Well many colonists died because of their water supply, their relationship with the natives, and because of their knowledge of survival. These factor lead to early death for most of the colonist. The water supply for Jamestown was brackish, or filthy, and lead to disease.
As the 100 settlers came across Chesapeake Bay on May 14th, 1607. They named this settlement “Jamestown”. Shortly after they settled, Native Americans attacked and killed some colonists. Near the same time, people are getting sick from disease, which leads to the winter “Starving Time”, taking the lives of many starved. So, why did so many Jamestown Colonists die?
For instance, “there was much sickness among the emigrants.” Grant Foreman the author of an online source announces, Rebecca dealt with horrific sickness around her on her tragic exposition. Consequently, she was lucky enough to not die and survived through the arduous trip. Lastly, Rebecca was not one of the people that died during that dreadful time period. For instance, “After they arrived in Indian Territory more Cherokees succumbed to famine and disease” teaching history with historian, Ellen Holmes which whom reveals that the settlement was just as hard as the trail of tears.
What horrible things did the continental army have to suffer in their six- month encampment? They experienced hunger, diseases, and death. Since it was cold some couldn 't bathe causing them to have bad hygiene. Also at the time smallpox and pneumonia was being spread. Since there weren 't many medical supplies, some couldn 't be treated.
lost sixty-one pounds in captivity…. Tuberculosis, malaria, dysentery, malnutrition, anemia, eye ailments, and festering wounds were widespread…. Men had been crippled and disfigured by unset broken bones…. Some couldn't be saved.” (Hillenbrand, 346).
Only sixty of the colonist had survived the harsh winter that will forever be known as the starving times. Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George Summers arrived in May 1610 with 150 people and some supplies from the Bermudas only to find the walking anomalies of Jamestown. Sir Thomas Gates took over as the new governor and order the immediate abandonment of Jamestown. They labored into June to build 4 ships to carry them all back to England. Once all were boarded and sailing down the James river, they spotted another ship headed their way.
The winter that George Washington’s soldiers spent at Valley Forge was backbreaking, cold, and the men had little clothing. Smallpox ran rampant, with a 40% death rate and a painful inoculation process. Because of the lack of clean water, the soldiers suffered from dysentery. After a few weeks, they had run out of meat, and were forced to survive on firecakes, a crude mixture of flour and water. Many froze or starved to death, causing the death rate to grow to 10 men per day.
The Jamestown colony was the first permanent English settlement in North America, established in 1607. The colonists who settled in Virginia faced several challenges as they attempted to adjust to their new environment. These obstacles comprised a wide range of issues affecting both the individual and social sectors, such as encounters with hostile tribes, disease and famine, poor leadership, and decreasing resources. The colonists' ability to persevere in the face of numerous diseases, hostile tribes, and food scarcity demonstrated their endurance and determination. Furthermore, the lessons learnt from these early challenges influenced subsequent generations of Americans.
At least a half-dozen accounts, by people who lived through the period or spoke to colonists who did, describe occasional acts of cannibalism that winter. They include reports of corpses being exhumed and eaten, a husband killing his wife and salting her flesh (for which he was executed), and the mysterious disappearance of foraging colonists. The Starving Time at Jamestown in the Colony of Virginia was a period of starvation during the winter of 1609–1610 in which all but 60 of 214 colonists died. The colonists, the first group of whom had originally arrived at Jamestown on May 14, 1607, had never planned to grow all of their own food.
Many colonists died in Jamestown because the Indians attacked the settlers coming to their land. Doc B is a timeline adapted by J. Frederick Fausz in 1990. The timeline is from a magazine article entitled,” An Abundance of Blood Shed on Both Sides: England’s First Indian War, 1609 - 1614.” This is showing us how many and how people died in Jamestown between the years of 1607 and 1610.
They also died by filth fester that which made the water bad to drink. They also died because the fish only showed up in spring and early summer. Colonists also died during winter because they had no food. The last two reasons they died is that gentlemen did not do any work. Also, because they had no water because of the long drought.
One of the repeating themes in the “Pardoner’s Tale”-- a portion of The Canterbury Tales written by Chaucer- is the idea that death is inescapable. This is seen as three rioters-people given to unrestrained revelry and debauchery (127) -go to kill death but in turn meet their own deaths. As seen in these lines, death comes for all and often in a secret manor.
Some of the deaths of these colonists were caused by freezing to death, some of the deaths were caused by starvation because the animals that they ate where scarce and hibernating and some of the nuts and berries that they gathered were covered in snow. Also many colonists died because of diseases from europe and diseases from the lack of sanitation in the New World. One substantially important difference between Plymouth
Some people tried to starve, but the crew forced them to take food, beating them, tormenting them with hot coal or forcing them to open their mouths with special tools or break their teeth. The mortality caused by various diseases was very high. More than 20 percent have died from various epidemics or committed suicide. Venture Smith, describing his test, wrote: "After the usual passage, except for the great death from pox that erupted on board, we arrived on the island of Barbados, but when we reached it, out of two hundred and sixty that sailed from Africa, not more than two hundred alive.
With their new environments all of the colonists were introduced to new diseases. Poor living conditions, malnutrition, and native diseases caused many fatalities throughout the colonies. Illness ran rampant through each colony, which took out many workers. Jamestown and Plymouth were able to overcome each struggle and become the foundation of the New World.
