The early years of the Jamestown settlement were not self-sustaining but farmers were soon able to grow tobacco for profit settlers Margaret Forrest and Anne Burras and with them hope for success was renewed Hope however was short-lived Another ship arrived in August 1609 carrying three hundred hungry and exhausted new settlers Food shortages became dire The Powhatan people were tired of giving away their food The winter of 1609 1610 was extremely harsh Most of the settlers and many of the Native people froze or starved to death Jamestown was nearly abandoned but more ships carrying supplies and settlers arrived The new leaders were determined to form a permanent colony Their methods were harsh toward the settlers and even more so toward the Native people Their strategies worked for the settlers Land grants were distributed and farms were established In 1614 the first shipment of tobacco was exported to England becoming Jamestown’s first moneymaking enterprise The settlement expanded even as violent conflicts with the Native people intensified Their farms grew into plantations and workers who were indentured or enslaved were brought to the colony to work In less than two decades Jamestown had prospered enough to become England’s first successful and permanent American settlement 6 Jamestown and the Settlement of Virginia
CHAPTER ONE Against the Odds the settlement of Jamestown was the first jewel in the crown of the British colonial empire There was a small seasonal English colony in Newfoundland in the late sixteenth century but until the settling of Jamestown England did not control lands outside of the British Isles England trailed far behind other European countries Beginning in the fifteenth century Portugal and Spain were exploring regions beyond Europe becoming imperial powers As early as 1418 the Portuguese had traveled traded and set up outposts along the coast of Africa After Christopher Columbus landed in the New World in 1492 Spanish explorers claimed many parts of the Americas including South and Central America the Caribbean Mexico and what is now California and part of the southern and the southwestern United States Portugal settled Brazil The oldest European settlement in North America was founded by the Spanish at St Augustine Florida in 1565 Against the Odds 7
In the 1570s and 1580s two British mariners named Martin Frobisher and Sir Francis Drake explored Asia and South America but didn’t start any settlements British adventurer Sir Humphrey Gilbert made a series of expeditions to explore New World sites for settlements On his last ill-fated voyage across the North Atlantic five ships and more than 250 men were lost at sea The British imperialists changed their tactics and fell in behind Sir Walter Raleigh who suggested trying to colonize the southeastern coast of North America In the late 1580s Raleigh established a colony on Roanoke Island in what is today North Carolina Relief supplies were late in coming because the Spanish navy attacked the British ships By the time the British arrived with more settlers in 1590 all of the original settlers had disappeared They were never found Raleigh’s colonization attempt was expensive and failed utterly The colony known as the Lost Colony of Roanoke soured the English on colonization Due to its failure to colonize Britain appeared weak Queen Elizabeth I proved it wasn’t When she learned in 1588 that the Spanish intended to invade England and depose her she rallied British citizens and the military She even rode on horseback to inspire the troops The decisive naval defeat of the 130-ship Spanish Armada in the Battle of Gravelines on July 29 gave England confidence and earned it respect The nation believed it could now rule the seas and again set out to explore the New World Business Ventures England had to rely on the wealth of private businesses and affluent nobles instead of the national treasury to finance its expansion plans Originally English exploration was financed by two joint-stock companies the East India Trading Company and the Muskovy Company which traded with Russia To fund This 1686 engraving is of the oldest European settlement in America which was named after Augustine a Christian saint 9 Against the Odds
