, they would soon find out that this “new country” was not so perfect. In the Spring of 1607, about 100 colonists sailed to North America and created an English settlement called Jamestown (Roden 49). Upon their arrival, they discovered that Jamestown was home to some 1500 Powhatan Indians, and, because the colonists didn’t bring the right people to defend themselves from Indian attacks, many people died (Roden 49). The colonist also didn’t bring enough people to ward off disease, drought, or famine. The English also made a number of bad choices, one of which was how they chose to treat the Indians. The English didn’t try to make a truce even when they encountered the peaceful Indians, a small action that would have saved many of the colonists’ lives. Not only would this help their relations, but it …show more content…
About 150 colonists were killed by Indians, but were the Indians really to blame (Fausz 63)? The colonists, in the eyes of the Indians, were stealing their land, killing their people, and taking their food. Although some Indians tried to make peace with the colonists, the colonists still felt threatened and started chopping their heads off. In the eyes of the colonists, the Indians were uncivilized savages. All they wanted was to be rich and have a better life. There were many Indian ambushes. J. Fredrick Fauz reports that of the 120 men stationed near the falls, the indians kill “neere halfe”. It was very hard for the Indians because suddenly they had to share their natural resources with these new people. Dennis B. Blankton assesses that “the island is not situated at a point of great natural food abundance.” Colonists and Indians had a very rough relationship and it resulted in many wars and many deaths for both the colonists and the