Jamestown, Williamsburg, Va,
Seaduced
John & Jane Craven
Tue 20 Nov 2012 18:17
The first English settlers however, did not have an easy time of it. The initial expedition had been organised largely as a money making venture by the Virginia Company, and had been financed by some wealthy men back in the UK, and some rather basic errors had been made. The food supplies were limited, and they did not have enough to feed themselves when the subsequent ships were delayed by bad weather. A lot of the colonists died over the cold winter. Another quite fundamental error was made in that whilst they were trying to form a new colony and build a nation, they sent only men - this clearly placed a limit on population growth! After this initial attempt was made, further thought was given to the process and men and women then arrived here. Life was very hard and the relations with the local Indians, which had previously been good, were deteriorating. Trade between the two was now almost non-existent. Matters were then helped by the marriage of a local Indian girl, Pocahontas, daughter of the chief of the Tribe, which I think was the Powhatan Tribe, to John Rolfe. They returned to England together after their marriage to promote life in the New World, and Pocahontas was used as an Ambassador for the Indian Tribe. This was short lived however, as she died about a year later and is now buried in Gravesend.
Eventually, after a few attempts and lots of hardship, the English got their act together and life settled down, and the new colony flourished.
Also, at Jamestown, there are replicas of the first 3 boats used to bring potential colonists over the Atlantic, the Godspeed, Susan Constant and Discovery. We were disappointed to see that the Discovery was closed, but John was chatting to one of the museum guides, and explaining about our Discovery and he allowed us on, some other people tried to get on as well but they were told it was a private tour and asked to leave!
There is also a recreation of an Indian Village and of Jamestown Fort, where people in period costume explain, and show, what life was like back then.
An original stone oven in the Fort
A view of the Fort
A guy dressed up firing a gun!
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